White Chocolate Italian Buttercream
I have found the nirvana of Buttercream. The top of the top of the line. This is nothing like the jaw-puckering sickeningly sweet fluff you get at the grocery bakery. I'm talking smooth, creamy and vanilla bean-y! Although the instructions seem a bit complicated and fraught with possible disaster it is actually very easy and, hey, it's mostly butter, egg whites and sugar. How hard could it be? Well, I have made it several times in the past couple weeks and I am here to tell you that you don't have to be perfect at every step. Cause, lawsy mercy, we all know I haven't been able to breach that bar! I am blessed enough to be able to practice and practice at my own leisure without having anyone to please. Well, I do have clients that need impressing at time's so there is that. But I also am able to play and change up and fix and trash anything that I don't like. Which makes for great "treats" for the kids! Just for the kids, of course! (snicker snicker). Ok, so. Here we go, lets get started!
Sometimes I find it interesting how some dishes that taste so incredible are so simple. This is all we are starting with.
White chocolate, Creme de cacao, water, sugar and egg whites.
Oh, and a whole heck of a lot of this deliciousness! Unsalted sweet cream butter. The better the quality of butter the better flavor you will have also, so be mindful of that when buying your ingredients. Of course, if you just wanted to buy the cheap stuff to start and practice with, then by all means feel free. Make notes and compare the taste.
We start by putting the sugar and water into a pan on medium high heat. Then stir slowly until the sugar dissolves. STOP STIRRING. Then take a pastry brush dabbed in water and brush it around the inside of the pan just above the sugar to allow the water to run down into the mixture carrying any sugar crystals accumulated with it. This helps prevent a lot of crystalization later on. Don't stir or shake the pan anymore. Ya don't want to agitate the mixture or a mess will ensue!
While the sugar is coming up to temp, put the egg whites in your clean mixing bowl. (To ensure properly whipped egg whites, clean the inside of the bowl and your whisk with vinegar) And melt the chocolate. I am not a double boiler kinda gal. I am not fond of the length of time it takes and the extra dishes it creates. So I just melted my slowly at 70% in my microwave stirring after every 30 seconds.
After the chocolate is melted and your sugar has reached 230 degrees, start them egg whites a whipping! Also, briefly heat up the liquor. Cold alcohol doesn't mix in well with hot chocolate, trust me! So now mix the two together and cool.
Keep an eye on your egg whites and sugar. You want the egg whites whipped at stiff peaks by the time the sugar mixture reaches 240 degrees.
When the sugar is at temp slowly start pouring it into the mixer just at the edge of the bowl. Your aim here is to let the syrup fall just above the whisk between the whites and the side of the bowl. You don't want the syrup to catch the whisk as it will throw it all over the top of the bowl instead of down into the whites.
Then you will end up with this. Lower the speed to medium and let it continue until the bowl cools. Sometimes this takes up to 15-20 minutes. However,......
I'm not that patient, so I add a bowl filled with ice underneath to help with the cooling process.
After it's cool, start adding the butter in small pieces. If the mixture starts to "curdle" don't worry, just keep whipping it will come back together. If after adding all the butter it doesn't come back together, then what I have done is to wet a hand towel with VERY hot water and wrap the bottom of the bowl in with it while the mixer is running. Take it off after it starts to smooth out.
Add the flavoring. It can be white chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla beans, vanilla extract, citrus, or just about anything else.
Whip until the flavoring is completely incorporated and this is what you have! Creamy, buttery, smooth, utterly delicious bowl of heaven. It smooths on cake very nicely and once refrigerated it solidifies well making it very easy to decorate on. So? Go on! Try it and let me know how it worked for you.
**Note: Italian Buttercream is very similar to Swiss buttercream. The difference is with Swiss Buttercream the sugar and egg whites are mixed together in a heat proof bowl and whisked over a pan of steaming water till the sugar is dissolved. Then it is placed on the mixer and whipped. No extra water is added. Also, if you don't have a kitchen food scale and you like to bake, you really should consider getting one. It comes in very handy and is more exact in measuring. Here is the one I use. It comes in a variety of nifty colors too!
Here I used the Italian Buttercream recipe and added vanilla bean paste to it for flavoring. See the leeetle specks? And ya'll don't be making fun of my roses. It was my first try at them and I tried my best. It'll get better with practice, right?
White Chocolate Italian Buttercream
Adapted from "On Baking: A textbook of pastry and baking fundamentals"
Yield: Approximately 5 lbs
Ingredients:
1 lb. 14 oz. Granulated Sugar
8 fl. oz. Water
9 oz. (approx 9) Egg Whites
2 lb. 6 oz. Unsalted Butter, softened
3 fl. oz. White Creme de cacao
8 oz. White chocolate, melted
1. Cook the sugar and water to 242 degrees F, then pour into measuring container with a handle for ease in pouring.
2. Start whipping the egg whites when the sugar reaches 235 degrees F
3. When the whites are whipped to firm peaks, add the hot sugar syrup slowly while continuing to whip at low speed. Whip until completely cool.
4. Add the butter in small pieces and whip until smooth.
5. Add the creme de cacao to the white chocolate. Whip until smooth, and then add the chocolate to the buttercream.
Variations to add to basic buttercream icing.
Chocolate Italian Buttercream - Add 0.5 fl.oz. vanilla extract then stir in 10 oz melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate.
Lemon Buttercream - Add 2 fl. oz lemon extract and 0.4 oz grated lemon zest.
Coffee Italian Buttercream - Add 2 fl. oz. coffee extract or strong coffee.