| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | enough frosting for filling and frosting 1 layer cake |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | enough frosting for filling and frosting 1 layer cake |
Ingredients
- 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup egg whites
- 1 1/2 pounds butter (6 sticks), softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix 3 cups sugar with water in a small, heavy saucepan. Cook over high heat until syrup reaches 248 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Watch it closely as it gets close to temperature; it will go quickly at the end.
- While syrup is cooking, beat egg whites with 2 tablespoons sugar until stiff but not dry.* (Extra- fine granulated sugar works best). Turn mixer off until syrup is ready.
- With mixer running, pour syrup into the egg whites in a thin, steady stream, making sure not to pour directly onto beaters. Be careful, as hot syrup can burn if you. Continue to beat mixture until it is no longer hot.
- Allow to cool to room temperature and then beat in the softened butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all is incorporated. (Salted butter works fine. If you are using unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste.) The mixture will become thin and may look curdled at first, but will then become smooth as it beats. Lastly, beat in the vanilla all at once. (Use the best vanilla you can find. Artificial and white “vanilla” will ruin the delicate flavor.)
- If not using at once, refrigerate the buttercream until needed. It will keep for 1 week in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. To use, just bring it back to room temperature and re-beat to restore the texture. If you have trouble with the texture, getting it to room temperature and extra beating are the keys to making it smooth. Enjoy on your favorite cake!
Reviews
I actually apprenticed with Kim which is how I got this recipe. It was a long coveted secret of hers so I was shocked to see she posted it years ago. I think it was because she won a contest for it and perhaps posting the ingredients was part of the deal. I wanted to post that I have made this recipe MANY TIMES and nearly every time I swear by the looks I have ruined it and BAM its comes up suddenly thick creamy and delicious!! Use the best organic ingredients to make this recipe. It was her advice and it shows in flavor. Proof is in the buttercream too not just the pudding as they say. The temperatures are precise and the suggestions of cold towels or even ice bath of the mixing bowl are good ones. I make it for my sons November birthday so the weather is great for making it. It keeps for up to a year in the freezer and will store brilliantly in the frig for a month or more. Just make sure you keep it covered and have baking soda in the frig as to not pick up any rogue flavors in the buttercream. The best advice I can give is be patient!! Its an amazing recipe but it is not to be made on the fly and certain conditions call for extra care as well but it is certainly worth it in the end. I make it the week before the cake so the stress level is at a minimum. This buttercream makes an AMAZING ganache if you take some of it and carefully double boil or microwave with really good chocolate then mix with the room temp bc enough to pour it on the cake. Pour it over the cake hot and voila no need to spread. It also makes a wonderful Lemon Buttercream if you add some lemon curd. Fresh raspberries juiced and seeded added makes a brilliant Raspberry Buttercream as well. Have fun be patient and enjoy! I was pregnant whilst I did my apprenticeship and I was eating this stuff my the spoonful OFTEN!! I was concerned I was going to swell up as it was so addicting so she told me dont worry you will get over it soon…Ummm NO I NEVER DID!! Happy Frosting!!
Perfect and delicious. You need a stand mixer so that you can just leave the Italian meringue mixing for 30-45 minutes while it cools. I’ve also set cold packs on the bowl to speed it up a little. Mine never thins or looks curdled. I used a little less butter this last time I made it. My birthday girl and our guests loved the cake!!
I made 2 batches of this yesterday. I ended up using 2 lbs of butter in each batch in order for it to thicken up. I also used everyone’s suggestions of the cold towel around the bowl. I found this very helpful in getting the frosting to thicken. In the first batch I ended up adding 2 C powdered sugar in order to sweeten it. In the 2nd batch I added 6 oz melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa). It is the BEST tasting chocolate buttercream I have ever tried. I’m’ giving it 4 stars simply because, as written, the recipe does not set.
This buttercream never thickened up. After 2 hours, I finally gave up and added powered sugar. I thought I would be one of the successful one, but I wasn’t. I’m a pretty good home cook and often rely on Ina Garten recipes and am always successful. I keep reviewing the reviews, and was successful until everything was added and then no matter how much I beat it (30 min, it just would not thicken up. It seems that I’d have to be standing behind a pastry chef and watch them step by step to get it right. The 2 stars are because the creamy soup did taste good.
Best frosting I have ever made! I took all the suggestions from reviews and I had yummy frosting in less than 2 hours on a warm summer day. I only used 2 1/2 cups sugar, 4 sticks butter, and added 1 extra egg white. I wrapped my mixing bowl with a cold wet towel and re-cooled it with cold water about 3 times while adding the hot mixture, took about 30 minutes to cool to room temp. After I added all the butter I changed the beater on my stand mixer to a paddle, it was thin and started to curdle. I continued cooling the mixture with the cold towel as the mixer continued. It mixed for another 30 minutes until creamy and perfect! I am an average mom chef, so don’t be afraid of this recipe, if I can do it, you can too!
I’ve been making this recipe for years and have built quite the reputation for myself as having the best frosting because of it. Those that are giving it a low rating are simply not executing it correctly. However, I do agree that it is not the frosting for “the average person.” If you haven’t mastered things like candy or meringue yet, I wouldn’t try this one and would stick with the quick American buttercream frosting instead.
NOT WORTH THE HASSLE! This recipe is difficult and you have to be very careful with it (as you can see from other reviews. Despite all of this, I have spent hours trying to make it still came out runny and didn’t even taste very good. Very much a waste of time and resources. Find another recipe. I have made MUCH better recipes than this one. Maybe if the recipe was more specific in the directions, like the reviews seem to be, it might turn out well. As the recipe is, it does not work for the average person.
I have no idea what anyone else was eating, but this frosting is absolutely disgusting. I didn’t change the recipe so this review is strictly of this recipe. It was greasy and had no flavor. I got it to cream and come together just fine without a lot of time like a lot of people. Also, it is so sickeningly sweet that I can’t believe it is even on the food network site. Do not waste your time and money on this recipe.
They key to this recipe is to be patient. All the other reviewers that said that were right! Once your sugar and egg mixture and combined, allow it to get back to room temperature – I left mine in the mixer at low speed until it cooled. I cut the slightly softened butter into cubes and added two or three cubes at a time unil it was blended. My mixture NEVER got curdled. Once all the butter is added (I only used 4 sticks and the vanilla is incorporated, leave your mixer on. At first it will appear runny. Do not be tempted to add powdered sugar. Just let the mixer go and eventually you will get beautiful, thick, fluffy buttercream!
My buttercream curdled, resembling cottage cheese, so I decided to stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes. I put it back on the mixer and it still wasn’t getting any better. So I immersed the bottom of the bowl in hot water and whisked it by hand until the butter was again melted, then put it in an ice bath and whisked like crazy and it curdled again. I put it back in the warm water and just let it sit while I had a little meltdown. When I returned I whisked it and removed it from the water and volia! It is now perfect and delicious. Temperature is key here, if yours curdled just play with the temp