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You are here: Home / Cake / Buttercream… Where to start…

Buttercream… Where to start…

March 20, 2017 by Aaron 1 Comment

You can have the best cake recipe in your town, your state, the country… or for that matter the WORLD, but if you fall short on what most dub as the best part, THE ICING, then really what do you have?

There are many things that can pose a challenge with buttercream and some of the biggest complaints are the sweetness of it, the texture of it, the work-ability of it, or its color.

Here in my province due to our food safety regulations (which I mean I’m not complaining about because I’m all about keeping people safe) we can’t use buttercreams that have a meringue base (i.e. egg whites) unless we keep them under constant refrigeration. This is fine and practical in some cases, but what about birthday parties and weddings where cakes sit out for hours on end.

This rules out some pretty delicious options like Italian Meringue, Swiss Meringue, and French Meringue buttercreams. So what does this leave us with? What other options are really out there?! American Buttercream (aka ABC)!
Defined here (yup… it’s Wikipedia).

 

“Simple buttercream (also known as American buttercream, decorator’s buttercream, and decorator’s frosting) is made by creaming together fats (butter, margarine, or vegetable shortening) and powdered sugar to the desired consistency and lightness. Typically twice as much sugar as butter by weight is used. Flavorings, in the form of extracts and oils, may also be added. Some recipes call for non-fat milk solids or meringue powder; these add a creamy texture without any decrease in stability.

The icing can form a thin crust after prolonged time at a cool temperature, which prevents sticking. This is due to the high sugar content and may be prevented with the addition of invert sugars such as glucose or fructose, which many bakers use to make imprints in for piping and lettering. Compared to other types of buttercreams, simple buttercream has a high proportion of sugar content, making it the sweetest of all the buttercreams.”

(as per Wikipedia…)

As it stands at this moment in time, I don’t share my recipe, for 1 reason only, I have developed it over the years and I do still sell my cakes locally, so it is kind of a protected secret… for now 🙂

But I wouldn’t write this post just to tease you with my amazing buttercream without leaving you with something to take away from this!

Below is a pre-recorded interactive Facebook Live video walking you through the stages of a great buttercream. Offering you some tips and tricks along the way to make yourself a successful icing.

 

So get out your butter, your icing sugar and your mixer and let’s make something tasty!

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WELCOME, I'M AARON! I am a self-taught Red Seal baker and specialty cake decorator and College Baking and Pastry Arts Instructor. I am located in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, an island as far east in Canada as you can go! I am married to an amazingly supportive wife and we have 3 very energetic boys! READ MORE

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