Italian Meringue Buttercream - Birthday Cupcakes

Well, the office move is officially completed. We’re in our new building, and I’m happy to finally have my own office with a nice view. But—on to more important things… cake!

We threw a birthday party over the weekend for our friend Dave. The party planning detail that I of course, was most interested in, was what kinds of treats to serve. I wanted to do a twist on the usual cake and ice cream menu, so we had a make-your-own sundae bar along with vanilla cupcakes topped with Italian meringue buttercream icing.

I was under pressure to get everything ready, so I just used a box cake mix. The icing recipe came from The Baker’s Field Guide to Cupcakes. This is a really great “idea” book as every cupcake is pictured in full color. I’m a sucker for photographs, so that’s what sold me on the book!

This icing recipe was the first I’ve made from the book, and it was quite tasty. For me though, it’s just not style of icing I love though. I, unlike a lot of people out there, adore the really sweet and rich, heavy icings. They’re not very good for you, but hey, it’s all about moderation, right? Anyway, this was a very smooth, delicate and not-too sweet icing.

The recipe as listed in the book is a basic version and it’s suggested to add flavorings to create different icings. I split the batch in two and added a little vanilla to one and some cocoa powder to the other. I dusted the tops of the chocolate ones with some additional cocoa powder, just to make them look prettier. I kept these in the fridge and let them come to room temperature before serving.

   

Ingredients:

Scant 2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup water
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces   

Directions:

Place 2/3 cup sugar and water in small pot. Stir to wet sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, swirling pan occasionally. Dip pastry brush in cold water and wash down sugar crystals from the sides of the pot once or twice. [I didn’t have a pastry brush and just used the spoon] Turn down heat to simmer gently.   

Place egg whites in mixing bowl and whip until frothy on low speed using balloon whip attachment. Add cream of tartar and turn speed to medium-high. When soft peaks form, add remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar gradually. Continue whipping until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Bring the sugar-water mixture to a rapid boil and cook until it reaches 248°-250° F. As syrup cooks, look for visual clues to assess the temperature. It starts out thin with many small bubbles over the surface. The water will begin to evaporate, and the mixture will become thicker. The bubbles get larger and sticky and pop more slowly. At this point the syrup looks thickened, but it has not begun to color. If you drop a bit of the syrup into a glass of cold water, it will form a ball. This is the firm-ball stage and the syrup is ready. 

Pour a thin steady stream over meringue, without pouring any on the rotating whip or the sides of the bowl. Whip meringue on high speed until cool. When the bowl is no longer warm, stop the machine and touch the surface of the meringue with your finger to check that it is cooled. With mixer on medium speed, add the butter, a couple of tablespoons at a time. Keep beating until the buttercream is completely smooth. Any flavorings may be added at this point.

Comments

[marye]

mm! Those look really good. I will have to try that!

[steph]

i love using italian meringue buttercream-- it's so smooth and pure white (not to mention a good way to use up egg whites). and i like watching it come together in the mixer bowl...i'm weird.