| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 egg whites (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups butter, cut up
Instructions
- In a saucepan, place the sugar and carefully pour the water around the edge. Using your finger, make an X in the pan to help the water gently mix with the sugar. Bring to a boil and cook to softball stage (235 degrees F.)
- Meanwhile, whip the egg whites in a mixer with a whip attachment until light and fluffy. When sugar is at the softball stage, slowly pour it into the bowl down the side and continue whipping, adding vanilla, until incorporated and then cooled.
- Add the butter 1 cube at a time while whipping until it is a thick butter cream (check flavor and consistency of butter cream before continuing to add butter, as not all of the 2 cups may be needed).
- Keep at room temperature while frosting the cake.
Reviews
I would only have rated this higher if there was more caution mentioned about cooking the sugar. I had to go about it 2x as I went past the soft ball stage and the sugar seized on the beater. I had quite the mess, but cleaned it all up and started again. I was glad I hadn’t added the butter yet.
So I started again… paid more attention and had GREAT success. I thought the recipe was splitting but on the contrary … the consistency changed to something miraculous and fluffy and lovely and it was the best I’ve ever made! Not very sweet at all and it piped so nice… I just wished that my piping skills were better …. good luck!
This recipe by Gale Gand is online twice, another time titled _Classic Buttercream. In the other recipe it calls for TWO cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of water, whereas in this one, it calls for ONE cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Can I get some feedback as to how many cupes of sugar you used? In this recipe the instructions are better, but both have good reviews for flavor.
I love this recipe. It saved me when I didn’t have any powered sugar in the house , when I was making my sisters rainbow layered 15th birthday cake. The first time I made the frosting , It was way to butter flavored. I retried it with unsalted butter and it turned out Delicious !! It’s so easy to make. And it’s great for layering cakes. My friends love it when I put it in the freezer because it gets crunchy and has a fresh taste to it.
You may not need to use all the butter; go slowly, adding only enough butter to make a creamy consistency
What does softball stage mean? I was not successful in preparing it 🙁 for how long should I mix it?
I personally thought this was a little too sweet for me. It tasted pretty good but didn’t set up well for my cake.
The best buttecream ever!! believe me, I’ve tried a lot!!
I love how theres no powdered sugar! my first attempt had to much butter and isnt very sweet. My second attempt was perfect! It was so Fluffy and delicious!! i tried adding orange zest for my chocolate cupcakes and it was awesome!! i also tried it with lemon! it was so easy making this!
This is the best buttercream I’ve ever made. At last NO powered sugar!!! It’s so fluffy and delicious! I added some lemon juice for my lemon cupcakes… OMG it was sooo good! YOU can totally bank on this recipe!
I overcooked the sugar because I had no idea what a soft ball state was, the sugar partially crystalized but I ate around those parts!! I did not use all the butter, it doesn’t need it. Again keep whipping! This is the best flavor buttercream I’ve ever had, I ate it right out of the bowl!!!