Come for the recipe; stay for the story!
Video Tutorial: https://youtu.be/eq04Fx9hI00
Italian Meringue Buttercream
6 oz egg whites (6 large egg whites)
16 oz sugar (2 1/3 cups)
4 oz water (1/2 cup)
20 oz unsalted butter (5 sticks), room temperature and cut into small cubes
Flavor of choice
1. Cook water and sugar until it reaches 238F (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer (see video tutorial or hints and tips below for directions on how to test without a thermometer).
2. Using a whisk attachment, begin whipping the egg whites on high speed. They need to be whipped to medium-stiff peaks by the time the syrup is finished cooking. If they reach stiff peaks before the syrup is done, turn the mixer down to the lowest speed possible until the syrup is done.
3. Once sugar is cooked and egg whites have reached med-stiff peaks, slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites while continuously mixing on low speed. Note: Try to not let the syrup hit the whisk while adding to prevent it from being sprayed all over the sides of the bowl rather than properly added to the egg whites.
4. When all the sugar has been added to the whites, turn the mixer back up to high speed and let it mix until the bowl is room temperature to the touch (the meringue will rise in the bowl when the sugar is added, and then fall as it cools).
5. Once your mixture is no longer hot, turn mixer back down to medium speed, switch to the paddle attachment and begin adding the butter a few cubes at a time, allowing it to mix a little between each addition
6. Add desired flavor
7. Your buttercream is done once all the butter has been mixed in and you have reached a silky smooth texture.
Hints and Tips for Italian Meringue buttercream:
1. Fruit puree can be added to give buttercream a good color and flavor without causing too much of a consistency change. I usually cook the puree down a little bit and then let it cool before adding it to the buttercream so that the flavor is more concentrated.
2. To test for softball consistency of syrup: dip frozen finger or a room temperature spoon into pot of sugar and then immediately into ice water. If a ball can be formed from cool sugar that is easily crushed, "soft ball" consistency has been reached.
3. Buttercream can be wrapped in plastic wrap and left at room temperature for a day or two. You can also store it wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for about a week and for several months in the freezer. Make sure it is properly wrapped so the fat in the icing doesn't soak up flavors from the room or the refrigerator.
4. To use buttercream after it has been refrigerated, either let it set out until it is room temperature and mix with the paddle attachment until it is white and smooth, or gently warm it over steam or in the microwave and then mix until the proper color and consistency has been achieved. Buttercream that is ready for use should always be white and room temperature, otherwise the flavor will be more buttery than desired.
So first, how exciting is it to get a BONUS blog post this week?
And secondly, how exciting is it that you now know how to make my most favorite icing of all?!? The only thing I love more than pastry, is sharing my love of pastry with others! So, I'm probably excited enough for the both of us! Like I said this is my FAVORITE icing EVER. I use it almost exclusively on my cakes, and I usually get great feedback. The few times I didn't it's because here in America, we all grew up with a very different buttercream, and if you are looking for the kind you find in every grocery store in our lovely country, this isn't it. Most people agree that it's better, but occasionally you just want the familiar. (Shout out to Ukrop's bakery for being the only grocery store cake I love. They make the best American buttercream!) If you want something new, different, and delicious though, this..is..IT! This one is melt in your mouth, silky smooth, and super duper versatile. I love working with this one because you can get such smooth clean lines on a cake and it's just so satisfying to see.
Typical Amanda tried to find the history of this icing, but I couldn't really find anything online. I did find a very brief history of when bakers began putting icing on cakes, and when I say brief, it was very brief. I am left feeling very unsatisfied with my research, but since this is a bonus blog, I suppose I can only be so disappointed.
What I did find was that the first iced cakes sounded pretty unappealing. It seems the first layered cake came about in the 1500s and the
French chef that created it decided that it needed something to hold it together from the outside. So a concoction of egg whites, sugar, and rose water was put on the outside before it was baked a second time just long enough for this newly invented icing to set. Sounds delicious, right?..Yeah, I didn't think so either! The idea of icing a cake as we know it is apparently a relatively new one (I can't believe it took us so long!). Buttercream, from what I discovered, has been around for only about 100 years or so. So many people have missed out on its greatness!
I wish I knew more, but that's all I could find in my search tonight, so I guess I'll have to drown my sorrows with a spoonful of buttercream! (I keep leftover buttercream in my freezer, don't tempt me with a good time!)
The only thing that can brighten my spirits is that the second video tutorial has been mostly, successfully edited, and this one didn't take me 3 days to figure out! That's some progress!
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