French Buttercream
Happy 2024, friends! I took a bit of time to recover after getting sick in the new year, but I’m back and ready to get to it.
Let's talk about icing.
I’ve made classic American-style buttercream, usually with a bit less icing sugar and more salt for balance. I’ve mixed up flavoured glazes to brush on loaf cakes and piped royal icing on gingerbread.
I’ve had a long time obsession with cream cheese icing, and will pipe and spread that onto any cake I can.
However, I was yet to try French buttercream. Butter, simple syrup, salt, vanilla, and…eggs? The idea of using whole eggs plus yolks in a buttercream was a bit intimidating.
From what I read and understood of the recipe, success was contingent on:
achieving the correct temperature for the simple syrup
ensuring all other ingredients were at room temperature
mixing the ingredients in the right order
adjusting the speed of agitations and time in the mixer
My biggest fear: Would it emulsify properly?
I watched Claire Saffitz’s instructional video “How to Make Buttercream Frosting (3 Ways)” on her YouTube channel for Dessert Person and that gave me confidence. Her meticulous process was interrupted by a brief moment where everything separated womp womp. But, with a little patience it came back together again. She gave her viewers the assurance that the separation of the icing was momentary, as sometimes there is a subtle difference in temperature when you mix the ingredients. Wait a bit longer, let the mixer do it’s work, and it all comes back together again.
Well, this information did not stop my own freakout when the icing in my mixer inevitably separated. I griped aloud about how I shouldn’t try a new recipe the day where I would be bringing a cake to a party. I almost lost faith. But, my ever-supportive husband gave me a pep talk and convinced me that I should not scrap everything and start again. With renewed verve, I kept at it. And remembered that the important thing was to be patient. I crossed my fingers and waited…and I am happy to report that the icing found its way back together! I added my last ingredient, melted dark chocolate. This created a lovely ribbon effect before everything mixed together to create a milk chocolate colour.
The texture was divine. Silky smooth, luscious and rich. And, I enjoyed that the icing was not too sweet.
I paired my batch of French buttercream with a dark chocolate cake recipe that I absolutely love. And, when I tasted it I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Without realizing what I was doing, I had created an elevated version of a Deep and Delicious cake. The icing had that same almost ice-cream creaminess, and the cake was soft and moist and stuck to the roof of your mouth in the most satisfying way.
Key takeaways:
having a baking cheerleader on the sidelines really does wonders to lift the spirits
agitation increases temperature, and you can start and stop the mixer whenever you need to make adjustments
patience is often the key to baking success - that and the acceptance that sometimes you may need to scrap it all and start again, but that’s all part of the process