There are 4 types of buttercream. There is Americans style buttercream that is basically butter and sugar mixed together. And then are 2 types that incorporate egg whites. Swiss meringue buttercream is already up on my blog and YouTube channel now. Then there is my Italian meringue buttercream recipe which we are going to make today. Then there is French style buttercream that we will get into at a later date.
Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe: How to Make a Meringue.
Making a meringue is as simple as separating some eggs and then whipping those egg whites up until you get stiff peaks. But sometimes this can be tricky if you don’t follow these few rules.
Use Room Temperature Eggs
Room temperature egg whites whip up much better than cold eggs. You can do a couple of things. If you are a prepared, put together individual, unlike myself, you can let them sit out on the counter for 3-4 hours to come to room temperature before you start. If you are like me and you forget all about that, you can put the eggs in a bowl of slightly warm water for about a half an hour.
Make Sure To Have Clean Bowl
Egg whites absolutely will not whip up if there are still oils left in the bowl. This can happen if the bowl is not totally clean. Also plastic bowls can get scratches in them from just getting old and washing them. Oils can get trapped in the cracks and may not even come out when washed so it’s best to just be safe and use a glass or metal bowl.
What I do is make sure my bowl is clean and then wipe the bowl with a paper towel that is lightly dampened with vinegar. Vinegar eats away at fat so if any oils happen to be left in your bowl, the vinegar will take care of it.
Strengthen The Egg Proteins
One of the new things I learned actually is that you need to strengthen the protiens in the eggs for then to whip up properly. If you just beat the egg whites on high heat all the way through, they will not whip up correctly. They will whip up on the surface but then on the bottom you will have a puddle of un whipped egg white. You need to whip on medium heat until the egg whites become frothy and then increase to medium high until they are all whipped.
I hope you all enjoy this recipe and thank you all for reading. If you recreate this, please tag me on social media so I can see. If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider subscribing. This way, you can get emails every time I post. Have an amazing week and I will see you all in the next one.
Italian Meringue Buttercream
A aweet and creamy vanilla frosting that can be flavored as whatever you like and usind to frost or fill cakes.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup of Water
- 6 Egg Whites (Room Temperature)
- 1 Cup of Vegetable Shortening
- 3 Sticks of Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 tsp of Salt
- 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Divide 3 eggs into 2 separate bowls. Discard or save the yolks for another recipe.
- In a small pot, bring the water and sugar to a boil over high heat.
- Once at a boil, add a candy thermometer and cook to 240•.
- In the meantime, transfer the bowl with the room temperature egg whites to your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Whisk the egg whites on low speed until the mixture becomes frothy. Then crank the speed to medium high and whisk until you get medium peaks.
- Once the syrup is at 240• you can add it to the eggs whites in a slow but continuous stream while mixing.
- Continue whisking until the mixture is cooled to room temperature.
- Take the bowl off of the mixer and add in the sifted powdered sugar and salt as well as the vanilla extract. Gently fold to combine.
- Put the bowl back on the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add in the room temperature butter one half of a stick at a time. Just drop them in while mixing on high speed. Do the same with the shortening.
- After everything is incorporated, switch to a paddle attachment and mix this on medium speed until smooth. About 5 minutes. Enjoy this immediately or store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below, message me on instagram, facebook or leave me an email.