Buttercream, also referred to as butter icing or butter frosting, is a sweet type of frosting with butter as its main ingredient.
With so many complicated recipes online, it can be hard to know which one will provide the best result.
However, due to baking lots in my spare time and testing more than 30 buttercream recipes, I have found this quick and easy method to be the best.
Compared to other types of buttercream, American buttercream has fewer ingredients and is quicker and easier to make.
It is also much sweeter than the French or Italian version due to the high amount of sugar, but it is more stable at room temperature due to not containing a cooked base.
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Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes
500g icing sugar, sifted
Method:
To start with, it is absolutely crucial that the butter is left at room temperature. If it is still cold, it won’t mix well and will create a hard buttercream.
Cut the softened butter into blocks and place in a bowl or a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment to beat the butter.
Buttercream can be made by hand using a wooden spoon although it is much quicker and often recommended to use an electric whisk.
The butter should be mixed for around five minutes, continually scraping the sides down to make sure everything is incorporated.
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After five minutes, the butter should have drastically lightened in colour and should be a much softer consistency.
If it isn’t, mix it for a few more minutes until it is easily spreadable. Next, sieve in the icing sugar either in one go, or half at a time, mixing in between.
Sieving the icing sugar is extremely important to ensure the final buttercream result is nice and smooth, and versions of pre-sifted icing sugar are available on the market.
I have found the ratio of 1:2 to be the perfect buttercream consistency for piping onto cupcakes and spreading onto cakes but if using it to cover a cake, a little less icing sugar is ideal to make it softer.
Whisking in the icing sugar can be extremely messy so it is always a good idea to start at a slow speed, gradually increasing the speed until all is incorporated.
If the buttercream is too thick in consistency, continue mixing for around five minutes or so, or add a teaspoon of boiling water, mixing at the same time.
At this stage, flavouring can be added to the buttercream, with lemon, vanilla or even caramel popular options. If any icing sugar remains on the sides of the bowl, make sure to scrape this down to ensure everything is incorporated evenly.
At the end of the mixing, the buttercream should be nice and soft as well as a pale yellow in colour.
This buttercream can be used for absolutely anything and tastes delicious on cupcakes as well as in the middle of a Victoria sandwich cake.
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