For the Love of Food : French Buttercream

Thursday, February 27, 2014

French Buttercream

Its silky, creamy , smooth and one of the best frosting ever

After refrigeration

Before refrigeration

Now here is the only fact that makes any sense when it comes to frosting, it is hugely subjective. So while some like it fluffy , some like it rich and so if you are the kind who loves frosting with whipped cream you might or might not like Buttercream frosting since it is rich, creamy yet fluffy and melts in the mouth but when your base is butter you cannot but have a rice silky taste to it. I for one am crazy for butter cream and after much trial and errors found my favourite Buttercream recipe. You see there are a number of ways to make buttercream, you can use the most simple format of butter and sugar alone which is way too heavy for my taste, then there is the meringue based one which is very light and airy and needs you to whip your egg whites separately but I for one am simply in love with French buttercream, silky, smooth, fluffy which vanishes in the mouth it is a pure sinful delight. Of course I am yet to try the custard based buttercream but well with the huge success of this French sensuous buttercream I for one have the highest respect for French cuisine. This is egg based, more precisely yolk based but as far as the smell is concerned with the whipping that goes in I for one have never found it smelly, besides if you have had egg based mousse you are good to go. Now living in a tropical country means it is hot and humid the entire year round and so I use a little bit of double dairy cream. Besides, since I use a non electrical hand held whisk I have found that this addition of cream results in that homogeneous silky buttercream else it is not homogeneous (all from experience)

So what you need is :-

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4th cup water
350 gm butter
120 gm double dairy cream whipped to soft peaks

Whipped cream

Whip your cream and keep it in the refrigerator. Now prepare your syrup before you begin work and let it cool for a few minutes while you whip your egg yolks to a stage where it is pale and fluffy and then slowly incorporate the syrup bit by bit. You have to be super fast with the whisking else the eggs will scramble from the heat. What you shall first have when you have whipped all that syrup with the yolks is a foamy mixture , well you do need a lot of strength (of course if you are using an electric whisk I wouldn't be able to help and it would take you less time and not require too much skill but I for one am with the French when it comes to cooking and like it hand held old fashioned )

Before the addition of syrup

Whip this till it reaches the stage of whipped cream and then add the butter bit by bit for a homogeneous butter cream once you have incorporated all of this slowly fold in the whipped cream . If you are adding any flavours do it now. When making caramel flavoured buttercream you have to be extra careful since caramel has a very high temperature which can inevitably result in scrambled yolks. For that make a caramel sauce and incorporate that. If making coffee flavoured butte cream simply make 6 tablespoonful of strongly brewed coffee and whip with the butte cream .

Emulsion of egg yolks and sugar syrup

Let it sit in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before using since ours is a tropical country but no more than 5 else it will become stiff whip and use . With experience I have gained a valuable tip of using frosting in a tropical weather. Apply your first layer on the let it sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before applying the second cake base and then the frosting but do not let it sit for too long else it will before stiff and you shall not be able to make the base sit properly on the previous layer of buttercream.