There are two kinds of people in life: People who love
frosting, and people who do not like frosting at all. We all know those people
who take a beautifully iced slice of cake, scrap off all of the icing, and proceed
to eat it plain. Frosting lovers are divided up even further, into two other
categories: Those who like sweet frosting, and those who prefer it to be a
little less tongue curling. I happen to be one of those people that prefer to
have their frosting on the sweeter side.
I favor buttercream over every other frosting. Fondant looks
much sleeker, but the taste pales in comparison. I have tasted many cakes from
many different bakeries and cake shops, and have always wondered how they make
such delicious frosting. I’ve researched and tested many types of frosting. I
knew they used shortening (in professional bakeries), because it works better
for piping, but every time I tried a new recipe, it always had an overwhelming
taste of powdered sugar. The thing about powdered sugar is that it does not
dissipate, which causes it to leave that granular texture.
Knowing there was too much of a powdery texture in my
previous attempts, I turned to Swiss buttercream frostings, but found them to
be quite bland, and way too soft for detailed piping work. Powdered sugar has a
much higher sweet content than granulated sugar, and works much better for
piping designs. I knew I needed to find a happy medium. I searched far a wide
for a buttercream frosting that comes close those used at those gourmet
bakeries. After all this time, I have finally found it.
It is relatively easy to make, and rather resilient. As long
as you do not over whip your frosting, you should have a perfect bowl of
buttercream frosting.
The recipe was adapted from King Arthur Flour: Fluffy Buttercream Frosting
You will need:
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (ONLY if you use unsalted butter)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) boiling water
1/4 cup (1 ounce) meringue powder
1 tbsp Vanilla extract or any other extract (If you are using flavor oils, remember they are highly concentrated and will only take a few drops to flavor frosting)
gel food color
4 cups (16 ounces) sifted confectioners’ or glazing sugar
2 cups (2 sticks, soft butter) 1 cup of vegetable shortening (you can do all butter, but if you are planning on piping, then I highly recommend using half shortening)
Boil water, and remove from heat |
Stir in sugar and salt (if using unsalted butter) with a metal whisk. |
dissolve sugar, until a syrup forms. Allow to cool to room temperature. |
Transfer simple syrup to a mixing bowl, and add merengue powder. Beat on low, until mixture is foamy. (This will take several minutes. |
Increase speed, and beat until SOFT peaks form. Add powder sugar, and flavoring/extract. |
Add butter and shortening a couple pats at a time. Add food coloring. |
Yield: Enough frosting to fill and frost an
8" layer cake or 24 cupcakes.
2 comments:
This frosting sounds great. I have been searching for a good recipe as well. I will have to give this one a try, for sure.
I tried this recipe. It really is the best buttercream frosting ever!! It will now be my "go to" frosting!
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