Buttercream question

O

oli

Well-known member
I was wondering what would happen to the buttercream frosting if I did not add as much butter as called for in this recipe?

I was thinking of cutting the butter by 1/2m or at least to 10 oz.

This is the ingredient list:

3/4 lb granulated sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

6 egg whites

1 lb unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

 
oli, two recipes I found in RLB's "Cake Bible" that use eggwhites are Mousseline Buttercream

and Italian Meringue icing. The mousseline is closer to yours, but has less sugar (7 oz), with water and liquor for additional liquids. No corn syrup.

In my opinion, buttercreams are perfection in your mouth. You don't need a lot, but what's there should have the right texture and density.

Almost every one of Rosie's buttercreams use 1 lb of butter as the base. I'm going to quote from her book simply to reassure you that you may not want to cut down the butter amount. Just use less finished icing if you are concerned.

QUOTE from Rose Levy Beranbaum (Cake Bible):

This buttercream is very light, smooth and incredibly easy to work with. It is soft enough for beautiful shell borders yet strong enough to pipe roses. Liqueur gently perfumes the buttercream, and if it is tinted, it also enhances the color. Mandarine Napolean, for example, lends the palest aura of apricot.

It is a thrilling buttercream to prepare because it starts out looking thin and lumpy and, about three-fourths of the way through, starts to emulsify and turn into a luxurious cream.

A word of cauthion: If the butter is too soft or the room too hot, what could have been a satin-smooth cream breaks down into a grainy hopelss puddle. Once the buttercream is made, however, it holds up better than any other."

Can this woman write or what! I mean, seriously...when was the last time anyone you knew used the word "thrilling" to describe icing?

 
RLB"s Mousseline Buttercream

1 lb (2 C) unsalted butter, cool but slightly soft
7 oz (1 C) sugar
2 oz (1/4 C) water
5 large egg whites (5.25 oz)
1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
3 oz liqueur, like Grand Marnier

Heat 3/4 C sugar and 1/4 C water until mixture is bubbling. Reduce heat to low.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks. Add cream of tartar. Add remaining 1/4 C of sugar SLOWLY until stiff peaks.

Increase heat over syrup until it reachs 248-250F. Immediately transfer to glass measure to stop the cooking.

Beat syrup into egg whites in a slow steady stream (avoid the beaters). Beat for 2 minutes or until icing is cool. DON'T EVEN THINK OF ADDING THE BUTTER UNTIL THIS MIXTURE HAS COOLED DOWN. (note and capitalization courtesy of Marilyn who has painfully found out that you should not try to rush this process. But if you need to: Take a large tea towel and wrap ice cubes inside it lengthwise. Wrap that around the mixture bowl to help cool down the icing.

Beat at medium speed and add 1 TBL of butter at a time. When finish, lower speed and drizzle in liqueur. Place in airtight bowl. Rewhip lightly to retain silky texture. Store 2 days refrigerated or 8 months frozen. Allow to come to room temperature before beating or it will break down and you'll lose it forever. No repairing it at that stage.

 
Its interesting, most recipes want you to pay attention to the temp

and RLB just says to boil your water.

 
You're right my mistake, I was thinking at work today, that it was not RLB, but

at another website, where they just said to boil the water and did not indicate the temperature it must be at before pouring. I've looked at so many buttercream recipes that I lost track of who said what.

 
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