For BabelBabe
1- You're welcome
2- Here is the recipe for a KILLER (i.e. not overrich, not leaden, not too sweet) buttercream frosting:
Vanilla Bourbon Buttercream
1¼ sticks unsalted butter, softened to pliability (Get whichever butter is freshest--with the expiration date furthest out--if possible get the organic one, BUT NOT CULTURED BUTTER.)
1 vanilla bean, split open
1½ cups sugar
1 three-fingered pinch of Kosher or sea salt (fine crystal if possible)
1/2 tsp bourbon (or rum or even vanilla extract, if you want a serious vanilla hit...just make sure it has a little alcohol, because ethanol carries the flavor compounds of vanilla better than anything else)
1 Tbsp heavy cream, cold (avoid the ultra-pasteurized stuff if at all possible...and you may want to have a little bit extra on standby if you want the frosting a bit fluffier)
Get your Kitchen-Aid's whisk attachment installed and cream the butter at medium-high (say 6 or 8, depending on the stiffness of the butter) until smooth, figure less than half a minute. Scrape out the vanilla seeds into butter and mix completely (same speed) for a few more seconds.
Put your sugar, salt and empty vanilla bean (good ones run $2 a pop, so waste not, want not) into a food processor and whiz it up until you achieve a beige talcum. Strain out any stray hunks of bean (you can save them for other uses) and marvel at your Vanilla Powdered sugar (conveniently without any cornstarch).
Add the sugar to and butter and mix at medium-low (4 on my machine) until the powdery nature of the sugar disappears, scrape the sides of bowl and cream at medium (6) until mixture is fully combined. Scrape again, add the bourbon (or rum or framboise or kirchwasser or Kahlua or vanilla extract or...) and heavy cream. Crank it up gradually (unless you wanna wear the cream) to about "8" and mix until fluffy and pale, which will be about 3.5 to 4.5 minutes. (You may wanna pause to scrape the sides of the bowl every now and again).
If for some reason you are still using one of those old fashioned eggbeater thingies, double the mixing time, figure one-and-a-half-times if you are using a regular hand mixer. This is a particularly good frosting for any chocolate cakes.
Done!
-J.
2- Here is the recipe for a KILLER (i.e. not overrich, not leaden, not too sweet) buttercream frosting:
Vanilla Bourbon Buttercream
1¼ sticks unsalted butter, softened to pliability (Get whichever butter is freshest--with the expiration date furthest out--if possible get the organic one, BUT NOT CULTURED BUTTER.)
1 vanilla bean, split open
1½ cups sugar
1 three-fingered pinch of Kosher or sea salt (fine crystal if possible)
1/2 tsp bourbon (or rum or even vanilla extract, if you want a serious vanilla hit...just make sure it has a little alcohol, because ethanol carries the flavor compounds of vanilla better than anything else)
1 Tbsp heavy cream, cold (avoid the ultra-pasteurized stuff if at all possible...and you may want to have a little bit extra on standby if you want the frosting a bit fluffier)
Get your Kitchen-Aid's whisk attachment installed and cream the butter at medium-high (say 6 or 8, depending on the stiffness of the butter) until smooth, figure less than half a minute. Scrape out the vanilla seeds into butter and mix completely (same speed) for a few more seconds.
Put your sugar, salt and empty vanilla bean (good ones run $2 a pop, so waste not, want not) into a food processor and whiz it up until you achieve a beige talcum. Strain out any stray hunks of bean (you can save them for other uses) and marvel at your Vanilla Powdered sugar (conveniently without any cornstarch).
Add the sugar to and butter and mix at medium-low (4 on my machine) until the powdery nature of the sugar disappears, scrape the sides of bowl and cream at medium (6) until mixture is fully combined. Scrape again, add the bourbon (or rum or framboise or kirchwasser or Kahlua or vanilla extract or...) and heavy cream. Crank it up gradually (unless you wanna wear the cream) to about "8" and mix until fluffy and pale, which will be about 3.5 to 4.5 minutes. (You may wanna pause to scrape the sides of the bowl every now and again).
If for some reason you are still using one of those old fashioned eggbeater thingies, double the mixing time, figure one-and-a-half-times if you are using a regular hand mixer. This is a particularly good frosting for any chocolate cakes.
Done!
-J.
Comments
1. vanilla beans are $5 each here on my island.
2. you left out who gets to like the bowl.
You poor thing! Get thee to Penzeys!
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysvanillabeans.html
Oh, and the frosting is best made in secret, so as to make moot the matter of bowl proprietorship.
-J.
in fact, this recipe is almost identical to what i consider my whipped cream icing...but it looks yummy so i may just make it anyway.
BabBab, Your whipped cream frosting has 1 tablespoon of cream? Anyway, this recipe has no egg yolks because no recipe--at least by the name of buttercream--I have seen (or is in any of the eleventy zillion cookbooks I own) has egg yolks. In essence a buttercream frosting is a a frosting of butter that has been creamed, sweetend and flavored...and that's it. Tell the internet to bugger off.
Gina, Break a leg!
-J.
and i won't look a gift horse in the mouth since NONE of my fifty gazillion useless cookbooks had buttercream recipes.
There are three types of buttercream;
1. American buttercream which is essentially just butter and sugar. (Or the nasty stuff in bakery at the grocery store which is all shortening and sugar.)
2. Italian buttercream, also known as Swiss meringue buutercream, in which you incorporate whipped egg whites
Or there's copper("and I always use copper because something always goes wrong..."), um, I mean, French buttercream which is butter and sugar and then egg yolks incorporated into it. You can add flavoring in the form of liqueur or extract (I tried vanilla) and you can also incorporate whipped egg whites for more body. This is what I tried first, because the guy said this is the yummiest. And let me telly ou, it is YUMMY. It's rich and smooth and sweet and creamy and ohmigod, it is delicious.
I am stiull going to try your recipe, Joke. I am experimenting with several frostings but since they are all just used to the nasty supermarket stuff, it will either blow them away or gross them out. You never can tell with my husband's family.
OK, I have heard of those, but not as "buttercream." Those are called, as far as I can tell, "icings" and not "frostings" No, I have NFI why, but there you are. (I think "frostings" are X + sugar and flavorings, whereas "icings" are X+Y+Z+ sugar and flavorings. But I am not sure, so don't hold me to this.)
My guesstimate is that if these people are used to the spackle out of a can (i.e., shortening and corn syrup and stabilizers and artificial flavorings) they'll probably be MUCH happier with the American-style stuff.
Part of the reason is the taste, but the other part is the mouthfeel. The European icings simply don't coat your tasting bits the same way. So I'd go with that.
But, let me know if you want the Italian or French variants.
-J.
P.S. Not that anyone asked or cares, but my favorite is Italian meringue frosting.
Is there a difference between frosting/icing? I thought it was a geographic thing, like soda vs. po...
-Joke
But you know the strip of chocolate stuff down the top of an eclair? I think of that as icing, even though it obviously contains some fat. And what about the outside of a sachertorte, which is basically melted chocolate--frosting or icing? Anyone? Bueller?
Whatever. I'm from New England but I say "soft drink" rather than "soda," so when I talk about a cake with "frosting," I know what I expect to get. But nobody else does. And that's the way I like it.
--P.,
-J.
and i thought soda was tonic to new englanders?
whatever you call it, this french buttercream slathered on plain graham crackers might just be the food of the gods.
my husband pointed out that feeding assorted kids and several old people what is essentially raw eggs probably is not a good idea. so i will eat the batch of french buttercream i mixed up yesterday myself - taking one for the team - and make your vanilla frosting/icing recipe for the birthday cake.
-J.