Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

This heavenly buttercream is far superior in flavor & texture to its American relative. This isn’t the easiest recipe to make, but it is well worth the extra effort. The extra smooth & creamy texture works great for frosting or filling cakes. However, for piping decorations (like roses or basketweave finishes), use an American Buttercream recipe, which will hold up much better.

Ingredients:
1¼ cups egg whites (about 9-10 eggs whites)
3 cups white sugar
2½ cups unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature (5 sticks)
2-4 tablespoons vanilla extract to taste (use the real stuff!)
Gel food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Make sure all your bowls & utensils are completely free of oil, grease or egg yolk before you start . The presence of oils can prevent your egg whites from turning into a stiff  meringue. To be extra sure, you may want to wipe down everything with a cloth damped with lemon juice which will remove any oils.
Gently mix together the egg whites & sugar into a glass or metal bowl to incorporate.
Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water. Heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature of the egg whites reaches 140-160 degrees & all of the sugar has dissolved.

<em>Tip: This step pasteurizes the egg whites, and dissolves the sugar, so make sure you don’t take it off the water bath too early. If you don’t have a thermometer, wait until the mixture is very hot to the touch and doesn’t feel grainy between your fingers. You want it as hot as you can get it, while being careful not to cook the eggs.</em>

Transfer the heated egg whites and sugar to a large mixing bowl or stand mixer.   Whisk at high speed with a until it forms a stiff meringue, or about 10 minutes. \

Tip: It is important to transfer the mixture into a new bowl before mixing because you will need to cool down the eggs before you can add the butter. If the meringue still feels too warm to the touch after whisking, wrap the bowl in an ice pack, or place in the fridge for a bit before adding the butter.

    Once you have a stiff meringue that has cooled down, remove the whisk attachment and replace with a paddle attachment (if you have one). Mix on medium speed while adding the cubes of butter. Mix in vanilla.

    Once the butter & vanilla has been added, especially if the meringue was not cooled enough, the buttercream may begin to become soupy, or look curdled. Mix on high speed until the buttercream thickens up into a smooth thick frosting. This can take 10-20 minutes. An ice pack around the bowl can help speed up the process.

    To color the buttercream, mix in gel food coloring a little bit at a time until desired color is reached.  Remember that the color will darken over about 24 hours.

    Tip: Using gel , not liquid, food coloring will ensure that the texture & moisture level of your fondant is not altered when you color your fondant.   If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, any baking store, or craft store with a baking section should carry gel food coloring. A toothpick is a good tool to transfer gel food coloring from the jar into your fondant.

    The buttercream should be stored in an air tight bowl for up to 48 hours, or in the fridge for up to one week. To use after refrigeration, take 1/4 of the buttercream batch, and microwave it on low heat until it begin to get warm (don’t overheat it or it will melt!). Mix the cold buttercream using an electric mixer, and slowly add in the warmed buttercream until it is all incorporated together.

    You may want to refrigerate frosted cakes due to the egg whites in the buttercream.


    Chocolate Variation: Reduce the vanilla extract to 1-2 tablespoons. After you complete the recipe above, mix in 4 oz of melted semi sweet chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is as cool as possible while still being liquid, so that it doesn’t melt the buttercream.

    Resources:
    Video Tutorial | Martha Stewart’s Orange Almond Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    Royal Icing Recipe

    This smooth, hard-drying icing is perfect for making flowers or other decorations that last at long time. It is also useful as a “cement” to fasten decorations together. Decorations can be made ahead of time, and stored for months in a dry, dark place.

    Royal icing dries very hard, so although it is edible, it is not usually eaten (although you could use decorations to sweeten coffee or tea like sugar cubes).

    Ingredients:
    3 tablespoons Meringue Powder (powdered egg whites)
    4 cups (about 1 lb.) powdered sugar
    6 tablespoons warm water
    Gel Food Coloring (optional)

    Yield: About 3 cups of icing.

    Directions:
    Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency. Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

    Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free
    spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.

    Tips:
    Use freshly purchased powered sugar, or sift sugar before use. Even tiny clumps in your royal icing will make it very difficult to pipe.

    When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

    Keep royal icing covered wth a damp cloth whenever you are not using it (including the tip of piping bags when not in use). Royal icing dries very quickly, and you don’t want a clog to form.

    Using gel , not liquid, food coloring will ensure that the texture & moisture level of your icing is not altered. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, any baking store, or craft store with a baking section should carry gel food coloring. A toothpick is a good tool to transfer gel food coloring from the jar into your icing.

    Recipe Source: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing

    Suggested Uses:
    Royal Icing Flowers
    Brush Embroidery
    Color Flow Designs

    American Buttercream Recipe

    This traditional American buttercream recipe is perfect for spreading or decorating. Buttercream flowers or other piped decorations don’t hold up as well as Royal Icing decorations, but they are more pleasant to eat and can be piped directly onto a cake.

    Ingredients:
    1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
    1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (about 1 lb.)
    2 tablespoons milk
    Gel food coloring (optional)

    Yield: About 3 cups of icing.

    Directions:
    Medium Consistency: In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

    For thin (spreading) consistency icing: add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

    For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency): omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter, substitute vanilla extract for clear vanilla extract, and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.

    For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

    Tips:

    for icing cakes & fillings. buttercream tends to crack less. Using the “healthier” trans-fat free shortening will make a better buttercream flowers or other decorations. The buttercream shortening tends be create icing that hold up better for making hydrogenatedUsing trans-fat

    Using gel , not liquid, food coloring will ensure that the texture & moisture level of your icing is not altered. If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, any baking store, or craft store with a baking section should carry gel food coloring. A toothpick is a good tool to transfer gel food coloring from the jar into your icing.

     

    Recipe Source: www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing

    Suggested Used:
    Frosting a cake (with or without a fondant covering)
    Filling a cake
    Piped Flowers

    Brush Embroidery

    Brush embroidery is a beautiful technique that is more impressive than difficult. It involves tracing an image with icing and then using a damp paint brush to pull the icing in towards the center to fill in the image. Using this technique you can make a multicolored pattern on a white fondant cake, or a white pattern on a colored fondant cake.
    You can also make adorable cookies using this cake decorating technique.

    Tools:
    Small Food Safe Paint Brush
    Cup of water
    Cloth or Paper Towel
    Piping Bag with small round tip (Wilton #2 is a good starting point)

    Ingredients:
    Thin Royal Icing (recommended) or Buttercream
    Piping Gel (optional)
    A fondant covered cake

    Directions:
    Prepare icing, color as desired, & mix in piping gel to thin. Mixing piping gel into icing will help it from drying out as quickly and make the brushing easier. Royal icing is recommended, but butercream may also be used.

    Fill piping bag(s) with desired icing color(s). Use a small round tip, but you may want to try a few sizes to see which works best with your pattern.

    There are several methods for transferring as design onto your cake.

    • You can freehand a design.
    • You can trace a design onto tracing paper with a food safe pencil, flip the tracing paper over onto the cake, and then retrace the design to transfer the pattern to the cake.
    • You can lay a design over the cake, and use a toothpick or other sharp object to pierce the cake along the lines of the design.
    • You can use cookie cutters and empress a design into a freshly covered fondant covered cake (if the fondant has sat to long, it may not take the image impression.)
    • Using a piping bag & icing, you can trace an image onto a flat solid surface (like a sheet of glass or plastic). Once it has dried, flip over the piped pattern and use it to impress the image onto a freshly covered fondant cake. (if the fondant has sat to long, it may not take the image impression.)

    Once you have a patern on your cake, start pipe a small section of the pattern starting with the background first. Before the icing can dry, use a damp (not wet) brush to pull the icing from the outline towards the center of the design. Use long strokes going the same direction. Continue piping & brushing more sections of the pattern until it is completed.

    Tip: Keep the tip of your royal icing piping bags covered wth a damp cloth whenever you are not using it. Royal icing dries very quickly, and you don’t want a clog to form.

    Resources:
    Google Images Brush Embroidery
    Wilton Brush Embroidery Tutorial
    Elaine MacGregor Video Tutorial:

    Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

    Marshmallow fondant is a wonderful alternative to the standard store bought variety. It is easy to make at home, and has a much better flavor. Use fondant to cover a cake for a professional finish, or cut out designs with cookie cutters.

    Tools:
    Microwave Safe Bowl
    Stiff large kitchen spoon
    Rolling Pin

    Ingredients:
    1 lb. bag mini marshmallows
    2 lb. bag powdered sugar
    2-5 Tbs. water
    1/2 cup shortening
    1 tsp. vanilla or almond flavoring (optional)
    Gel food coloring (optional)

     Directions:

    Place mini marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl and add 2 Tbs. of water. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, remove and stir. Return to microwave for 30 more seconds, remove & stir again. Continue this process until all the the marshmallows have melted. This process can take 2-3 minutes of total microwaving time.

    Stir in flavoring, if desired. Add about 2 cups of powered sugar to the melted marshmallows and mix. Continue to add powered sugar about 1 cup at a time and mix until the mixture gets to tough to stir with a spoon.

    Grease your hands thoroughly with  shortening. Turn out marshmallow dough onto a well greased surface and knead in the remaining powdered sugar by hand. Continue to knead fondant until the ingredients are well combined.

    Add water as needed, 1 Tbls at a time, if fondant is too dry. if fondant is too sticky, add more powered sugar.

    To color fondant, first put on food safe gloves (so you don’t dye your hands) and cover them in shortening. Knead in gel food coloring a little bit at a time until desired color is reached.  Remember that the color will darken over about 24 hours.

    Keep fondant covered in an air tight container in fridge for up to 4 weeks.

    To use, roll out on a greased surface using a greased rolling pin to about a 1/8″ to a 1/4″ thickness.

    Tips:

    Use freshly purchased powered sugar, or sift sugar before use. You do not want clumps in your fondant.

    Using gel , not liquid, food coloring will ensure that the texture & moisture level of your fondant is not altered when you color your fondant.   If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, any baking store, or craft store with a baking section should carry gel food coloring. A toothpick is a good tool to transfer gel food coloring from the jar into your fondant.

    Resources:Peggy Weaver’s Photo Tutorial