Meringue Buttercream, a widely used cream for filling, decorating cupcakes, and covering cakes. It is also used for icing cakes that are then covered with fondant, because it remains soft to spread but becomes compact like classic buttercream when it rests in the refrigerator.
We Italians are not very used to these butter-based creams, but these creams are very useful for decorations that last over time. They do not deflate like whipped cream might, and they allow for greater definition in decorations due to their consistency.
The meringue buttercream starts with a base of Italian meringue to which is added softened butter and vanilla or another flavoring; this process makes it much more pleasant to our palates, becoming truly delicious.
It remains a very velvety and glossy cream, and if kept at room temperature like for cupcakes it stays very soft. If you use it to decorate and cover a cake, I recommend taking it out of the refrigerator at least half an hour before serving it to regain its natural softness. However, if you need it to stay hard for icing, just keep it in the refrigerator.
The meringue buttercream can be easily colored with food coloring, I recommend the powdered version, and since it is also delicious, children will love it.
I remind you of some decorated cakes where I used buttercream and some bases and fillings for your cakes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: to cover a 9.5 inch cake or 10 large cupcakes
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 296.14 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 25.68 (g) of which sugars 25.68 (g)
- Proteins 1.15 (g)
- Fat 21.68 (g) of which saturated 14.09 (g)of which unsaturated 7.65 (g)
- Fibers 0.00 (g)
- Sodium 18.02 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 63 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 oz water
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 oz egg whites
- 9 1/2 oz butter (softened)
- to taste vanilla flavoring
Tools
To prepare the meringue buttercream, it is important to have a stand mixer or a good electric mixer because you need to whip the meringue well; for cooking the meringue, a food thermometer is recommended.
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Thermometer
- 1 Strainer
Preparation
The preparation of meringue buttercream starts with making the Italian meringue.
Put the water in the saucepan with the sugar and bring it to a boil over high heat.
Insert the thermometer into the saucepan while it’s on the fire and bring the syrup to 250°F. Meanwhile, start pouring the egg whites into the bowl of the stand mixer because just before the sugar reaches the temperature, you should start whipping them. For those without a thermometer, the right temperature to turn off the syrup is when it forms many boiling bubbles but does not yet darken.
When the syrup has reached temperature, pour it in a thin stream into the egg whites that are whipping, increase the speed to maximum on the stand mixer and wait for it to whip. It will take a few minutes because the syrup is hot and needs to cool. If you want to speed up this process, you could place ice under the stand mixer bowl; otherwise, just wait a few more minutes.
When the egg whites and sugar are well whipped, add the butter piece by piece, still mixing at medium/high speed. Add the flavoring, and when you see your cream thicken, you can turn it off. Your meringue cream is ready to use.
NOTES
As we said, the meringue buttercream can have various uses and can be natural or colored. If you decide to color it, my advice is to use powdered food coloring or highly concentrated gel, and I recommend adding them immediately to the egg whites before whipping them. This will make your color even more intense.
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