French buttercream's secret little helper

M

marilynfl

Moderator
So I've been reading/laughing over "Robicelli's A love story with cupcakes" by Allison and Matt Robicelli.


Apparently they have a famous bakery in Brooklyn and sell lots of stuff, including adult cupcakes (by which I mean cupcakes with booze, bacon, blue cheese, etc.)

Also they swear a lot.

Anyway, they are famous for their buttercream icing and here's what they claim makes it fool-proof: adding 1/8 tsp of xanthan gum (a thickening agent). And if the emulsion still breaks, they add a bit of guar gum, another natural thickener.IMG_3019.jpg

Maria, I know you've run into issues with your buttercream, so I'd be happy to send you a few tablespoons of both these items.
I haven't tried it yet...been busy with many other things, but I do want to.

Here is their recipe:
1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar
2 TBL corn syrup
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/8 tsp xanthan gum
1.5 POUNDS of butter, preferably European style.

I'm not going to write up the steps. It's the standard method that can be found anywhere...except for the bit of Xanthan before adding the hot sugar mixture.
 
Last edited:
marilynfl said:
So I've been reading/laughing over "Robicelli's A love story with cupcakes" by Allison and Matt Robicelli.


Apparently they have a famous bakery in Brooklyn and sell lots of stuff, including adult cupcakes (by which I mean cupcakes with booze, bacon, blue cheese, etc.)

Also they swear a lot.

Anyway, they are famous for their buttercream icing and here's what they claim makes it fool-proof: adding 1/8 tsp of xanthan gum (a thickening agent). And if the emulsion still breaks, they add a bit of guar gum, another natural thickener.View attachment 2802

Maria, I know you've run into issues with your buttercream, so I'd be happy to send you a few tablespoons of both these items.
I haven't tried it yet...been busy with many other things, but I do want to.

Here is their recipe:
1 cup of water
2 cups of sugar
2 TBL corn syrup
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/8 tsp xanthan gum
1.5 POUNDS of butter, preferably European style.

I'm not going to write up the steps. It's the standard method that can be found anywhere...except for the bit of Xanthan before adding the hot sugar mixture.
Click to expand...
Oh this is fascinating, I’m going to try this. I’d been toying with the idea of trying French buttercream. First, I need to make a rhubarb pie though. It’s difficult to find fresh rhubarb and one store has it now. (I should’ve said first I need to get over this cold, then make a pie. This darn cold has been hanging on forever.)

I’ve been searching for a way to make smb stiffer, and not really finding it. Maybe this is the trick. While piping is a dream, I’d prefer crisper edges to things like flowers using meringue buttercream.
 
Well, the only thing that I can relate to here is that we have lots of rhubarb here. So there! Not really my doing, but just the same...............HAH!

(in my next life I would like to get fancy with frostings and this will be in my take-away files)
 
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