Frostings and Fillings II

Today I went through a ridiculous amount of butter.  Then again, four buttercream recipes will do that.  I had the day off, so I decided to knock out a few more of the frostings and fillings from the Basics chapter.  I started with something that I was already very familiar with, the Sweetened Whipped Cream on page 38.

Making whipped cream from scratch is something I even show my students in my science class, so this was something that I felt immediately comfortable creating.  There's not much more to it than whisking everything together until the lipids expand and thicken the mixture into whipped cream.

I had some friends during this recipe.  :)

The next recipe was Ganache on page 38.  This was my first time ever working with crème fraîche.  It's somewhat tangy, and I like it.

This recipe required the use of the double boiler again, with the chocolate chips going in first.

Once they have fully melted, you are ready.

Add the crème fraîche and the butter, and resume whisking.

That's it, you are pretty much done.

The book informs you that this frosting should sit out for several hours, during which time it will firm up as it cools.  You will see another picture of this later, and it will have turned much darker.  It's somewhat intense, and as it lacks sugar it seems a bit odd for a frosting.

Up next was the first in a series of dents to the world's butter supply, the Buttercream on page 38.

I tend to review a recipe several times before going at it, mostly to set a battle plan.  For this one, as it required continuous mixing, I opted to use my stand mixer with the beater/scraper blade.

You begin by placing the eggs and sugar in a double boiler.  DO NOT HESITATE to start whisking, otherwise you will have scrambled eggs pretty quickly.

Working quickly, you will achieve a thick and creamy consistency.  You are ready for the next step.

Transfer the mixture to the stand mixer as quickly as possible to keep the eggs from cooking, then start adding in the butter a little bit at a time.

When it is all finally incorporated, turn the mixer on high for a bit to add a bit of volume to your buttercream.

Holy Hannah, this was delicious!  I've tried making buttercreams in the past, but they turned out to be rather unimpressive.  This recipe now has a star next to it in my book.  It is a keeper!

Following this was the Easy Buttercream on page 39.  Spoiler alert:  It wasn't easy!

For this recipe, you have to use what is called a bain marie, which is a little different from a double boiler.  A double boiler uses steam to heat the bottom of your cooking vessel.  A bain marie uses simmering water on the sides of your cooking vessel.  I didn't want to purchase a bain marie, so I fashioned one instead.

The first thing you have to do is to bring your milk to a gentle boil.

While this is going on, whisk your egg yolks.

You have to add the milk to the egg yolks.  If you just dumped it all in at once, you would have scrambled eggs floating in milk.  You do not want this.

You have to use a method called tempering.  Take just a small bit of the milk, add it to the egg yolks, and whisk immediately.  Repeat this a few times, only adding in a very small amount of milk at a time.  You are slowly raising the temperature of the egg yolks without cooking them.

Once the milk has been fully whisked in, return the milk/yolk mixture to the sauce pan, and place in the simmering water.

Stir this with a wooden spoon until the sauce becomes thick enough that when it coats a spoon and you run your finger along it, it will hold that stripe.

Begin beating in your butter.

How in the world is this "easy?"  This was a royal pain, and the results were mediocre at best.  The regular buttercream was easier, faster, and significantly better.

It was time for some chocolate!  The Chocolate Buttercream on page 39 was next.

Like yesterday, you need to boil sugar and water.  Today, though, it only needed to achieve the small-thread stage, which is at 220 degrees.

While the sugar is boiling, you can whisk your egg whites until they reach the soft peak stage.

Once the sugar is ready, drizzle it into the egg whites, whisking/beating the whole time.  As a side note, be careful where you drizzle.  Keep the sugar mixture off of the sides of the bowl and the whisk/beaters.  It will harden too quickly and not be mixed in with the egg whites.  If you are successful, your egg whites will turn glossy.

Add in the cocoa powder.

Beat in the butter, and you are done!

Here it is, sitting next to the Ganache that has been sitting out for a couple of hours now.

Finally, it was time for my last recipe of the day, the Coffee Buttercream on page 39.

I went back to the stand mixer for this one, starting off with just the butter.

Eventually the butter will hit the "creamy" stage, which is when it is ready to take on other flavors.

Let me make this perfectly clear.  You are about to add in confectioner's sugar.  Use the slowest possible speed on your mixer, and take your time!  Using too high of a speed right away will result in a mushroom cloud of sugar in your kitchen.

Dissolve two teaspoons of instant coffee into one teaspoon of hot water.  This will give you a coffee syrup.

Mix that into the butter cream, and you have instant awesome!

This was my second favorite recipe today, and I really don't even enjoy coffee all that much.  I think that the stand mixer is the way to go for buttercreams.  It produced much better results than either of the other methods.

Ten more frostings and fillings to go!