Italian Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients:
2 cups plain sugar
2/3 cup water
5 large egg whites (no. 7)
450 gm butter, cubed, cool but not cold
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt (optional)
Pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
For the chocolate variation:
1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate, melted but not hot
Method:
- Mix half the sugar with the water in a medium saucepan and stir until sugar dissoves.
- Boil until mixture reaches 115 C. (If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, test your syrup by taking a tiny bit of syrup on a spoon and dip it into ice water. If it forms a malleable little ball when you grab it it is ready. )
- Whilst your sugar and water is heating, start whisking you egg whites. You can add the pinch of salt/cream of tartar if using. When the eggs start to look frothy, slowly start adding the remainder of your sugar.
- Continue whisking until stiff peaks appear. If your sugar syrup isn’t yet ready, stop beating your meringue so it doesn’t overwhisk
- Once your sugar syrup is ready, turn your mixture to high and SLOWLY pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl. Try and do this in a steady stream and don’t hit the whisk attachment – SUGAR SYRUP IS EXTREMELY HOT and you don’t want it splashing around.
- Keeping whipping the meringue until it is very stiff and the bowl has cooled right down (feel the bottom of it). You don’t want to be adding the butter to a hot mixture.
- Once the bowl has cooled down, switch the balloon whisk attachment for the k blade/paddle
- Start adding the butter, piece by piece, until fully incorporated and the buttercream is smooth and creamy.
- Switch back to your balloon whisk and then add any colours or flavourings and beat until light and fluffy.
- If you’re freezing or leaving in the fridge for a while, re-beat it with the balloon whisk to fluff it back up.
For the chocolate variation:
- Once the butter has been fully incorporated, pour in your chocolate all at once and immediately fold it in with a spatula or beat it in with the paddle attachment.