Does anyone know if there is a clear definition of buttercream frosting? I’ve found recipes calling themselves buttercream, in sources no less trustworthy than Cooks Illustrated, that are completely different. Some are the easy powdered sugar, but I also see recipes that call for eggs and granulated sugar and boatloads of butter, no powdered sugar at all.
Which leads me to believe that the chocolate frosting I have always loved and couls somehow never achieve at home with powdered sugar variations, that melting, silky satiny insanely smooth delicious stuff… is actually the egg kind.
Well, there are different types of buttercream frosting: American buttercream (as I’ve heard it called) is usually butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, a pinch of salt, and water or milk or cream. Decorator’s buttercream is a variation that uses shortening instead of butter. Then you have Swiss Meringue buttercream and Italian Meringue buttercream, both of which use egg whites, sugar, and lots of butter (mixed in different ways). I’m sure there are others out there, too, but those are the types I know of.
I haven’t made Italian meringue buttercream, but I have made Swiss - and it is VERY different from the American buttercream. Silky is absolutely the best way to describe it! It’s a pain to make, and I don’t like it for every cake, but it is good.
There are different methods of getting the buttercream you want. You want a recipe using granulated sugar which gets heated with eggs/egg whites in order to dissolve it. Classic buttercream recipes do this. One method calls for boiling sugar and water to a certain temperature, then very slowly adding it to a mixer full of beaten eggs while it’s running. Then add melted chocolate. Other recipes have you heat up the eggs and sugar together. You can use a recipe that calls for egg yolks, whole eggs, or egg whites, depending on your preference. They’re a pain in the butt to make.
You might want to try this recipe I found. I have not tried it. It’s basically a ganache with some corn syrup added, cooled and whipped. It may taste something like what you’re after. You can add some sugar before you boil it if you think it needs it. You can replace the milk chocolate with any other kind of chocolate.
Milk Chocolate Frosting
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 pounds milk chocolate, chopped
In saucepan, bring cream, corn syrup, and butter to a light simmer. While whisking, add chopped chocolate slowly. Whisk until all chocolate melted and mixture is smooth.
Pour mixture into mixing bowl, and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes, until mixture is firm. With electric mixer, whip frosting until the color lightens and holds a firm peak (appx. 2 minutes). The frosting will continue to thicken as it stands. If it becomes too thick to spread, stir gently with spatula.
Actually I’d like a classic recipe like the one you name. I found one that heats the sugar and eggs together, but I’d like one that adds the sugar syrup, since what I’d like to do is make a true buttercream, but make it a salted caramel flavor, so I want to add the caramel instead of simple syrup. All the salted caramel frostings I’ve found are confectioners sugar, and my almost-supertaster palate detects the cornstarch no matter what I do.
What you are trying to do is complicated. You cook the sugar syrup to the soft ball stage, but caramel is cooked far beyond that. You would have to make caramel, then add some water or cream to bring it back down to soft ball again. Using simple Google skills, I managed to find a recipe for just that:
I googled a lot before I put up this thread, as I said at the start I was finding different answers.
I just made the salted caramel frosting recipe that I have… it was the first time I’d ever made it. Even though it was confectioner’s sugar, it came out great. Actually a little too salty for me, which I found surprising, since I really like the salt.
I think its because I beat the hell out of the butter and sugar.
Oh, and FYI: all the recipes for the salted caramel give the same essential instruction, which is to boil sugar until it almost burns, take it off the heat and add cream.
You think it tasted too salty because you beat the hell out of it, or you think it came out great because you beat the hell out of it?
I can not imagine beating the salt into the buttercream (other than the pinch you should use in any buttercream to help with mellowing the sweetness and developing the flavor). Wouldn’t you sprinkle little bits of salt (like pretzel salt size) of it on the outside?
The recipe calls for kosher salt to be added to the butter. That’s why it’s “Salted caramel frosting” it’s quite delicious, I would just cut the salt back to about half.
I think I’m going to make more caramel and see if that offsets the salt, and if it doesn’t I’ll just double the frosting without the salt.
And yes, I know what you said in 9. I was letting you know that it’s addressed in the recipes I’ve found. And it’s not complicated at all, by the way… simplicity itself, really. You just have to be careful in the timing because it can go from caramel to unusably burned in a snap.
I’m 53. I’ve been baking and icing cakes since I was ten. I read cookbooks for fun. I’ve never heard of a buttercream frosting with eggs in it until someone mentioned it here on the boards last year. I’ve made boiled icings and buttercreams and cream cheese frosting and the chocolate frosting on the side of the cocoa box that is fabulous, but I have yet to try the kind with eggs. In fact, I’ve never come across a recipe that used that type of frosting. Maybe this is the year to try it.
Adding more caramel will make it sweeter. That’s complicating it. If you think it’s too salty, cut back on the salt.
The reason I said making the caramel is complicated is because it does burn in a snap, and people can have trouble determining when it’s dark amber but not burnt. But it sounds like you’ve got that part down well, which is the biggest hurdle.
Does your recipe use egg whites alone, or egg yolks?
I’ve used a whipped ganache with butter in it that was just lovely. You melt the butter into the cream and chocolate. Let it cool and then whip it. It’s fluffy and creamy and you don’t have to mess with eggs.