This is one of the simplest frostings around. It is made by beating butter and confectioners’ sugar together and loosening the mixture with a little bit of liquid until it becomes spreadable. It is rich, dense and sweet, and it melts easily in heat.
Buttercream takes flavor like a champ. Add chocolate, coffee, coloring, flavored liqueur, fruit concentrates, citrus or extracts at the very end of beating.
Royal icing is most commonly used for decorating cookies and has a hard, dry finish. Alton Brown uses pasteurized egg whites to whip up his simple version. It is easy to color and can be made a day in advance.
This buttercream is stable, light-textured and less sweet than the American version. It's made by whipping sugar and egg whites in a double boiler until light and fluffy, then beating room-temperature butter into the cooled meringue until glossy and smooth. While you're incorporating the butter, the frosting often appears to curdle; keep whipping and it will fix itself.
Alton's indulgent whipped cream frosting comes together with the help of one surprising ingredient: a pinch of cayenne to complement the rich cocoa powder and balance out the sugar.
Similar to the Swiss version, this stable, fluffy buttercream is perfect for piping. It's made with an Italian meringue base in which heated sugar syrup is beaten into egg whites until stiff peaks form; small pieces of butter are then mixed in to make the frosting rich and smooth.
This rich, silky frosting is made by adding sugar syrup to whole eggs and egg yolks, then beating in butter for a very rich — yet light — texture. A high fat content and a beautiful pale-yellow color make this a superb buttercream for frosting and filling cakes.
