Italian Meringue Buttercream
My sister's birthday seemed like a fabulous time to practice my buttercream and cake decorating!
I took a cake decorating class a few months ago at The White Flour Cake Shoppe. They make the most gorgeous cakes with beautiful flowers. The class focused on their flower and decorating techniques; however, they did not give out their recipe for buttercream. A few weeks ago I took a cake decorating class at Laurel Run Cooking School where they focused on an Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe and with how to frost a cake. I used the techniques I learned in these two classes to create my sister's cake.
Next time I'll have to post pics of the buttercream as I make it.
I really love this buttercream, and it was pretty easy to make. It's silky and buttery, and not too sweet. It was fairly easy to work with, although the buttercream did become too soft after a while (from the heat of my hands on the pastry bags).
Syrup:
4 fl oz of water
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
Meringue:
8 fl oz egg whites (approximately 8) at room temperature
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 lb. of unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
In a small sauce pan, heat the water and sugar over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until reaches 240*. Do not stir!! (If small sugar granules stick to the side of the pan, take a pastry brush and run it under hot water and then brush the sides of the pan...you don't want any crystallized sugar to get into your buttercream.)
While the syrup is boiling, whip the egg whites until foamy, using the whisk attachment. Add the cream of tartar. Continue whipping until whites are white in color and then slowly poor in the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar. Whip until it reaches firm peaks (but not too firm) but still glossy.
When syrup reaches 240* remove from the heat. Turn off the mixer. Slowly poor in half of the syrup into the egg white mixture making sure to avoid the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on high for 10 seconds. Turn the mixer off and slowly poor in the remaining syrup, again avoiding the whisk attachment (do not scrape any remaining sugar from the sauce pan...whatever pours out is fine). Turn the mixer on medium high and continue whipping until the egg white mixture comes down to room temperature.
Add the butter chunks in, one at a time. The egg whites may start to appear liquid-y and/or curdled. DO NOT WORRY!!! Just keep whipping the buttercream and it will miraculously turn into a lovely buttercream. Then add the vanilla extract.
Once done you can turn the mixer down to low speed to get rid of any big air bubbles.
This buttercream can be frozen up to 6 months if wrapped well. You will just need to bring it to room temperature and whip it a little before using.
Also, this buttercream is stable for up to 48 hours at room temperature.
I took a cake decorating class a few months ago at The White Flour Cake Shoppe. They make the most gorgeous cakes with beautiful flowers. The class focused on their flower and decorating techniques; however, they did not give out their recipe for buttercream. A few weeks ago I took a cake decorating class at Laurel Run Cooking School where they focused on an Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe and with how to frost a cake. I used the techniques I learned in these two classes to create my sister's cake.
Next time I'll have to post pics of the buttercream as I make it.
I really love this buttercream, and it was pretty easy to make. It's silky and buttery, and not too sweet. It was fairly easy to work with, although the buttercream did become too soft after a while (from the heat of my hands on the pastry bags).
Syrup:
4 fl oz of water
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
Meringue:
8 fl oz egg whites (approximately 8) at room temperature
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 lb. of unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
In a small sauce pan, heat the water and sugar over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until reaches 240*. Do not stir!! (If small sugar granules stick to the side of the pan, take a pastry brush and run it under hot water and then brush the sides of the pan...you don't want any crystallized sugar to get into your buttercream.)
While the syrup is boiling, whip the egg whites until foamy, using the whisk attachment. Add the cream of tartar. Continue whipping until whites are white in color and then slowly poor in the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar. Whip until it reaches firm peaks (but not too firm) but still glossy.
When syrup reaches 240* remove from the heat. Turn off the mixer. Slowly poor in half of the syrup into the egg white mixture making sure to avoid the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on high for 10 seconds. Turn the mixer off and slowly poor in the remaining syrup, again avoiding the whisk attachment (do not scrape any remaining sugar from the sauce pan...whatever pours out is fine). Turn the mixer on medium high and continue whipping until the egg white mixture comes down to room temperature.
Add the butter chunks in, one at a time. The egg whites may start to appear liquid-y and/or curdled. DO NOT WORRY!!! Just keep whipping the buttercream and it will miraculously turn into a lovely buttercream. Then add the vanilla extract.
Once done you can turn the mixer down to low speed to get rid of any big air bubbles.
This buttercream can be frozen up to 6 months if wrapped well. You will just need to bring it to room temperature and whip it a little before using.
Also, this buttercream is stable for up to 48 hours at room temperature.
Comments
Post a Comment