TMB Studio offers a variety of buttercream frosting recipes, including easy American buttercream, vanilla buttercream, and decorator’s buttercream. American buttercream is the most common type of frosting and is the easiest to make, making it ideal for decorating cakes. It is also the sturdiest and most popular choice for piping bags.
Vinyl buttercream is a staple in any baker’s kitchen and is deliciously soft, creamy, and sweet. This recipe is simple to make and can be easily piped onto cakes. Preparing your own frosting is the best way to create a cake with the desired look, texture, and flavor.
Peaceful Piping Buttercream is the absolute best recipe for frosting cakes and cookies with a great consistency just right for piping beautiful designs. This luscious buttercream frosting is light and airy, making it perfect for layer cakes, sheet cakes, and other baked goods.
SM buttercream is arguably the best frosting in terms of cake decorating because it is the easiest way to get smooth clean lines. However, it is super sticky and has a high cost. Royal icing is one of the best icings for decorating cakes, mixing powdered sugar, egg whites, and meringue powder or liquid.
To make the best buttercream frosting, sift powdered sugar, use semi-cold butter, add powdered sugar, and add heavy cream. This recipe is the only one we use and is easy to make, making anything you put it on taste better.
In summary, TMB Studio offers a variety of buttercream frosting recipes, including easy American buttercream, vanilla buttercream, and decorator’s buttercream. These recipes are perfect for creating beautiful, delicious, and easy-to-use decorations for cakes and cupcakes.
📹 Comparing 6 Types of Buttercream- American, Swiss, Italian, French, German, & Russian
Did you know there were so many different types of buttercream? Today I’m comparing 6 different styles, which isn’t even all of …
What frosting holds its shape best?
Crusting buttercream is a light, fluffy frosting ideal for cake decorating, piping swirls on cupcakes, or creating buttercream flowers. To make it, cream butter and shortening together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, scrape down sides, and turn the mixer to low speed. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to help everything incorporate.
What frosting do professionals use for cakes?
Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream are popular buttercreams made by whipping granulated sugar and egg whites into a meringue and then whipping butter into that meringue. Swiss meringue is slightly more popular due to its stability and lower sugar requirement compared to American Buttercream. The meringue is made by heating egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until 160°F degrees (71°C), then whipped on a stand mixer until stiff peaks form.
Italian meringue requires making a sugar syrup by heating sugar and water to 240°F degrees (115°C), then whipped into egg whites, cooking them as they are added. Both buttercreams are made by combining the two methods.
How to make frosting taste like bakery?
To make a cake with canned frosting, mix peanut butter, cookie butter, chocolate-hazelnut spread, dulce de leche, caramel sauce, lemon curd, and fruit jam. This last-minute dessert can be made more festive by adding different ingredients to the frosting. The texture, flavor, and color can be altered by adding different ingredients. You can whip up a celebratory frosting using a stand mixer or keep it simple with a bowl and a whisk or spatula. These go-to ingredients can be added to canned store-bought frosting to elevate it, making it a party-worthy treat.
What kind of frosting do most bakeries use?
American buttercream frosting, a sweet, creamy mixture of butter and sugar, is a common ingredient used to decorate sponge and sheet cakes. It is a relatively simple process to prepare, and it can be further enhanced with the addition of vanilla, chocolate, or lemon flavorings, thus augmenting the overall flavor profile of the cake. It is a popular option for those seeking to adorn a cake.
What is the thing that bakers use to decorate cakes?
Cake decoration techniques include spatula icing, piping, fondant work, hand painting, sugar work, mirror glaze, and airbrushing. Essential tools for cake decorating include a fondant cutter, cake scraper, fondant rolling pin, fondant imprint mat, decorator brush, crimpers, fondant and gum paste carving tools, palette knife, turntable stand, cake tins, icing comb, cake lifter, parchment paper, paint brushes, silicone piping bag, cake boards, baking cup mold, and acetate sheet. These techniques are essential for bakers and pastry chefs to create visually appealing and delicious cakes.
What do professionals use to decorate cakes?
The article highlights the importance of cake decorating tools, including a rotating cake stand, offset spatulas, parchment paper, silicone piping bags, and piping tips. According to Bon Appétit food editor and Cake Queen Shilpa Uskokovic, having excellent baking skills can still be challenging. To maximize your decorating capabilities, it is recommended to use the right tools. The rotating cake stand, an all-metal option from Ateco, allows you to spin the cake as you frost it, smoothing out any imperfections.
This all-metal option is super sturdy and doubles as a display stand when decorating. Uskokovic’s favorite is the all-metal option from Ateco, which has a charming industrial aesthetic that works in various scenarios. The article also mentions that all products are independently selected by editors and may earn an affiliate commission if purchased.
What do icing cake decorators use?
Royal icing is a popular choice for cake decorating, as it combines powdered sugar, egg whites, and meringue powder or liquid. It provides a consistency similar to pancake batter, making it easy to pour into pastry bags. Royal icing sets quickly, making it ideal for creating designs and flowers. Professional bakers can make decisions on the types of frosting to use, including ganache, glazes, syrups, and paste. Taking it one step at a time will ensure a cake that is proud of its creation.
What is the best icing to practice cake decorating?
Piping Buttercream is a simple, affordable, and delicious recipe for piping flowers and cake decorations. It is perfect for testing out piping techniques and is easy to make. The recipe is stable, affordable, and can be stored in an airtight container. It holds its shape even when piped at finer points, making it perfect for practicing flower details and writing. The recipe is also easy to make, making it a go-to choice for piping buttercream. It is also creamy and delicious enough to eat by the spoonful.
What is better, American buttercream or Russian buttercream?
American and Russian buttercream frostings are ideal for topping cakes and cupcakes. American buttercream has a sugary taste, while Russian buttercream has a sweet milk flavor. To make vanilla Russian buttercream, mix salted and unsalted butters, allowing them to come to room temperature. This recipe may contain affiliate links, allowing the author to receive a commission at no extra cost. The twist is to use both types of butters, not just one or the other.
Is Russian buttercream stable?
Russian Buttercream is known for its stability when emulsified properly, making it ideal for intricate piping and frosting on cakes. Its ultra-creamy texture makes it suitable for beginners to experiment with piping and creating smooth sides. Most True Buttercreams are stable at ambient room temperatures up to 85°F/30°C, due to the large ratio of butter (milkfat) as the primary source of pressure and temperature stability.
Other ingredients like eggs and syrups play a minor role, and stability depends on the type of fat in the buttercream and the emulsion’s stability. Changing the fat to vegetable shortening can increase stability by at least 10°F/5°C, but it affects the final flavor of the frosting.
What type of frosting is best for cake decorating?
Fondant icing is a popular choice for decorating cakes due to its smooth and professional appearance. There are three types of fondant: rolled, marshmallow, and poured. Rolled fondant is a sugary and sweet paste that can be flavored during cooking, has a smooth, marshmallow-like consistency, and is stiff and malleable. It can be molded and cut into shapes for cake decorations. To make rolled fondant, combine powdered sugar, corn syrup, and a shortening to create a pliable paste or sheet. The recipe is hard and requires a variety of ingredients, equipment, and physical effort.
📹 Buttercream vs. Whipped Cream | THE BEST ICING FOR YOUR CAKE!
Buttercream vs. Whipped Cream: THE BEST ICING FOR YOUR CAKE! In this video, I explore and compare buttercream icing and …
For Russian buttercream, we here in Russia most of the time use “cooked ” condensed milk or also known as dulce di leche ( An unopened can of sweet condensed milk is usually boiled for two hours in a pan full of water ) and then the milk gets thick and caramelized and extremely delicious. It gets a nice caramel brown color. And then proceed as in the article, adding butter . Just try it!
I’m German and that was very authentic but I’ll be honest, we usually don’t make the Creme Pat ourselves, a shortcut is to use vanilla pudding instead of Creme Pat and just add the butter to that and whip it up to make Buttercream But really great article Edit for clarification: the pudding I mean is pudding powder you cook up with some milk, usually just a flavored starch powder, not instant pudding you whip up cold. it takes about 3 minutes to mix the pudding powder with milk and briefly bring to boil and stir till firm, then cool and use as any other Creme Pat or pudding. There’s a company famous for it in Germany, Dr. Oetker, lots of recipes just reference this product as an ingredient, it’s been around and used like this since the 50‘s. Obviously it’s a very lazy thing but works like a charm but feel free to make yourself pudding or Creme Pat from scratch, handmade is always best ❤️ I just wanted to point out it’s a kitchen staple hack if you are an amateur baker in Germany (or in a hurry 😉)
Everyone is commenting on the frostings, and yes, great tutorial, but I wanted to say how much I LOVE your sweater and skirt! I love the cherries and the red and white color have such a wholesome appeal!! The bowls, the patterns, the colors and the Kitchen Aid mixer… The whole place, and you, are lovely…reminds me of an 50’s Diner!
Amazing how you taught this within just a few minutes. I appreciated the consistent format you had for each kind of buttercream and the conversions you patiently repeated for volume and temperature. With you teaching, trying out all the buttercreams doesn’t seem so farfetched at all. Yours is my fave buttercream tutorial article so far ❤️ Thank you!
The German one is my favorite too – although of course I’m biased cause that’s the type I grew up with. We often make it with just a simple vanilla pudding instead of the crème pâtissière. Simply make a pudding with 1 package of vanilla pudding mix (or a good chocolate one), 400 ml milk (bit less than 1 and 3/4 cups) and 3 tbsps sugar. It’s lighter than the American one and suitable for vegetarians who don’t eat eggs. Some people even make it vegan by using vegan butter and a plant based “milk”.
Hi everyone! There seems to be some confusion in the comments about these buttercreams. The names of them are what they pastry world commonly refers to them as. It doesn’t necessarily mean it is the most commonly used type in that country. I did not invent or name any of these. These are all techniques I have learned over the years and what they are commonly called in the pastry world in the US.
One of the best articles I have ever seen on YouTube. Clear, concise and quick. I have heard these terms for years from the likes of Martha and Ina, but never knew the differences. Thank you so much. All I ever make is American which I love, but you have made me want to try some of the other buttercreams. Thank you again Baker Bettie!!
The first time I tried German buttercream I added raspberry juice instead of milk which gave it both flavor and color (my mother didn’t want me using artificial coloring, so I had to find another way). Since then that’s my favorite kind of buttercream but I’m really looking forward to testing some of these recipes.
At home, when making cakes, I use Russian buttercream because it is the fastest. I also make flowers from it. To make it stable and durable, you need to change the proportion of ingredients to 1: 1. So for 200g of butter I add 200g of condensed milk. First, I beat the butter to a fluffy white mass at the highest speed of the mixer (it takes about 15 minutes). Then I add condensed milk at medium speed. I recommend you try it 😊 Then you don’t taste the milk that much.
This is a really great breakdown! other folks have mentioned ermine buttercream in the comments and it’s also an old-fashioned classic worth trying out. the newest kid on the buttercream block is G.G. buttercream aka Korean buttercream – it’s similar to Italian buttercream, but you use cold butter instead of room temperature butter. It pipes extremely finely and has almost a glass-like edge to it, so it’s wonderful for making icing flowers with.
Thank you for all the effort preparing all these buttercreams! Time consuming and expensive but so helpful. It’s difficult to find concise and comprehensive comparison articles when making something as a novice so often you’re just finding any old recipe and hoping it works out. It’s an especially nice touch that you’ve thought to mention the stability in different temperatures, that’s so awesome. Thank you!
The one I like is Ermine or boiled milk Frosting (has many names) it is very close to the German buttercream but doesn’t use eggs and feels simpler….but perhaps that is because I always make the boiled mixture early to let it cool (often the day before which is also when I usually make the cakes for decorating) so it just feels like less work on the day I decorate and since my brother is allergic to egg yolks this one he can still have.
Loved this article. I did a similar comparison and used my work colleagues to taste test. They loved being my guinea pigs, lol. My fav is the French. I will try the German as it looks/sounds very good. I do add about a cup of powdered sugar to any Italian or Swiss because it’s a bit too buttery. Being in Canada, we’re used to the American but many say it’s too sweet but also say Swiss and Italian are not sweet enough.
Dearest Bettie! I could not get enough of this article. I love how sweet you are and how thoughtful and precise you are!! Always listing the measurements and in different units, too! This must have been so much work and I hope you’ll be happy to know that it paid off and that it was very educational and enjoyable. Lots of love 💕
Note that German buttercream will NOT work for fondant cakes. The water within the “pudding” will melt your fondant eventually. You can use it as a cake filling, but should use a ganache or a more buttery buttercream as coating to seperate the German buttercream from the fondant. If you need the German buttercream to be lighter (for coloring it blue, for example) you can basically leave the eggyolks out. It works perfectly for me. (Just milk, sugar, starch and vanilla or another flavor, cooked as a very thick pudding. Then combine it with butter.)
Thank you so much for showing all the different buttercreams together. It’s the article we all desperately needed. My MIL used to decorate cakes and made the best American buttercream. With her method it doesn’t matter if you use real butter or vegetable shortening or a mix, all you do is after you make the buttercream according to the directions, swap out the paddle for the whisk attachment for your stand mixer. Then whip the buttercream on high for 5 minutes. That adds a lot of air and gives you this really fluffy texture. It pipes beautifully, freezes well (although it won’t be as fluffy), and it’s not as sweet and gunky as American buttercream can be. I bet the French buttercream would be delicious with melted chocolate added. I have made a Hungarian chocolate cake that has a frosting made with egg yolks and melted chocolate, and it’s so rich and creamy. The Russian buttercream would make a really delicious filling for people who love the taste of sweetened condensed milk. It would also be amazing with lemon or lime flavoring like lemon milk pie or key lime pie.
I don’t have the recipe handy, but the “German icing” we used in my family growing up used the canned milk which is closest to the Russian buttercream here. I especially liked your instructions to keep going when mixing some of the recipes because the written notes my mom included specifically said “it will look like you have done something wrong but keep mixing and it will become icing”
Hello, great article about those differentes buttercream. However, here in France, we don’t do the buttercream that way. We use egg whites like every other buttercream and there is not heating. Basically you mix egg white in your tank, you gradually add the sugar until the volume doubles. Then you stop the mixer and you had icing sugar that you previously have sifted, with a spatula.
As a German I have to tell you that you have made a so-called buttercreme light. The real buttercreme, German version, consists of butter, eggs, whites and yolks, salt, sugar and real vanilla. Wisk the butter to foam. Whole eggs together with salt and sugar stirring first cold the warm over the boiling pot and go on stirring until cool again. Mix together with the butter. No milk or starch.
I was so excited to watch this article, it is so nice to have all these variations in one article. You are an excellent instructor, so easy to follow. You also are so thorough, you answered all my questions, before I could ask them! The demonstrations are perfect and concise. Lastly can I just say how visually attractive this article is, your adorable shirt and skirt are perfect. I am subscribing, and I know that I will love this website.
I’ve stood by American buttercream for years because of how simple it is, but late last year I got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and have been looking for less sugary alternatives. I tried the Russian buttercream first and loved the flavor, but I just couldn’t get it to stabilize, so I’m keeping it as a cinnamon roll topping. I tried Italian next, and I’m in love. Rich and not too sugary, it does a great job and spreads beautifully! Thanks for the excellent and informative article!
Thank you Baker Bettie, for this great comparison article. My favorite icing is the Italian meringue, without the butter. After it is whipped cool, it pipes like a shimmering dream. Filling the cooled cupcake with a lightly sweetened creme chantilly, and piping with this meringue has always been a big hit. A few drops of food coloring and viola!
I’ve been trying for year’s to figure out how my grandmother made her icing. She past away when I was 14 so I never got to ask her and family doesn’t know other then the thinking she used sweetened condensed milk. She made Garman style food so I clicked on ur link in hope’s that you just might show what she made… I believe she either made the Garman or Russian style you made. I’m definitely going to try them out. Thank you so much!!!! I look forward to seeing your other articles.
I have never seen your articles before but I am glad it was in my recommended articles. I was intrigued because I thought buttercream is the same around the world but you explainded the differences and characteristics so clearly and it was easy to understand. Definetly saving that for future reference 🙂
I’m from Canada, the butter cream recipe I was taught is equal parts butter:lard ratio and equal parts whipping cream and cold distilled water and you can add vanilla or lemon any flavour of your choice. A basic recipe is 1.5 cup butter 1.5 cup of lard, 1/4 cup of whipping cream, 1/4 cup of of cold distilled water, teaspoon of vanilla and 500g of icing sugar (powdered sugar). Shelf life is better than most whipped toppings but my adaption is better. Our margarine and crisco shortening comes in 3cup blocks, 1 of each, 1 table spoon of vanilla, 1kg of powdered sugar, room temp water to desired consistency, can be used and adapted by adding more or less water and more or less powdered sugar to achieve fluffy/ sheen/or fondant consistency.
Yep, you’ve got to eat that last one, now. I really enjoyed this and I think my fave would also be Italian. My mother used to make the standard American one, or sometimes what she called “boiled frosting.” I think that was equivalent to the Swiss one you made. Both were slathered on her standard chocolate “Crazy Cake,” a recipe from either Depression years or WWII. P.S. I love your wonderful mixing bowl collection!
American buttercream is the same as the UK. Love the Italian meringue one if I want something else for a change. But the Russian one or condensed milk buttercream is my favourite, I melt a bar of white chocolate and mix that in which makes this perfect for icing cakes inside and out. I have made it with dark and milk also. Great article Thank you for sharing.
I’ve never liked American buttercream—always found it cloyingly sweet and unpleasantly crusty—and I always figured it’s because I’m not a pro baker and didn’t know how to get it silky smooth. This article gave me the epiphany that anytime I’ve liked buttercream, it just hasn’t been American buttercream. Can’t wait to try a few of these out. Thanks for the great content!
Pastry cream is so versatile. Remembering how to make a nice pastry cream or even just custard is so helpful. From there you can make chocolate/vanilla pudding, baked custard, custard tarts, filling for choux pastry, add whipping cream to make creme legere, and now we see it can make a lovely butter cream. Tysm!
Glad this was recommended to me. Your vintage bowl collection is stunning. I am a Swiss meringue buttercream convert. I actually don’t frost most of my cakes but also don’t make many layer cakes either. The German buttercream sounds intriguing. It was good to see them all side by side. The only thing that is different regarding your buttercream methods is to use room temp butter. The recipes I’ve used suggest that the butter should be so soft that you couldn’t pick it up with your fingers. I’ve always done that and never had the frosting break. Also my recipes say to add the butter on low speed but don’t necessarily need to add the butter slowly. Good to know that these frostings aren’t as temperamental as they are reputed to be.
As a German I was highly confused when I ate buttercream for the first time in the USA. It was just so sweet. If you don’t have a mixer you can a fine flexible sieve to press both butter and the pastry cream (of vanilla pudding) through it. It will still come out quite airy. I made all my cakes like this as a student.
I have made German buttercream since I was a kid, but I have always used the packs of pudding powder that you stir into boiling milk. The advantage is that you get different flavours with different puddings – chocolate, vanilla, caramel, cream, lemon. Just make sure the butter and the pudding have the same room temperature, as you want to create an emulsion of fat and liquid. It is very delicious if you mix it with chopped up fruit, eg. strawberries and some liquor for flavouring.
I‘ve seen a lot of comments saying that they would like to try make the German butter cream and I can only confirm that it is silky smooth and absolutely delicious. 😋 HOWEVER, please note that you CANNOT and I repeat CANNOT use it directly underneath fondant! It has way more moisture in it than any other buttercream so within only a few hours your fondant is going to melt off the cake. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way… If you only use it to frost some plain cupcakes (maybe paired with some fruit as decorations) or as a filling INSIDE the cake you‘ll be fine, just make sure it does not come in direct contact with any fondant decorations. Also, pro tip: When done mixing, add in about 2-4 tablespoons of cocoa powder to make a delicious chocolate frosting👌🏻
This is fascinating! I remember the disappointment, this feeling of utter betrayal, when I had my first bite of American buttercream because I had no idea that it would be different from what I knew as buttercream (the German kind). I don’t think I ever tried the other countries’ versions but now I’m really curious. (Even though I just can not imagine anything being better than the German one 😉
If you live in Germany, making German buttercream is even easier. We use the pre-fabricated mix for blancmange you can buy in any German supermarket, add a bit of sugar (as the powder is unsweetened) and milk, cook a thick blancmange out of it, let it cool down and add the butter. You can also use fruit juice instead of milk if you plan to fill a cake with fruit. I do this when I make a cherry cake using preserved cherries, for example. I let the cherries drain and use the liquid for making the buttercream. It gives the cake a fruity, light flavour and it doesn’t feel heavy at all, even if it is a buttercream cake.
German Chef here, sorry I’m late to the party. So for the German buttercream we would never use vanilla extract, but instead would scrape out a vanilla bean and add that to the pastry cream together with the rest of the vanilöla bean (which we would then take out before we drip it into the egg mixture). Have a great day <3
Thank you for this article! I always knew there was many different kinds of butter cream and was afraid to try them but now I want to try them all! I typically make American butter cream and I have a few pointers. I beat my butter for a good 10 mins to make it lighter in color (almost white) and I crease in volume. Then I add the powdered sugar, milk and (clear) flavoring. Once I’m done it’s a pale yellow but if you add a dot of violet gel food coloring and mix it up it cancels out the yellow and makes it a bright white!
when i was younger i experimented with german butercream a bit. instead of a milk pudding, i boiled rose syrup or other syrups with starch to create a pudding and then proceeded as normal. it really tasted delightful!! this might be a cool methode to add flavoring to your cream without diluting the texture 🙂
Just as an FYI, the French are somewhat particular about traditional recipes, and the one you give for French buttercream here isn’t necessarily all that traditional. Typically, French buttercream involves whole eggs, which will give you a lighter texture since you can whip more air into them. Some recipes call for whole eggs only, but the best-known encyclopedia of French patisserie (Le Larousse des desserts) uses 190 g of whole eggs and 72 g of yolks for 450 g of butter (and 250 g of sugar). The addition of salt in your version is also a distinctly American touch. Conversely, your take on German buttercream is a bit on the conservative/traditional side: some pastry shops definitely still incorporate egg, but the most wide-spread German introduction to baking (Backen macht Freude) uses only starch and no eggs to set the pastry cream component, and the ratios also differ from yours (your recipe makes about 770 g of pastry cream and then uses 570 g of butter, whereas the aforementioned introduction uses two parts pastry cream for one part butter (i.e. your 570 g of butter would be combined with 1140 g of pastry cream). Given the higher butter content in your take on German buttercream, I would expect it to be denser, at least when refrigerated. Also note that the German buttercream you’ll find in Germany will typically be even less sweet than your version (of the 1340 g your recipe makes, 200 g are sugar; again taking Backen macht Freude as a reference, 1340 g of German buttercream will usually only contain about 125 g of sugar).
I usually make the american buttercream for my frosted cookies, but instead of regular vanilla extract I use clear imitation vanilla so it turns out a pure white color instead of off yellow. I also add some warmed milk in the regular recipe (not just to get to texture) so it stays creamier after frosting. Paired with cookies that aren’t super sweet and it tastes really yummy <3
Thanks for this! I make a buttercream that’s very similar to German buttercream, but has no eggs and uses flour instead of cornstarch. You make a simple pudding with flour, milk, and sugar, then whip it up and add butter while it’s whisking. Some call it boiled milk frosting, ermine frosting, or boiled flour frosting! I like it because you can make it less sweet than regular buttercream, which I think is just way too sweet almost every time!
If you find to much air bubbles in SMBC it might be because you are not using the right attachement to finish it, use the flat paddle for 4-5 minutes in slow and you’ll see the difference, another trick is to add a little bit of purple when your buttercream is too yellowish if you want it to be whiter. But I find it very interesting, one of my favourites is Hermine icing.
Huh, interesting to see all the versions of buttercream:) My grandpa, who was a baker/confectioner, used to make buttercream a bit differently – he was adding beaten egg whites into fluffed-up butter, instead of the other way around, and then he was adding tiny bit of strong vodka instead of salt to break the sweetness. Sometimes he was adding cocoa and used it for glazing cakes. I was making German buttercream with my granny since I could reach the worktop. It’s a great filling for profiteroles (because it doesn’t collapse like whipped cream) and for karpatian cake.
I love that you showed many styles work all the steps, but did it quickly! Very professional looking article, and I subscribed after seeing some of the other vids on your website. In scrolling to your website vids, their was a suggested one for Korean glossy buttercream. I’ve never heard of that, or the German or Russian, so am definitely eager to try those two. I don’t care for American as it’s far too sugary, I scrape most of it off cakes lol. Definitely want to try the Russian with a commenter suggestion of using dulce de Leche! Thanks for such a great article!
Okay, I actually am not a huge fan of buttercream, but I’ve never made it myself. It’s just in baked goods that I happen to buy. I want to try all of these though. Maybe I don’t like American buttercream? Maybe I just don’t like processed buttercream? I know you said Russian was the least favorite and tasted milky, but that sounds amazing 😍
Have you ever experimented with using other syrups (which can be heated to perform the cooking requirement aspect) similarly to the simple inverted sugar syrups for the standard recipes. I make a variety of fruit based and caramelized sugar based syrups (golden, butterscotch, as well as natural cane and sorghum syrups) to use as sweeteners in cheesecakes that have the distinguishing flavor built into the cake rather than applied as a decoration on top. It usually adds a day to prep and cool the syrup but the results are fantastic. I would think that it could add something to buttercreams as well.
Love the explanation of the different types of buttercream! Can you comment further on which are best to make ahead….I have tried the swiss meringue and found the taste much better than american, but I made the day ahead and my cake ended up sweating a ton. Is this just the nature of that frosting? Thanks for the great info!
I have a real big thank you for you. I have been a chef for about 30 years. Last job as Pastry Chef. I have made every kind of frosting and icing but only the 3 first buttercreams. Have used Royal Icing many times. Have you seen this amalgamation someone is calling Royal Icing Buttercream. They make Royal Icing and then they just add buttercream to it. There is no good reason for doing so.
Thanks for this interesting and informative article. Now I want to try at least y he Italian buttercream. Just bought myself a kitchen aid stand mixer last year and feel that I might be able to get a decent result. Always only had a hand mixer, so was never really able to try doing it as I always needed at least one more hand then I had available.
Great article! I bake a lot of cakes, and still appreciated your breakdown (and your gorgeous kitchen/studio!) Just curious, because it wasn’t in this article, but are you familiar with cooked flour (aka ermine or heirloom) buttercream? It’s the one where you cook together flour in milk until thick, cool, then add to whipped together butter+granulated sugar, plus flavoring of choice. It’s not quite as decadent as the meringue buttercreams (but so much cheaper to make because there are no eggs), but has a similar silky consistency to the meringue ones and is much less sweet than American buttercream. Pipes well too and holds shape. It’s almost always my ‘go to’ buttercream unless I am making a wedding cake, for which I think meringue buttercreams are more appropriate.
The thin crust that forms on American Buttercream makes the texture of decorative frosting roses amazing, especially on some of the lighter versions of it. Sadly, all the commercial options around where I live started using some kind of oil-based “buttercream” frosting. It tastes surprisingly close, outside of the lingering taste of vegetable oil, but it never really firms up or develops the crust, and you can feel the oil. Sure, it stays fresh longer, but it’s really not worth it.
Just starting to learn more about baking and decorating as aspire to do this as a side gig – your article has been so helpful as I live in a really hot area so Italian meringue buttercream will be my go to 🤤🤤🤤. Would love to see your techniques with cream cheese icing (“frosting” aha America)… Xo 🌏 Karen in Australia 🇦🇺
Ah, I have this recipe for walnut and honey cake from When French Women Cook, and now I know it’s a French buttercream it uses–except instead of sugar syrup, the heated sugar mixture you add to the egg yolks is honey and coffee. But one thing I’ve always wondered about–the recipe doesn’t say to beat the yolk + sugar syrup mixture until it’s cold, it says to beat it until it’s cold and spins a ribbon. At which point it’s always gained a huge amount of volume–but as soon as I start adding the butter, it loses all the volume it had gained.
It’s important to be aware that you can’t freeze German buttercream. It will become liquid again. Also it tends to curdle if too much cream is added to the butter at once and won’t smoothen again if it happens. But you can save it by beating extra butter really creamy with some powdered sugar and then add the curdled buttercream bit by bit into the white-beaten butter.
You don’t need a thermometer for the Italian and French you need to take the sugar syrup to soft ball stage. To test take a small bit of syrup and drop into a saucer of water and then pick up with fingers, if it makes a soft ball, it’s right. If the syrup forms threads, you need to cook a little longer. If the syrup forms a hard ball it’s been over cooked.
Great tips. I need to try the Russian one. I have been there several times but I never tried any dessert with buttercream 😱 (Может быть, потому, что я слишком одержим медовиком и не пробовалa других десертов 😆). I use mostly Italian and Swiss buttercream and I think that they are the most popular in my country as well (Spain) because we do not like extremely sweet things. We like to taste the flavour of the ingredients and too much sugar kills that. That’s why I use about half of the recommended sugar/sweetener of USA recipes 😬
Hi there.. i want to ask. Can i make Swiss and French buttercreams separate and then mix them up together? this is so i can use the whole egg =P. So i would be using half ingredients on swiss and half on french then mix them up. I will suppose the eggyolk and butter will help stabilize things up so i can add fruit reduction puree to the mixture. I want 50% french&swiss buttercream with a 50% fruit puree
The Italian Meringue… is a little tooo marshmallowie for me… Swiss Meringue dosen’t color well and I’m frankly sick of it… The French Buttercream is a little more tricky then the rest… and when I FINALLY got it RIGHT… it wasn’t worth the trip… German Buttercream (also tricky) took me two OR three times to get it COMPLETELY right as well… time consuming… and it was fine… but NOT the hit I was hoping for… soooo… back to a variation on the American…
I’m curious…have you or anyone you know had success with using aquafaba instead of eggs for those buttercreams which require egg whites? And is there a good recipe out there for substituting the egg yolks? We’re not vegan, but my husband doesn’t eat eggs and I LOVE icing, so I don’t want to leave him out when I do my baking.
it’s hilarious to me that people think egg yolk has some outrageous amount of fat. it really doesn’t. egg white is even worse, but yolk is only rich in comparison to egg white. the entire egg has so few calories that it’s hysterical that people were actually throwing out the tasty part of an egg, the yolk, and ate only whites, cause they wanted to lose weight. that can only ever result in them getting hungry again in minimal amount of time and than breaking their diet. even with whole egg, but especially with whites, which would just get your stomach churning, and not satisfy you at all. Yolk was also demonized for cholesterol, but, funny thing is, cholesterol you eat, ain’t gonna get out of your gut and end up in your blood, clogging your arteries or what ever. cholesterol you eat, will be broken down into components, and then used by your body to make other things, including the cholesterol: the body will be making cholesterol when it detects any kind of inflammation, as cholesterol helps soothing that down. and some of the worse inflammation causing agents, are, seed oils! the very same that were touted for not containing any cholesterol. also sugar, but, being on a article of recipes for different sweets, makes no sense pointing out that sugar will lead to rise in cholesterol. after all, everyone knows that sugars are bad for multitude of reasons, and cholesterol is probably the least of our joint problems…
i feel like american buttercream tastes a lot like the early stages of a cake, where you just beat the butter and sugar together. It tastes more like butter and sugar (which i mean… that’s kinda the main ingredients) than a yummy frosting. But oh my god that German butter cream looks so unbelievably delicious, I need an excuse to make it!
In regard to American buttercream… I think that recently (last ten or twenty years), it has become popular to pipe icing on cakes and cupcakes (like in this article). That is not the best way to serve American buttercream–it just overwhelms the cake. In my family, we’d spread it on the cake with a butter knife, and it was much nicer cake-to-icing ratio that way. It might not be as pretty but it tastes a lot better.
Great article. I love French buttercream for fillings and some desserts— so silky and rich. I also love Italian buttercream. I remember the first time I made it I was positive it was not going to work and it was beautiful and versatile. Great for pushing coconut or other things into it and then it slightly crusts to hold in place . Thanks for this comparison.
I’ve been making swiss meringue buttercream without actually whipping the egg whites into peaks first. Just cook the sugar and egg whites together and let it cool completely, then i whip it just a little bit to make sure the sugar and eggs whites are properly mixed, and then drop the butter in and mix until it comes together. I first saw the instruction in the Thermomix recipe database (Cookidoo) and was really skeptical that it would work, but it does. The final result is no different than if you whip the egg whites into peaks first. I’ve made mine in the Thermomix and in a regular mixer. Works well using either one.
This is specifically for chocolate American Buttercream. For anyone wanting to cut down the sweetness of American buttercream that likes the stability and ease otherwise, use a 2:1 ratio of milk to coffee, preferably the last of the coffee pot, the part with the grounds. Cuts down the sweetness quite a bit, and adds a very pleasant warm undertone.
Lovely article, it was so helpful to see all of the different options lined up! I’d never heard of the Russian or German versions, so I might need to try them, especially the German! I’m including one other version of BC that I first learned from Lauren Kitchens in a Craftsy class, and it’s now all I use (so delicious, easier than Italian/French/Swiss/German, but not too sweet like American!). Below I include a few different modifications I’ve made to her recipe, but she deserves credit for the basic idea, as far as I know (you can easily double, triple, etc this recipe): 1). Add to mixing bowl, whisking until combined: •1/4c/60 ml pasteurized egg whites •1/8+ tsp salt •1 tsp meringue powder (completely optional but good) 2). On low speed, a heaping cup at a time, add: •1/2 lb/227g powdered sugar (ideally it”s been sifted) 3). Scrape bowl occasionally and once mixture is even, turn speed up to med/med-high for 7-10 minutes. 4). Beating on medium, 1-2 Tbsp at a time, add: •1lb/454g/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature 5). Once all butter has been added, put in you flavoring. For ‘plain’ or vanilla buttercream, I add: •1+Tbsp (real) vanilla extra (yes, tablespoon, not teaspoon) •1/8 tsp almond extract (you can’t taste the almond, it just gives the flavor some dimension) 7). Adjust flavor as needed and beat mixture for another 7-10 minutes on med/med-high speed. Super simple, no stove required (so it’s great to make with kids), pipes just as beautifully as Italian or Swiss Buttercream, and lasts a LONG time without needing to be refrigerated (according to Lauren Kitchens, she’ll leave this out on the counter, not in the fridge, for up to 2 weeks.
this taught me so much just now, what an awesome article. I really thought the only buttercreams i could ever handle making would be american and swiss (which is my go-to) but this makes the other kinds feel so much more within my range of skill! i’m doing some bake sales to raise money for ukraine soon and i cant wait to try out the german style, thank you so much! 🙂
I grew up only ever making American buttercream, and only recently learned how to make Italian meringue buttercream. I like it so much better than American buttercream. The extra air from the meringue really makes a huge difference in terms of how sweet it tastes. As an extra bonus, it gets very close to a truly white color, which I found very useful when I made a cake for my older brother’s 40th birthday. It was a black and white headstone cake, and when paired with black, Italian meringue buttercream looks very white.
I loved this article! I really loved the costume you wore with the cute cherries. For the French buttercream, I use both whites and yolks and start the same as the Italian, except instead of just butter with the Italian, I add butter and yolks. It’s much more stable. You can add corn starch or xanthan gum to the syrup if you want even more stability.
I discovered IMBC in a vegan pistachio cake recipe I made last year. The recipe calls for vegan butter as well as aquafaba instead of egg whites. Turned out amazing! However, last night I whipped up a batch of IMBC using egg whites and vegan butter. The creaminess of it is just beautiful (even when I serve the cake straight from the fridge, it’s still airy, soft and creamy). I’m only not sold on the chocolate flavor, which doesn’t come through enough. Following the recipe for vegan IMBC, I replaced 100g of pistachio butter with 100g of melted 70% chocolate. I’d like the flavor to be as chocolatey as you’d get from the ABC, but with the fluffy silkiness of IMBC. 🤭
I like to make a Fruity Pebbles cake with a white chocolate ganache in the middle (I steep the Fruity Pebbles in the heavy cream). The Russian Buttercream sounds like it would be a great frosting for it. And I will definitely have to try the German! Any tips for turning the German into a chocolate buttercream?
The German butter cream starts out like a custard recipe and then turns into frosting. Without ever tasting it, I agree it must be the absolute richest and most decadent butter cream filling known to mankind. I am intimidated, but I want to attempt just so I can taste it. Of course, I can’t eat dairy or gluten so… it literally will be just for a taste and the family will reap the full rewards. lol
Thank you for this article! I actually didn’t realize there were different types. Does the German buttercream hold up well to food dye gels? I make a buttercream cake with American buttercream for my 7 kids birthdays, and it is super, super sweet. I would love to try the German, but I do use a lot of colors.
Ok, this is my first introduction to your articles and I’m already so entranced. I knew about the different kinds of buttercream, but seeing them all outlined in one article is so cool. Based on what you said, I’ll probably try German buttercream soon. I love your outfit and the setup you have- it’s so pretty and I like the vintage mixers in the background. 😀 I feel like there’s a frosting out there that uses flour…do you know what one that is?
Interesting! I’ve made American Buttercream for years and have added the vanilla and salt, however I’ve found that most people don’t do that. I love the addition of the salt. I’ve also grown up making German Buttercream, however I’ve only known it as “Hot Hands Frosting”. My mom took decorating classes before me and that’s what she had to use, apparently her hands melted regular Buttercream. Thinking of it, makes sense that it’s a German one…We both grew up in PA Dutch country. We enjoy German Buttercream in Whoopie Pies! (Freeze them and then eat them as they thaw.) Thanks for sharing these methods, now I want to try them all. 😊
I had no idea there were so many types of buttercream! I have fond recollections of “whoopie pies” that someone would bring to our annual family reunions when I was a kid — I have tried a zillion recipes, and though the cake part is a cinch, the fillings are always too sweet. I also remember the filling being quite yellow, so I might start with German buttercream. Happy to have these options to try. And I also love that cardigan!
This is so cool! I’m not much of a baker, but I got this random recommendation . . . can’t believe I thought there was only ONE frosting called buttercream! I’m also not surprised at what the Russian one is – Russians really like sweetened condensed milk as a flavor/topping/filling for all kinds of sweets, especially when it’s caramelized.
Thank you for this, it’s incredibly helpful. Quick question, I live in the tropics (it’s HOT) and am just starting to create very delilcate and intricate flowers/leaves etc. Would you suggest that Italian is best for that in a warm environment? I’ve been trying with American but 1. way too sweet and 2. keeps melting! Thanks in advance.
WOW !!! What a revelation! I know about US buttercream but I didn’t know you could mix Swiss or Italian meringue with butter or even crème pâtissière/custard or pudding with butter to make buttercream! Amazing!!! So many recipes to experiment with, thanks a lot, Bettie!!!! And I think I’ll even start with the Russian buttercream which I didn’t know it exists. If I could, I’d give you the award for best “baking” YouTube article of the year👌👏
Wow, what an amazing episode, Baker Betty! Brava, brava, brav4! Your 50s theme and opening were delightful, and your demonstration and instructions were top-notch. As a chef myself (though not a pastry chef), I found perusal you prepare the creams both enjoyable and informative. I can totally relate to struggling with buttercreams and icings, so your expertise is truly inspiring. And I’m totally with you on German buttercreams, but I do enjoy Swiss merengue – they’re my favorites too! Can’t wait for more fantastic content from you. Keep up the fantastic work! I am interested in learning more about royal icing and variations there of.❤🎉💯💗💐✨💝🤩☕
Great article! I have stumbled across an improvement for both American and Russian buttercream that kicks it up to a whole ‘nother level: add room temp cream cheese! I find that depending on the use, somewhere between 1quarter and 1 half pound works best. This is rich, decadent buttercream with a velvet texture. 💖
Question: so, my husband brought home a devil’s food cake and no frosting, but I told him, don’t worry, I can make one. So what did I make? Apparently not a chocolate butter cream. Warmed 1/2 cup whole milk and 22 large marshmallows, and 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Added 20 ounces dark chocolate. When completely melted and smooth, cooled stirring occasionally for a couple hours until completely cool and almost firm. Made a fabulous chocolate frosting! But what was it?
Your article is BRILLIANT! I had not ever seen one of these frostings ( German ) or ever heard of it and I had just seen the russian on another article and they used the cooked sweetened cond. milk and added 1/2 cup soft good caramel ( caramel buttercream ) However, I loved your article better than all the many ( I bet well over 100 including classes )…Your article was Brilliant and I love that you explain how it holds up and taste and texture and decorating..Awesome Job! from one experienced cake decorator to another, this was a brilliant article and you are adorable and I love all the retro..>AWESOME!
I don’t really make cakes/cupcakes a lot. I exclusively watched this because as a German I am convinced that german buttercream is the best.:D I have tried making American buttercream a few times but it just doesn’t do it for me. But i love seeing all those different versions of something with the same name that is so different depending on the country it’s from. ALSO: In my family we usually just cook a custard from a “custard-powder” and then stir in cubes of butter while it’s still warm. Then stir until it’s cooled down.
Thank you so much! I wanted to bake an easter sheep for the short coming easter feast. In the past, they sold wonderful butter cream easter sheeps, but they do not anymore, I don´t know why. So I wanted to do one by myself this year, but unfortunately I haven´t had a good receipe for a tasty buttercream so far… Now I can do 6!! Thanks a lot! You have the skills, girl!! Subscribed!!!
My whole life I’ve hated buttercream because all I ever tasted was American buttercream. It was sickly sweet so I always preferred fresh cream cakes. But once I tried Swiss meringue I realised how great the world of buttercream can be. I’m going to try the German and Russian now. Thanks for an excellent article and may I just say, you look like a classic Betty Crocker. Really sweet.
i discovered swiss buttercream some years ago and just love the light flavor. compared to the german buttercream i’ve made before it’s just lighter. you can eat more than one slice of cake without it being to much. i also add more or less butter depending on what lightness i want. it will always turn out great!!
I’ve really only made either American or French buttercream. I favor buttercream to sugary icings simply because it doesn’t make my mouth cringe from an overload of sugar. Although I am curious about the other buttercreams. I was only taught about American, Italian, and Swiss buttercreams with a mention of French buttercream. But I have never heard of German or Russian buttercream.
The pastry cream is called Pudding in Germany and is a own sweat meal. It comes in different flavors like vanilla, chocolate (milk/dark/white),and so much more. It’s basically a dry ingredients mixture when you buy it and at home you just add the milk and heat it up. I personally don’t like German buttercream at all, love the Swiss meringue
Hi Betty, This is a wonderful website. Thanks to you, I had my first successful sourdough starter! I also love the retro 50’s theme. Really lovely! How would the sugar and butter levels be adjusted if I were to add melted chocolate or powdered chocolate to German buttercream (which is also my favorite). I haven’t made it yet, because I can’t seem to find exact measurements to make it chocolate (preferably with melted chocolate). I just love that it starts with pastry cream/custard, which I do know how to make. Let me know if you get a chance.. And yes, I definitely have subscribed.