Guilty Pleasure

Guilty pleasure, for some people it's ice-cream. For some others, it's a big fat burger. For me, it's French buttercream frosting. I scoured the web for that perfect recipe and finally I found it! After the first try I was in love. Whenever I make a cake, I try to whip up a little extra frosting just so I can stash the left overs for myself. It's my ice-cream on a bad day. Just a spoonful of it and all stress just melts away. It's that good.

French Buttercream or "Creme au Beurre" is made by heating egg yolk, sugar, and brandy or some other liqueur (I use Bailey's Irish Creme) until it reaches a certain temperature. The egg mixture is then cooled and then added to butter and vanilla mixtures. The result of this is a smooth velvety buttercream as the sugar has been melted during the process. The great thing about this buttercream is that it is not sweet like the traditional American buttercream which is usually made from confectioner sugar. This creamy frosting is delightful with cakes and cupcakes, or simply right off the spoon ;)

If you are looking to use this buttercream for decorating, I would like to point out a few precautions. As this buttercream is butter based and not shortening based (like American buttercream), it tends to melt very fast. Especially for people who have warm hands like me. It's butter, and that's what butter does. The first time I decorated with this buttercream, it was a huge mess because after my third or fourth rose, everything came out like melted, eh, butter. The work around is to only fill the pastry bag just enough for three or four roses, then refill it when you run out. Another trick is to pipe your roses/flowers on piece of parchment paper using a flower nail and then immediately put your flowers in the freezer so that when it's time to decorate the cake you don't end up messing your beautiful creations because essentially they are how a harden pieces of butter. You can then use a pair of decorating scissors to place the flowers on the cake.

After you are done decorating the cake, be sure to refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes so the buttercream can have a chance to firm up before serving. If the cake was left in the fridge for a long period of time (e.g. over night), do the reverse - take it out and let it sit for about 20 minutes before serving.





Now on to the recipe. Three of these recipes are enough to frost and decorate a 9 inch two-layered cake...with plenty of left overs ;)

Tip: Make sure you use unsalted butter, also known as sweet butter.

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. brandy or other liqueur of your choice (water may be substituted for the alcohol)
Dash of salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks/6 oz./170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:
In the top pan of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over but not touching simmering water, combine the egg yolks, sugar, brandy or other liqueur of your choice (or water, if using) and dash of salt. Whisk until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan or bowl from over the water and let cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, combine the butter and vanilla. Using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat until very soft and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the cooled egg yolk mixture. Let the mixture stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until spreadable, about 20 minutes.

Use the frosting immediately, or cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze for up to 1 month. Before using, let stand at room temperature until softened, then beat with an electric mixer set on high speed until smooth and fluffy.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.