Subtly Sweet Italian Buttercream Bliss

My rendition of Italian meringue buttercream recipe  is way less sweet than a traditional American buttercream. Italian meringue buttercreams are traditionally pretty sweet. I prefer my buttercreams pillowy, velvety, and just lightly sweetened—which is what this is. 

It’s the old principle where you can always add more but you can’t make it less. So in my opinion, less sweet is better with desserts so there’s no danger of overload. Especially when desserts typically have many elements where sweet can become too sweet very quickly, like this Petit Four recipe with fondant. 

This buttercream is so good I can eat it by itself and by the bowlful. Never in a million years would someone guess that there wasn’t cream in buttercream since it tastes like sweet cream ice cream without the cold. It’s what dreams are made of. Instead of cream, we use…

Butter!

Let’s talk about butter for a minute. According to a professional baker’s taste test from tasteofhome.com, here are some results of rating the best brands of butter to use for baking.

1. Land O’ Lakes European Style Super Premium Butter with exta milk fat content was number one on their list. This butter is reported to have the most velvety texture.
2. Freis Von Kiel Country Fresh Butter, a Wisconsin made butter with an ultra silky texture and look.
3. ShurFine Sweet Cream Salted Butter, a generic brand also from the grasslands of Wisconsin.

To salt or not to salt?

There is some debate amongst bakers about whether to use salted or unsalted butter. I don’t think it makes too much difference when it comes to frosting but more a matter of taste. For most, I think that salted probably makes the most sense since it’s usually what you have on hand. 

But for the baker who wants a precise amount of salt used for taste, the unsalted would be a baking “gold standard”. This gives the chef the ability to use an exact amount of salt. See this online discussion on the salt or no salt subject. 

The problem being that the salt content varies with different brands of butter. So if you’re more sensitive to salt, then using unsalted would help keep it to a minimum.

Of course, these days, it’s more popular to salt the cream as a flavor highlighter. Salted Cream seems to on every menu from coffee to cakes. Sea salt is a good alternative if you’re choosing more for flavor than function.

The importance of Sugar

The secret to the desired firmness, i.e. piping a cake, is to increase the amount of powdered sugar, simple syrup (like this Italian Buttercream), or cream of tartar, depending on the kind of frosting you’re making. These are the key ingredients that help it to stiffen properly. Otherwise it can get too soft if you have to leave it out on the counter at room temperature–soft is perfect for that layered cake you have your eye on. If you put it in the fridge, then it becomes very stiff.

Mixer

You can use a stand-up mixer or a handheld mixer. The biggest difference is how long it will take to come together. If you are okay with an arm workout, a handheld mixer will work just fine, just be patient and make sure your ingredients are all at room temperature, or as listed below.

You’ll love the beautiful white color of Italian Buttercream because there are no egg yolks in this recipe.

Print

Italian Meringue Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Resting Time

10 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Buttercream is very easy to make in theory, as far as number of ingredients go! The problems lie in the delicate and fragile process. You cannot make any kind of buttercream (that isn’t American buttercream) without a candy thermometer or mixer. They are crucial to the success of a Italian buttercream to make sure that the 75 degree heat is maintained.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I prefer bakers fine sugar) (though not my personal preference, add an extra 1/2 cup for a more dependable piping frosting)
• 1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 5 egg whites, make sure there are no yolks in the whites, otherwise this will affect the color of your frosting and the stiffness of the meringue
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or use vanilla beans
• 1 1/2 cups butter, cubed - can be room temperature or refrigerated, but make sure you read the instruction section before adding the butter.

Instructions

Saucepan on stovetop

1. In a saucepan mix the sugar and water and heat until the sugar dissolves and it reads 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. It should get to the soft ball stage.

Bowl on counter

1. In a bowl, whisk or whip the egg whites until there are soft peaks.  Make sure there is no yolk for a perfect meringue. Then, add cream of tartar and continue to beat until there are stiff peaks.

2. Once the saucepan reaches 235 degrees add salt and vanilla. Then pour the cooked sugar syrup, while the mixer is running, in a steady stream into the whipped egg whites. This will ensure the egg whites cook evenly. The batter should look fluffy with no clumps.

3. Cool the egg mixture to about 80 degrees. 

4. Slice the butter into cubes.

5. Add the butter to the mixture very slowly. Use your candy thermometer to make sure the temperature doesn't drop below 75-76 degrees (this is about the perfect temperature to keep it). 

6. Beat until silky smooth and glossy; about 5 minutes, while continuing to watch the temperature. 

Helpful Hints

1. *Have a cold pack and a blow dryer on standby in case it curdles or gets soupy. This is correctable if the temperature is relatively close to 75-80 degrees.

Recipe Notes

Add 4-8 oz. of cream cheese after completing your base frosting for a fluffy cream cheese frosting!

If you need an extra stiff piping frosting, add an extra 1/2 cup of sugar to your sugar syrup.

Have an ice bath and hair dryer on standby to maintain the temperature of 75 degrees F (or get yourself a precision mixing bowl). If the temperature is not maintained, you will know because it will curdle or get soupy and not come together.

Food coloring: If you want a color, always use gel food coloring for this italian meringue buttercream recipe.

Here are some tips on troubleshooting your problem buttercream:

Buttercream is very easy to make in theory, as far as number of ingredients go! The problems lie in the delicate and fragile process. You cannot make any kind of buttercream (that isn’t American buttercream) without a candy thermometer or mixer. They are crucial to the success of a Italian buttercream to make sure that the medium heat is maintained.

Buttercreams are very temperature sensitive, so if you want to skip the problems, just get yourself a precision mixing bowl that controls temperature. I like Italian meringue buttercream because it involves making a sugar syrup that you pour into a stiff meringue base. Way easier in my opinion than Swiss Buttercream, where you have to blend the eggs on the stove with the sugar syrup. Less risk of curdling the eggs!

This is easier than it sounds. However it may require a few practice runs before you land on the right temperature and texture. That’s not a bad thing right?

If your mixer runs with a whisk attachment this is your best bet for the soft peak stage. If you prefer, you can stir by hand to achieve the soft peak stage, but then you must choose your regular mixer attachment in an electric mixer or standup mixer for the most consistent results. Remember, this is a meringue base, meaning the egg whites have to be precisely mixed so that everything cooks evenly! 

The problems that are most common come from not COOLING the meringue base properly before adding the butter. I’ve found the best time to add butter is when it’s cooled to about 80 – 85 degrees. If you’re adding cold butter or room temperature butter, still add in one piece at a time so you can maintain a consistent temperature. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to adding butter in almost anything.

Patience is a virtue when it comes to baking. Baking recipes are not the time to try to shortcut the process.

If it becomes obvious that the temperatue is not right, there is still hope to rescue your frosting. I usually keep the thermometer in the meringue to keep an eye on the exact temperature. 78 degrees is the magic number at my house! It whips into pure glossy perfection with ease.

And again, issues can usually be avoided by adding the butter slowly. If either of these issues happen to your buttercream then you can attempt to fix it first before starting over.

The two common problems with buttercream frosting:

1. Your buttercream will get a soupy texture with too much liquid.
2. Your buttercream will look curdled and separated so that it is not smooth or one color.

If your frosting looks soupy and is not making the desired soft peaks then it’s likely too hot. Or if you’re unable to scrape from the side of the bowl, you need to cool it. If this is the case, you should cool it down by wrapping the bowl in an ice bath. You can also refrigerate for about 20 – 30 minutes to get the cream back to the correct texture.

If you see that your buttercream is appearing curdled and separated then the secret trick is to use a blow dryer. You can set on medium high speed and apply on the bowl of a stand mixer fitted back. Keep it on steady heat until you see it coming together. One more good use of my Amika hair dryer.

Lastly, If your buttercream isn’t getting fluffy and glossy, add another pad of room temperature butter (to maintain that 75 degrees)

Just for fun!

Here are a few interesting flavor combos that sound delicious. I will be testing them out this season. I pulled the following from a long list of favorites from Better Home and Gardens:

• Chai Tea Breakfast: Ginger cake with Chai Tea Frosting
• Spiked Rasberry Lemonade: Lemon Cake with rasberry liquer frosting 
• Orange Popcicle: Orange zest flavored cake with a creme filling and Orange Buttercream Frosting.
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Bourbon: Sea Salt Chocolate cake with Caramel Bourbon Frosting
• Chocolate Filled Sweet Potato: Sweet potato spice cake with chocolate filling and frosting
• Cherry Almond Vanilla: Vanilla Almond Cake with a Cherry Frosting