Warnings to newbies with this recipe. It worked perfectly for me the first time. The second?
Well, that was ALL ME SCREWING IT UP. You want the butter slightly soft, but still chilled. I focused on the "slightly soft" part of that sentence and ended up ruining THREE BATCHES of this icing.
How? she asks.
Well, I'm glad you asked because it was a fairly simple, but ultimately devastating step. I pulled the butter out of the freezer and popped it into the microwave to "soften it slightly."
Apparently, the INTERNAL temp of those sticks of butter were a lot hotter than the outside, so when I slowly added my "slightly soft butter" to my fully whipped whites, it almost immediately flattened them out.
(Confusion reigned! It worked perfectly the first time. Dump out runny mess. Clean bowl. Add more egg whites. Whip until stiff. Add butter. Melt!
(WTF! Really Swear. Start to panic. Why isn't it working?? Dump out runny mess. Clean bowl. Add more egg whites. Whip until stiff. Add butter. Melt!
(OH FOR PETES SAKE, MFing RAT BASTARD ICING!! I mean, I can swear like a sailor when it is apparent that I AM THE STUPID FACTOR IN THIS MESSED-UP EQUATION. GIVE UP! CONCEDE DEFEAT. Make chocolate ganache icing.)
THREE TIMES I TRIED IT. That's a DOZEN egg whites and NINE STICKS of butter down the drain! Literally! I was so upset I dumped each ruined batch down the drain and didn't even try saving it to see if it would whip after chilling.
Do not be me. DO NOT MICROWAVE YOUR BUTTER. DIRE THINGS WILL HAPPEN AND THE WALLPAPER WILL START TO CURL FROM THE INVECTIVES SPEWING FORTH FROM YOUR PIE HOLE.
Well, that was ALL ME SCREWING IT UP. You want the butter slightly soft, but still chilled. I focused on the "slightly soft" part of that sentence and ended up ruining THREE BATCHES of this icing.
How? she asks.
Well, I'm glad you asked because it was a fairly simple, but ultimately devastating step. I pulled the butter out of the freezer and popped it into the microwave to "soften it slightly."
Apparently, the INTERNAL temp of those sticks of butter were a lot hotter than the outside, so when I slowly added my "slightly soft butter" to my fully whipped whites, it almost immediately flattened them out.
(Confusion reigned! It worked perfectly the first time. Dump out runny mess. Clean bowl. Add more egg whites. Whip until stiff. Add butter. Melt!
(WTF! Really Swear. Start to panic. Why isn't it working?? Dump out runny mess. Clean bowl. Add more egg whites. Whip until stiff. Add butter. Melt!
(OH FOR PETES SAKE, MFing RAT BASTARD ICING!! I mean, I can swear like a sailor when it is apparent that I AM THE STUPID FACTOR IN THIS MESSED-UP EQUATION. GIVE UP! CONCEDE DEFEAT. Make chocolate ganache icing.)
THREE TIMES I TRIED IT. That's a DOZEN egg whites and NINE STICKS of butter down the drain! Literally! I was so upset I dumped each ruined batch down the drain and didn't even try saving it to see if it would whip after chilling.
Do not be me. DO NOT MICROWAVE YOUR BUTTER. DIRE THINGS WILL HAPPEN AND THE WALLPAPER WILL START TO CURL FROM THE INVECTIVES SPEWING FORTH FROM YOUR PIE HOLE.