This recipe contains eggs.
You're probably going to say "Ewwww eggs in buttercream?" but I assure you this is delicious. It takes a little more work that American Buttercream, but my husband says it's worth the extra effort.
Note: I would recommend that you have a thermometer that can read 160 F, so either a meat thermometer or candy thermometer or one of those cool laser gun thermometers.
In the recipe, you'll be using egg whites. I would suggest that you purchase pasteurized eggs whites in a carton, but if that's not possible, you will be cooking this so you should be cooking all the bacteria out. I just prefer to err on the side of caution and use something that has been pasteurized.
This recipe will require your full attention for the first 10 minutes. So, if you're home alone with little ones who need your supervision, make sure you try making this during nap time or after they've gone to bed.
Here's what you'll need:
- 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp pasteurized egg whites
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 9 Tbsp unsalted butter cut in chunks, room temp - NOT melted. Melted butter will NOT work for this.
- the tiniest pinch of salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Here's what you need to do:
- First, find a pot that your mixing bowl will sort of sit in, but not all the way in. Sort of a double boiler.
- Next, put water in the pot. Get it to a nice simmer.
- In your mixing bowl, mix together the egg whites and the sugar. Put the combined mixture over the simmering water. You will need to constantly stir for up to 10 minutes while the mixture comes up to about 160 F (where the sugar dissolves into the egg whites). It doesn't need to be an aggressive mixing, just a light mix so that the eggs don't cook. If you do not mix constantly, then you will end up with sugary scrambled eggs. Ick. Using your thermometer, check the temp to make sure you've reached temp.
- Once at temperature and the sugar is dissolved, put your mixing bowl into your stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, let it whip on high speed for 10 minutes or until the mixing bowl is cooled off. If you're using a hand mixer, blend til the bowl is cooled off. The meringue should be getting thick and shiny.
- Turn mixer to medium speed and add butter one chunk at a time. Make sure it is well incorporated before adding the next chunk.
- Add salt and vanilla. Note that the salt is optional. It helps cut the sweetness, but this recipe isn't super sweet like American Buttercream.
- Keep mixing. It may start to appear curdled. That's ok. Keep mixing. It will turn into a beautiful buttercream. If it's soupy (maybe the egg was still too warm when you added the butter - hey, I've been there), then put the mixture into your fridge for 15-20 minutes and then try mixing again.
- Have a taste test!
This is served best fresh, but I have put it in the fridge and it still tastes great. My husband says it almost tastes like soft serve ice cream. It's easily piped.
This yielded enough for my to do a swirl (1M Wilton tip) on 8 cupcakes.
