French Buttercream

Recipe courtesy Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes, Baltimore Maryland

Show: Food Network ChallengeEpisode: Challenge: Elvis Birthday Cakes

Rated: 3 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (39)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(39)

Prep Time:
20 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
about 4 pounds of buttercream (enough to ice a 3-tier cake)

Times:

Prep: 20 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: --
Total:: 20 min

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Ingredients

10 egg whites
15 ounces sugar
2 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
Special Equipment: 5-quart mixer with bowl and whip attachment, rubber spatula

Directions

*Cook's Note: Make sure to have a completely clean and dry mixing bowl when you start your process. Any fat or liquid at all in the bowl will stunt the protein development of the albumen (egg white protein) and you will not have a proper meringue at the end. The results could be disastrous.

Start whipping egg whites slowly in the mixer until foamy. Increase the speed of the mixer and slowly start adding the sugar until all the sugar is incorporated. Once all the sugar is in, increase the speed of the mixer even more and whip until the mixture is shiny and stiff. You now have a meringue. You know when your meringue is done when you pull out the whip, hold it horizontally, and if you have what looks a "sparrow's beak" on the end of the whip.

Replace the whip, turn the mixer on medium and start adding the butter a bit at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer on high and let mix; depending on the weather, the buttercream could take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to form. You will know when it has formed when you hear the motor of the mixer start to slow down and whine a little bit; also, when you first add the butter, your meringue will break down and look weird and this is what you want. When the buttercream is done, the mixture will be homogeneous, consistent, and tasty.

Remove the buttercream from the bowl and transfer to an airtight container. Buttercream can be kept at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for a 1 to 2 weeks, but always use warm buttercream when icing a cake. To warm up the buttercream, put it back in the mixer using the whip or the paddle, and apply direct heat with a propane torch you can find at any hardware store.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe French Buttercream
Kelly Piscataway, NJ 02-03-2010
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Just to clear this up
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I am a pastry chef and there are some questions on whether this is an italian, swiss, or french buttercream. The technique he... refers to by adding granulated sugar to uncooked egg whites is the correct technique for producing a french MERINGUE. French meringues are typically baked or used as bases for other products, such as buttercream. This type of meringue is also used as the topping for Lemon Meringue pie. To answer the question of it being grainy- no it shouldn't be grainy. The sugar will disolve into the water of the egg white. By slowly adding the sugar, it allows the water of the egg white to asborb the gradually to avoid a grainy texture. This meringue when finished is very shiny almost like a pearl. A French BUTTERCREAM contains whipped egg yolks with sugar cooked to the softball stage (248 degrees) or A.K.A. "pate a bombe" buttercream. Technically, for it to be a French buttercream, there needs to be egg yolks, but to make a french MERINGUE buttercream, Duff is correct. A small technicality with words. Also, this is safe to eat. The sugar and fat content of buttercream makes it nearly impossible for bacteria to grow. Lastly- this is just a base for flavors. It would be gross if isn't flavored. Italian buttercream contains egg whites whipped to a foam, then soft ball sugar syrup is added into the foam to "cook" the whites. Butter is then gradually added to form a homogenous mixture. Swiss buttercream contains egg whites and granulated sugar whipped over a double boiler until to mixture reaches 110 degrees. The mixture is then whipped until it forms a meringue. Butter is then slowly incorporated to keep the emulsion. German buttercream is pastry cream whipped with gradual butter additions until the mixture is homogenous. American buttercream contains a creamed fat with powdered sugar added to it until it's light and fluffy. A small amount of liquid like milk and extracts are commonly added.Read more
recipe French Buttercream
Lisa Syracuse, UT 12-01-2009
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French/Italian/Swiss Who Cares!! This buttercream ROCKS!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I was almost turned off by the low rating, but decided to read some of the reviews before finding another recipe to try. I... am soooo glad I did. I realized several reviews in that people were more concerned about the origins of the buttercream, not the recipe itself. WHO CARES!! Rate a recipe on easy of use and taste, not whether it is labeled the way you think it should be. Anyway, after reading I decided to try it out. I added a bit more sugar as indicated by some of the reviewers and mixed it for 15 minutes. I had already made the Old Fashioned Cupcake recipe listed on this website and used this buttercream to frost them for a family night treat. For the adults, I mixed in a little thickened and cooled raspberry syrup into the buttercream for a little gourmet flavor. My kids, husband and parents gobbled up all the cupcakes licking their fingers in satisfaction. I am actually going to try to cut back on the butter next time just to save a few calories. Can't wait to make them for the whole family at Christmas. I am a huge fan of Duff and this recipe just proves he is the king of cakes! Read more
recipe French Buttercream
Melissa Douglasville, GA 11-28-2009
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Do you like icing your cake with a stick of butter??? Then this recipe is for you!
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

I made this recipe for my family for Thanksgiving after seeing it advertised on the Food Network and it was AWFUL. I am an... experienced baker and thought it was odd that it didn't have more sugar in it than it did in order to cut the greasy taste of the butter. But I trusted Duff and made it EXACTLY as he said. It spread on the cake very easilty but when I served it to my family no one would eat it. They all said it tasted like I had spread a stick of butter on the cake. I finally had to throw the cake out. I was VERY disappointed. I wish I had read the reviews before I made it. Read more
recipe French Buttercream
Brian Florence, TX 11-01-2009
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Sorry to tell you
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

But this isnt a recipe for a french buttercream. French buttercream is made from egg yolks being whipped in a mixing bowl.... and in a pot you have equal parts water and sugar cooked to 240 F (softball stage) and you pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl when your egg yokes are pale yellow (pale ribbon stage). Pastry Chef BrianRead more
recipe French Buttercream
diana blacklick, OH 10-19-2009
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Not What I Expected?
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

It was very fluffy and airy and I lived that about it but it was not flavorful at all? tasted like a stick of butter? Is is... supposed to taste like that? Maybe I did something wrong? I won't make this again but I love the texture went on the cake really well... I am glad I did not make this to give to someone... I guess I need to fiddle with it? Just not what I expected it to be at all. Very dissapointed.Read more
recipe French Buttercream
J. Knoxville, TN 09-21-2009
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Egg white measurements
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

A standard measurement in any baking is for one LARGE egg. Not ex-large, not medium, not jumbo. Just large. That said,... one LARGE egg equals 1oz liquid measurement. So if you're using pasteurized egg whites from a carton, 8 oz liquid egg whites would equal 8 LARGE egg whites. Otherwise, most Americans call "buttercream" the faux candy paste they make from powdered sugar and crisco. This is NOT buttercream. It's a candy paste and is cloyingly sweet, most times. Euuugh! This is a true buttercream, although the semantics of which could be argued for days amongst those who want to give area types such as "French, Italian, yadadadada..." -----it is delicious and different from the candy paste most of us are used to on cakes. Try it---you may find a bit of something new out there. But yeah. One oz of whites.Read more