One of the most popular icing types around is buttercream, and it is so popular that there are actually 4 main types for you to choose from. These include the American, French, Italian, and Swiss. There are also newer versions of this frosting that people are gravitating towards, like Korean and German. There is even Vegan buttercream, for those who are lactose intolerant or are on a strict vegan diet but don’t want to miss out on treats that come with this tasty frosting.
American Buttercream – this is made using the standard recipe, with softened butter, milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. This is the easiest to make and what most bakeshops use for their cakes.
Swiss Buttercream – known as Swiss meringue buttercream, this particular butter-based frosting comes with egg whites, corn syrup, softened butter, and granulated white sugar in it. This is made with egg whites that are whipped in a bain marie with the sugar and syrup, then mixed in with the butter once it is thick and fluffy.
French Buttercream – this is similar to how Swiss buttercream is made but instead of using egg whites, this recipe calls for egg yolks. This usually has a light yellow tinge to it due to the egg yolks. It also tastes richer and is creamier. It is the more delicate of the bunch though and melts faster than the others.
Italian Buttercream – this type of buttercream is also similar to the Swiss type, but instead of using corn syrup, this uses sugar syrup similar to what you use when you make boiled icing. The process follows the same steps used in creating the Swiss variant and creates a more stable buttercream that does not melt as easily as the French variant.
Tips for Great Buttercream
Whichever buttercream you choose to make for your cake or pastry, there are some tips and tricks that can help make the development of such frosting easier. Here are some of them:
- Use the finest powdered sugar for a smoother and silkier buttercream – this is for the American style buttercream, although this can also be used for the others, if you are using powdered sugar to help stabilize your buttercream. Try to find the finest powdered sugar you can if you want very smooth and very silky buttercream. 10x is the finest you can find while the standard is x5.
- Make sure your butter is creamed properly – creaming the right way is the key to getting buttercream that is fluffy and the right consistency for your cakes and pastries. Make sure that you start with butter that is not too soft but not ice cold either. The perfect consistency is slightly cool but at room temperature. Cream using a hand or stand mixer until you get soft and light looking butter.
- Don’t add too much liquid – one mistake people make when they create buttercream is going by the book with the recipe they are given. This means, when they are told to prepare one cup of milk, the use one cup of milk. The liquids in your buttercream should be added in at your discretion. Meaning, you add the milk in last to adjust the consistency of your frosting. While you can add more powdered sugar to thicken your frosting, you will get an overly sweet mix that does not feel, look, and taste right in the end.
- Don’t add in too much flavoring – the same goes for when you add flavorings like jam and purees. Make sure you add only enough to give a hint of flavor and not to overpower or change the overall composition of the frosting.
