Working my way through the buttercreams!
American Buttercream – so far my favorite I think. It is the frosting of the grocery store bakeries, sweet, puffy with a thin crust on it when it air dries. I have found that if I go halvesy using butter and margarine, it is a bit more to my liking. Just a little less intense in the butter department. I do like sweet things, though, and this is definitely very sweet.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream – tried this earlier in the week. This one you cook the egg whites with sugar until the sugar dissolves (5-10min) and then beat 10 min or so, then add butter, then beat another 10 min or so. This one came out well and held the jam taste very well; it is pillowy, no crust to it, and not that sweet. Was not that hard to make although the note to myself says to make sure the sugar dissolves all the way and ideally to use a candy thermometer. The long beating time is key though, so time it. And so far one of the best ways to get the jam taste to shine through. Note: if you want the pillowy texture, eat at room temp. If you want more of a solidified buttery texture, eat cold.
German Buttercream – had more trouble with this one. You make an egg custard first on the stove which I did successfully, then, when cool, beat that into whipped butter for about 5 minutes. For some reason the custard didn’t fully incorporate, or I overcooked the custard just a little, so I had minute chunks of custard in the frosting instead of smooth, although it was not really that noticeable. More noticeable to the eye than in taste, and not nearly as fluffy, as you can see from picture below (although it would have been pipeable if I had wanted). In the example below, I flavored the buttercream with a salted caramel sauce; flavor was not overly intense but subtle. Note: if you want the pillowy texture, eat at room temp. If you want more of a solidified buttery texture, eat cold.
Ermine Buttercream – this one I tried last year. This is another make a custard first and then whip into butter, though this one doesn’t use egg in the custard, whereas German Buttercream does. This one was SO buttery tasting to me (just thick with butter, I felt like i was eating a stick of butter); although the recipe touts it as a very neutral buttercream, I wasn’t a fan.
Russian, Italian and French – Stay Tuned!
