Perfect Vanilla ButterCream Frosting

I bake a lot of plain cakes. My family is not a fan of sweet rich frosting and they prefer to have simple no frosting cakes. But I have a terrible sweet tooth and I jump at any opportunity to whip up something sweet. Now I know this space has been quite for a very long time. And thats because little A is just growing naughtier by day and did I tell you he just turned 1!!!! And I have been wanting to bake a birthday cake for long and I just baked one for little A. Its a three layered two tier cake with handmade cake bunting by my daddy! 

The bottom tier is two layers of chocolate cake with one layer of buttermilk cake and the top tier is three layers of buttermilk cake filled with strawberry mousse and frosted with vanilla buttercream. The cake was yum! And the buttercream was super fluffy and delicious. 

It was perfect. There are a million buttercream recipe out there and each has their own. But I loved the buttercream recipe from Cooking Classy. To crumb coat and cover this 8" and 6" tier cake I had to double this recipe. 

Buttercream frosting is the easiest of all frosting. Just few tips and it turns out so perfect and yum. Its a really sweet frosting unlike Swiss / Italian Meringue. 

Tips for a smooth and fluffy frosting:

• Use good quality butter at room temperature. Butter should be soft and not runny or overly melted.
• Sift the powdered sugar couple of times to make sure no lumps are there.
• Homemade powdered sugar also can be used but store bought ones are convenient and gives that smooth consistency. 
• Beat the butter really really pale. It should become almost white and fluffy.
• Make sure to scrap the side of the bowl every time you add icing sugar and beat. Once all the icing sugar is added keep beating for 3 mins. 
• If adding color add few drops at the end and mix to combine.
• Bring frozen or chilled buttercream to room temperature and beat for a min or two before using. 

You Will Need:

Makes enough frosting to fill and cover a 3 layer 8 inch layer cake

1 1/2 Cups or 340 gm of Unsalted Butter, room temperature 

500gm Icing Sugar

3 tbsp of Heavy Cream 

1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract

A Pinch of Salt

Direction:

Step 1:

Place the unsalted butter in a large bowl and cream using a hand mixer till the butter is fluffy and really pale in color. Almost white. This will take around 5 - 7 mins approx

Step 2:

Add a cup of icing sugar and beat again scraping the sides until the sugar is well combined. Continue the process till all the icing sugar is used up, adding one cup at a time. 

Step 3:

Add the vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream and beat another 3 mins. The frosting should be fluffy and light when you run your fingers onto the buttercream. Use immediately or you can store in the fridge in an air tight container. 

PS: No need to scrap the bowl clean. Leave some behind he lick off later. Its that Yum! 

Happy Frosting!

Home Made

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Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)

I already posted the recipe of Swiss meringue buttercream in my Vanilla Mango Cupcake post. But I wanted to do a separate post with more explanations and also I didn't want to lengthen the cupcake post further. The recipe is basically adapted from Dyann Bakes with a small change in butter, and am very thankful for her for being so patient in answering all my queries.

Making SMBC in a stand mixer is so easy, but it is possible with the hand held mixer too. It just takes a little more patience and elbow work.

SMBC is a very soft, less sweet and luscious type of buttercream unlike the American Buttercream made with butter & icing sugar. Its silky smooth and are great for filling and frosting cakes and cupcakes. Since its softer than the ABC, it may not hold some shapes well.

 YOU WILL NEED:

4 oz of Egg Whites, Room Temperature

8 oz of White Granulated Sugar

8 0z of Unsalted Butter, Cubed at Room Temperature

Pinch of Salt

DIRECTION:

Step 1:

Now, the equipment you are using for the buttercream must be spotlessly clean. Take a tissue and add few drops of lemon juice and wipe the bowl and beaters clean. This will remove even the tiny specks of oil from the bowl and beaters.

Step 2:

Separate the eggs and place the whites into a large metal bowl, plastic bowls don’t work well when forming stiff meringues. There SHOULD NOT be even a small amount of yolks in the whites. Eggs separate easily when they are cold. So separate them when cold and leave it to come to room temperature.

Step 3:

Bring water to simmer in a bowl. Add the sugar to whites and place over the simmering water, this method is called water bath or double boiler. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl containing the whites. Add a pinch of salt and whisk the whites and sugar using the whisk of your stand mixer or hand mixer. Keep whisking till the temperature records 160 degrees in a candy thermometer or simply whisk till the sugar completely dissolves into the whites and are not grainy anymore, and till your biceps feel Hard ;)

Step 4:

Remove from water bath and continue whisking on high with a stand mixer or a hand held mixer till the meringues becomes very sticky, glossy, white and form stiff peaks. Take the bowl and tilt it upside down over your head, if you end up with meringue pack on your head then you need to whisk more ;)

Step 5:

Once the meringue form stiff peaks and the bowl feels cool to touch add the butter one cube at a time with your machine running on medium speed. NEVER ADD butter when the whites are warm. The buttercream will become soupy. Be patient till the whites cools down.

Step 6:

Now after all the butter is added, the buttercream will begin to curdle and separate. Now, there is nothing wrong in what you are doing, its just the butter breaking down and mixing with the whites. You need to keep going and going. The buttercream will look like curdled milk with lumps and thin water separating from the butter cream. Just keep whisking on high and everything will come together beautifully. The buttercream will start to come off the sides of the bowl and appear light and cloudy.

FOR VARIATIONS:

Vanilla / Almond / Any Extract Flavorings:

Add the few drops of vanilla extract in step 6 and beat till combined.

Chocolate SMBC:

Add required cooled molten chocolate in step 6 and beat till combined.

Fruit Variations:

You can find Mango SMBC in the my Vanilla Mango Cupcake post. So, if you want a buttercream with fruit flavours beat in fruit purees in step 6. Just make sure the fruit puree you are using is thick enough so that it does not make the SMBC soupy.

Tinting Buttercream:

Add few drops of gel food colour in step 6 and beat for few mins.

STORING SMBC:

You can use it straight away or make it a day before and refrigerate until you need to use it. Then let it come to room temperature. You may need to beat it again to get it the correct consistency. Since it has egg whites It is a potentially hazardous food if left unrefrigerated.

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Happy Whipping!

Fillings and Frosting

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