Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Could There be Anthing More Devine? Maybe ...


Last week I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and try a new frosting recipe. I'm quite fond of my buttercream frosting but I am certainly a fan of variety.

I have seen so many beautiful cupcakes and even heard from others how delightful Swiss Meringue Buttercream tastes. I decided to go ahead give this a try!

It's actually a really easy recipe, if I do say so myself! This particular frosting doesn't use powdered sugar like traditional buttercreams do; instead granulated sugar is dissolved into egg whites over a waterbath. The result is a less sweet, very silky, and delightfully buttery frosting. It's absolutely amazing! After making the first batch I was hooked... I wasn't fond of the second batch, however. After tasting it and having my roommate and neighbor taste it, I realized it was too buttery. This was my fault, I rechecked everything I added and realized I did add too much butter. I fixed this by adding sifted powdered sugar and more extract. Luckily the texture and final flavor was as if I didn't botch up! =)

The recipe itself is very simple as there are really only 3 ingredients (4 if you are adding flavoring). The process it's quite simple too!

Ingredients:

5 oz. Egg Whites (about 5 egg whites)
10 oz. Granulated Sugar
15 oz. Unsalted sweet cream butter cut into pieces & @ room temperature
if adding flavoring it'll be up to you as far as how much you wish to add.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk your egg whites & sugar together w/ a small pinch of salt. Place this bowl over simmering water and whisk, whisk, whisk. You will continue to whisk until the sugar has dissolved completely - don't stop whisking.

Once the Sugar has dissolved, remove the bowl from the heat and attach the whisk attachment to your mixer. Whip the egg whites & sugar until stiff peaks form and the bowl is cool to the touch. (This can take anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes). I found that my bowl wasn't cool enough with one of the batches I made and the butter was melting! If this happens to you, stick the bowl in the freezer and check your frosting often. (Less than 10 minutes later, the frosting was perfect when this happened to me!)

Once your frosting is stiff, this will have some give to it but will definitely hold piping shapes, mix in your flavoring of choice. For the baby shower, I did melted chocolate + cocoa powder for the chocolate buttercream and then Vanilla Bean Paste for the vanilla buttercream.

If you make this, I do recommend tasting the buttercream before the butter is completely incorporated - I would say to start doing this after 2/3 of the butter has been added.

I have heard that there may seem like there's separation of the meringue and the butter as you are adding the butter. This didn't happen to me; however, if it does happen don't worry - it's part of the process and your frosting should still come together smoothly.

If successful, you will have created a satiny smooth frosting that you will surely fall in love with!!! =)