Buttercream Bliss
I often see requests in our Facebook Bakers Groups for help with buttercream recipes or tips and tricks for working with buttercream. We do have the Baker Resource Center, https://www.cake4kids.org/resource-center-welcome, which has recipes and decorating ideas. I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned since I made my first wedding cakes in 2006!
Here we go: Everything you always wanted to know about buttercream! These are my opinions and experiences and may be very different from what you have learned and do for your bakes.
Buttercream, Frosting or Icing? What am I using? Many bakers use these terms interchangeably, however there are differences:
· Buttercream is made, primarily, with butter, sugar, and liquid
· Frosting is a broader term and can be made with butter, but usually made with shortening or cream cheese
· Icing is a thinner mixture of powdered sugar and liquid, often used for drizzling over cakes or icing cookies, and usually does not contain any fat
There are many types of buttercream – for Cake4Kids, we will focus on American buttercream, Swiss meringue, Italian meringue and a hybrid buttercream.
American buttercream (ABC) is the absolute easiest to make– butter, powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, some flavoring and water to thin. This is a thick, dense and sweet buttercream. It is VERY important to whip the butter for a good 5-7 minutes (set a timer!) to get your butter fluffy and aerated before adding the SIFTED powdered sugar. This will also lighten the color of your buttercream. After this step, I will then switch my mixer to low and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of any air bubbles and make sure the salt and powdered sugar has the best chance to dissolve.
NOTE: to avoid grainy American buttercream sift your powdered sugar, test different brands until you find one you like, and make sure that once all the butter is added (along with flavorings) you are whipping for another 5-7 minutes.
Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC) is one of my top two buttercreams that I prefer to work with. It tastes delicious, it’s not overly sweet, and is a dream to smooth on a cake and decorate with. I only use carton/pasteurized egg whites for my Swiss meringue– this way I do not need to worry about the temperature of my egg/sugar mixture, only that the sugar has dissolved.
I’ve made Italian meringue buttercream (IBC) a few times, and I really didn’t see much of a difference in flavor or performance between it and Swiss meringue. It is a little bit more complicated to make, as you need to simultaneously watch a pot of boiling simple syrup and whipped egg whites. Then, add the boiling simple syrup into your whipped egg whites without getting it everywhere!
My other leading buttercream is what I call a hybrid buttercream– if you’ve only ever made American buttercream, I highly recommend you give this a try. You may have seen me post on Facebook about Easy Buttercream– it’s like ABC meets SMBC without having to cook anything. Pasteurized Egg Whites, Powdered Sugar, Butter, Salt and flavoring. It doesn’t get easier. Because of the added liquid in the egg whites, the powdered sugar dissolves, so you don’t have a grainy texture, and the flavor is VERY close to SMBC, and not as sweet as ABC.
Here are my tips for working with Buttercream:
Always use room temperature ingredients (except eggs for meringue-based– they can be cold or room temperature). What is room temperature? About 65 F. Too cold and the butter won’t fully mix, too warm and you may have an oily, flat mess that won’t whip up.
Use good butter– unsalted vs salted, it’s up to you. I prefer unsalted so I control the salt content. If you have salted, don’t add any salt until you’ve whipped the buttercream for the full amount, then taste and adjust if needed.
Regarding salt, I always add salt in the beginning for ABC or Hybrid, so it has the longest time to dissolve. (this goes for almost any baking recipe I make too!)
Whip long enough on high speed– at least 5 minutes for ABC, 10 minutes for SMBC and Hybrid. (once the butter is added)
Drape the mixing bowl with a clean dish towel to prevent powdered sugar or buttercream from flying everywhere. The pouring shield that comes with your mixer also works.
When in doubt, whip some more– and set a timer!
For super smooth buttercream, mix with the paddle on low for 5 minutes to remove air bubbles, or take a spatula and really stir/smear the buttercream around the bowl to eliminate bubbles.
Buttercream still yellow?
Whipping longer will help lighten the butter
Add a tiny toothpick tip of Violet (not Purple) gel color and whip for a few more minutes (too much makes your frosting an ugly gray, speaking from experience!)
Add white gel color (in addition to the Violet)
For super smooth buttercream and a smooth finish to your cake, consistency is key:
The higher the fat content of your butter, the softer, lighter and fluffier it will be.
First, have patience. Try whipping for a good 5 minutes, maybe longer depending on the temperature. Many times that will bring everything together.
ABC – add enough liquid, one tablespoon at a time to get a nice smooth consistency.
SMBC and Hybrid is governed mainly by temperature:
if your butter is too cold and not coming together, microwave a half cup for 5 - 10 seconds until starting to melt, then add back to mixer and mix. Repeat if necessary.
if the meringue or butter is too hot and you have a very loose buttercream, put the bowl and whisk in the fridge for 15 minutes and then continue mixing.
For high heat and humid climates, try using Italian meringue or use ABC with half butter and half vegetable shortening.
The best way to color buttercream is to use high quality gels (I love powdered color for darker colors like red and black) and give the colors time, even overnight, to develop.
Take a small amount of buttercream (1/4 cup), mix in color, and microwave until starting to melt. By melting some fat, the water base gel color will blend easier. Then mix this small amount into your larger amount of buttercream needed for the cake.
The latest technique is to blend your food coloring in with an immersion blender – honestly, I have not tried this one yet. If you do, let me know how it works!
Lastly, remember that if your buttercream is still very yellow, it will affect how your buttercream takes color, think yellow + blue = green!
Buttercream can be flavored with just about anything– cocoa powder makes THE best chocolate buttercream in the Hybrid buttercream recipe. Add in melted chocolate (up to 6 oz), peanut butter, Nutella, espresso powder, extracts, emulsions– there are so many options out there!
Buttercreams can be stored on the counter overnight, or in the fridge one week, and the freezer 3 months. Bring to room temp on the counter, then rewhip with the paddle attachment to restore texture. If the buttercream is still not smooth enough, microwave a few tablespoons until soft and add back in– this will help warm up the butter and get everything nice and smooth again.
For a dairy free alternative, I go the ABC direction with vegan butter sticks– I also like to add a vanilla butter emulsion (I use this in my cookie glaze too– so yummy!)
If you have any questions or other tips on working with buttercream, please drop me a line at robin@cake4kids.org. Look for videos of making and working with buttercream to be posted in the coming weeks as well!