Skip to content

Italian Buttercream

From Baking And Pastry Mastering The Art And Craft ( 3rd Ed).

No ratings yet

A historical recipe

Baking And Pastry Mastering The Art And Craft ( 3rd Ed).

Italy

Known as an Italian recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Hot sugar. Hot sugar sticks to skin and burns far hotter than boiling water: don't touch or taste it. Keep a bowl of cold water close, and keep children away while it cooks.
  • Blending hot liquid. Let it cool a little first, fill the blender no more than a third, and hold the lid down with a folded towel. Start on the lowest speed. A stick blender in the pan is safer.

Method

  1. Italian buttercream is made with meringue, butter, and flavorings.
  2. A meringue-based buttercream may be made with either Italian or Swiss meringue.
  3. The use of egg whites in Italian buttercream results in a relatively white-colored product that is very light in texture.
  4. The light color and texture of a finished Italian buttercream make it a common choice for wedding cakes or for any pastries requiring white frosting.
  5. 1.
  6. Combine sugar and water in a heavy-bot- tomed saucepan and bring to a boil over mediumhigh heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
  7. (A heavybottomed saucepan is used as it conducts heat most evenly.) Continue cooking, without stirring, until it reaches the soft ball stage (240°F/116°C).
  8. 2.
  9. Whip egg whites until frothy in a mixer fitted with the whip attachment on medium speed.
  10. (A whip attachment is used, as it best incorporates air into the product being mixed.) Beat the meringue to medium peaks.
  11. It is important not to overwhip the meringue, for a stiff-peaked meringue is resistant to incorporation into other ingredients.
  12. 3.
  13. When the sugar syrup reaches 240°F/116°C, add it to the meringue in a slow, steady stream while whipping on medium speed.
  14. Whip on high speed until the meringue has cooled to room temperature.
  15. 4.
  16. Add soft butter gradually, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
  17. Scraping down the sides of the bowl ensures a thoroughly mixed, smooth buttercream.
  18. When using a mixer that doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl, make sure also to scrape the bottom as needed.
  19. 5.
  20. Blend in vanilla.
  21. The buttercream is now ready for use or may be tightly covered and stored under refrigeration.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Electric mixer
  • Blender
  • Wooden spoon
  • Kitchen thermometer
Source not stated by archive.org
Credit

From Baking And Pastry Mastering The Art And Craft ( 3rd Ed), printed page 466, digitised by the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/baking-and-pastry-mastering-the-art-and-craft-3rd-ed

What was changed: Read by machine from the book's scanned text into ingredients and method. The title's capitals were tidied; spelling and scanning errors are left as they are.