The different types of buttercream
To a lot of people buttercream is buttercream! But there are actuallymany different types of buttercream, they all differ slightly to suit differenttypes of bakes and what flavours you would like to achieve.
American Buttercream
If you’ve evermixed icing sugar and butter with a splash of milk and/or vanilla extract, thenyou’ve already ticked American buttercream off the list. American buttercreamis the most popular and traditional buttercream as it’s so simple to make andit’s a great base for adding flavour and colour. It’s great for pipingdecorations onto cakes as its soft, but also holds a shape and stiffens onceleft.
Americanbuttercream is best used for filling, icing, and decorating cakes and pastries.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
A light and fluffybuttercream made from egg whites and sugar, heated to make a meringue. Thenbutter, flavouring and salt is added to flavour it. Swiss meringue buttercreamis less sweet than American buttercream. It is super smooth and light and isgreat for filling cakes or cupcakes when other jams or curds are used asflavouring. Swiss meringue buttercream is very pale in colour so it’s great foradding colour.
Check out Swissmeringue buttercream mixes likeCake Cream by Sugar Sisters andWhipping It Up by ! A quick and easy way to make Swiss meringue buttercream!
Italian Meringue Buttercream
Italian meringuebuttercream is the most difficult to make but is worth it as it is the moststable of all buttercreams. In order to make Italian meringue buttercream youhave to cook sugar to turn into sugar syrup, then stream the hot syrup into theegg white as they are whipped. Please be careful if you’re going to attemptthis one, you could pour hot syrup on you or be flicked by the whisk. Italianmeringue buttercream great for more intricate designs and warmer climates asit’s a lot more stable.
Italian meringuebuttercream has a high butter content and is rich and creamy in flavour. It isless sweet than traditional American buttercream, so it’s great to pair with arich chocolate cake!
French Buttercream
It is Identical toItalian meringue buttercream, though you only use egg yolks and not the whites.French buttercream is rich and creamy due to using egg yolks and is used forcakes, cupcakes and other similar deserts.
German Buttercream
Otherwise known ascrème mousseline, is a custard-based buttercream. It is light and smooth, andonly has a subtle sweetness. It’s best used in cream puffs, pastries, andcakes.
Russian Buttercream
Made with whippedbutter and condensed milk. It has a strong milk taste, and the texture isslightly thicker than whipped cream. It is best used on cupcakes or cakes thatwill be served quickly. It is very light so doesn’t hold up for a long periodof time, and it doesn’t cope with heat well.
Korean Buttercream
Identical toItalian meringue buttercream, though the butter is cold when beaten in,creating a completely different texture and look. It has a glossy finish, whichis slightly transparent and therefore makes beautiful, piped flowers. It isgreat for piping intricate designs on cakes and cupcakes.
American, Swissmeringue and Italian meringue are the most popular in the world of baking dueto their versatility. Buttercream can be refrigerated for up to a week in anairtight container. When you want to use it, just leave it come to roomtemperature and re-whip it, so it gets its fluffy texture back. You can alsofreeze buttercream frosting for up to 3 months! Pop it in an airtight bag orcontainer, the day before would like to use it take it out of the freezer andpop it in the fridge for 24 hours to let it thaw. Then again let it come toroom temp and whip it up! If you are defrosting a large amount of buttercream,please allow for more time for it to thaw.
We have a widerange of both unflavoured and flavoured sugars here at The Vanilla Valley whichare perfect for making buttercream! If you wish to colour yourbuttercream, we suggest using a spot of gel or paste colouring as this won’taffect the texture as much as other mediums.
