A while back I mixed up a batch of Swiss buttercream to test out its timing elements using a lift bowl KA mixer. And while simple ingredients, it isn't a cheap recipe: almost a dozen egg whites, a pound and a half of butter, plus sugar and vanilla. Once the meringue was beaten and all the butter was added, it looked...curdled. But Maria assured me it would smooth out. So I froze that batch for future use, even though it didn't look quite right.
That use came last weekend, when I decided to bake cupcakes for the reopening of my local library, closed 3 month for structural repairs. I pulled the icing out of the freezer on Friday and put it in the refrigerator. Then I put it out on the counter on Sunday morning and baked 2 dozen Devil's Food cupcakes.
Monday morning, I plopped the icing back into the KA lift bowl and started whipping it. And whipping it. For over 10 minutes, I whipped that sucker. And finally--like a mother who must eventually admit her child does look like a gnome--I had to admit this icing looked like mashed potatoes.
And not the GOOD kind of mashed potatoes.
But time was running out to deliver cupcakes by noon. I filled a pastry bag and tried piping a swirl, but the icing was so dense I couldn't push it out of the bag. I squeezed it back into the bowl and added a scoop to each cupcake, then smooshed that down.
Now it looked like mini Shepherd's pie.
So I added sprinkles, because who doesn't love sprinkles. Sadly, sprinkles merely added a note of WTF to my mashed potato cupcakes.
I delivered them and came home, determined to figure this out. Now remember, I'm 3,000 feet in the NC mountains and the outside temperature was 25. I had my propane fireplace set for 70, but the house was only 69 degrees. So I set the furnace to 72 and the stove to 72, moved the icing to the tilt head mixer, switched to the paddle, plugged in my blow dryer and warmed up the bowl for 10 second bursts around the perimeter and underneath. And I beat it. While swearing. A lot.
After 3 minutes or so (with the house temperature now at 72) I could see the texture was changing and hope trickled to the surface. The emulsification of two immiscible objects is a capricious thing. And, yes, I had to look that word up. The eggs can't be too hot or they'll scramble. The butter can't be too hard or too soft. The environment can't be too hot or too cold, nor can the bowl. Fickle! Thy name is Buttercream!
I kept repeating the mantra "Maria says it will smooth out. Maria says it will smooth out" in between severe bouts of swearing.
And darn if it didn't!
That use came last weekend, when I decided to bake cupcakes for the reopening of my local library, closed 3 month for structural repairs. I pulled the icing out of the freezer on Friday and put it in the refrigerator. Then I put it out on the counter on Sunday morning and baked 2 dozen Devil's Food cupcakes.
Monday morning, I plopped the icing back into the KA lift bowl and started whipping it. And whipping it. For over 10 minutes, I whipped that sucker. And finally--like a mother who must eventually admit her child does look like a gnome--I had to admit this icing looked like mashed potatoes.
And not the GOOD kind of mashed potatoes.
But time was running out to deliver cupcakes by noon. I filled a pastry bag and tried piping a swirl, but the icing was so dense I couldn't push it out of the bag. I squeezed it back into the bowl and added a scoop to each cupcake, then smooshed that down.
Now it looked like mini Shepherd's pie.
So I added sprinkles, because who doesn't love sprinkles. Sadly, sprinkles merely added a note of WTF to my mashed potato cupcakes.
I delivered them and came home, determined to figure this out. Now remember, I'm 3,000 feet in the NC mountains and the outside temperature was 25. I had my propane fireplace set for 70, but the house was only 69 degrees. So I set the furnace to 72 and the stove to 72, moved the icing to the tilt head mixer, switched to the paddle, plugged in my blow dryer and warmed up the bowl for 10 second bursts around the perimeter and underneath. And I beat it. While swearing. A lot.
After 3 minutes or so (with the house temperature now at 72) I could see the texture was changing and hope trickled to the surface. The emulsification of two immiscible objects is a capricious thing. And, yes, I had to look that word up. The eggs can't be too hot or they'll scramble. The butter can't be too hard or too soft. The environment can't be too hot or too cold, nor can the bowl. Fickle! Thy name is Buttercream!
I kept repeating the mantra "Maria says it will smooth out. Maria says it will smooth out" in between severe bouts of swearing.
And darn if it didn't!
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