Whipped Buttercream

"It takes a touch of genius to move in the opposite direction."

I'm no Albert Einstein, but I love the quote.  And you could say  I have lived my life blazing my own trail,  so to speak.
 For example,  I  blog only when  inspired. No more, no less. Even, alas, at the risk of losing potential readers.

   And today—with Valentine's Day around the corner—I'm inspired.

And so, I'm blogging about Christmas...

Yes, it is common  knowledge that the sheltering sky moves faster than me.   But truth to tell, I'm here to deliver on a promise—the buttercream  recipe I offered to share, before life got its nose in my business.

  I used the buttercream  to decorate the Christmas gnome. Don't you just love that he's 50% beard?

His imperfect little tree house, with lopsided windows, is just right for the tiny man and his wildlife friends.  It consists of four 6-inch layers, with filling in between. Then, everything is covered with a chocolate version of my buttercream.

I used a decorator's comb for the 'bark' on the tree,  but a new, wide-tooth comb, or even a fork, will achieve the same effect. 

The gnome is simply a cupcake baked in a mini Wonder Mold pan.

  
 As you can see, this buttercream is made with all butter, so it's not perfectly white. 

I will admit that, during the hot summer months, I  tend to incorporate a little Crisco shortening into the buttercream to give it some stability, and to keep piped flowers from wilting.  Don't judge me.

And please,  don't get me wrong either.  The idea of eating white, vegetable fat makes me queasy too. But consider this, when was the last time you looked forward to gnawing on a solid stick of butter? 

At any rate, this buttercream is simply delicious, with a very light texture, and not cloyingly sweet. Use it to cover a cake, pipe borders and flowers. It's a bit fancy and kind of special.

Submitted  for your approval...


Memories in the Baking Whipped Buttercream

½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup boiling water
¼ cup meringue powder *
1 pound sifted confectioner's sugar
1½ (3 sticks) cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Crème Bouquet, or a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia, optional

Dissolve sugar and salt in the boiling water (I normally do this in the microwave. You could put the sugar, salt and water in a small saucepan, bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, until sugar is completely dissolved).

 Set sugar mixture aside to cool to room temperature. You can make the syrup ahead of time, and keep at room temperature  for a few days, or refrigerate indefinitely.
 If you decide to refrigerate the syrup, be sure to bring it to room temperature before using.

In a mixer bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment, combine sugar mixture and meringue powder, and beat until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sifted confectioner's sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. You're basically making  stiff Royal Icing.

On low speed, beat in the butter for about 5 minutes, or until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract,  and the Crème Bouquet or Fiori di Sicilia, if using. Continue to beat buttercream a few more minutes, until smooth.

Use immediately, or cover well and refrigerate for up to a month. When you're ready to use it, bring buttercream to room temperature and beat  at low speed,  to a light, creamy consistency.  

For the chocolate buttercream:

Gently melt 4 ounces of dark chocolate. Allow chocolate to cool to room temperature.  Beat chocolate into prepared whipped buttercream,  using  the paddle, or wire whisk attachment.
 

 So start practicing the messy art of piping  decorations  on for your Valentine. Yeah, let's go with that.

  

Ah Sandy, Thou Art a Heartless Wench

My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this massive hurricane and its devastating effects; may you all regain some normalcy in your lives very soon. 

  
 
Hey gang, just had to take a moment to say hello.

Hello.

And to apologize for my (almost year-long) absence. Long story short, over the summer, I sold the antiques business; hurt my leg; had dental surgery; had allergic reaction to antibiotics from said surgery, and have rested as much as possible.


As a result, I've gotten better. And in the process, I have also become fluent in Whiny.


I didn't have the opportunity to create a Halloween treat for you this year. So today, I will post some blasts   from the past on this dusty old blog. Just click on the images to direct you to each post. And please know, I have every intention of posting the buttercream tutorial I promised the last time I sashayed through.

 






 You might want to cover your eyes, as this photo is more unsettling than most. Here's Mason and the prancing little bird about to engage in a staring contest.

Any moment now...unspeakable horror...

Ok, you can open your eyes now. The bird won.  



 Best wishes from Mason and me,  for a happy  Hallowe'en!

Yellow Butter Cake

It is said that if you're going to have dessert, portion-controlled servings are the way to go.
I find that logic almost interesting.

Regardless, I gave it a try. And I believe this clever strategy has the potential to work!

I can't  begin to tell you how many of these single-serving cakes I've had this week  plus the strong urge to swing from power lines was undeniable.

However, should my body start to block out the sun, I will have to forgo the experts' advice, and resort to baking mini cupcakes instead...

You'll probably think it prosaic to blog about yellow cake, when you consider the endless times I've declared my love for chocolate cake. But this humble classic takes me back to my childhood. And to all the birthdays this type of cake has made its appearance. Light in texture, not overly sweet, buttery and very comfortable sharing the spotlight with just about any buttercream.

These cupcakes were topped with some fantasy-type flowers, which I'll refer to as   'camellias' because who would gainsay me? Who?
In any case, a fancy swirled top would also be pretty. I will be sharing both, my favorite buttercream, and a  simple way to pipe flowers, in time for Valentine's Day.

Yellow Butter Cake

4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups sifted cake flour
1½ cups superfine sugar*
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, each stick cut into 8 pieces

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9-inch pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Or, line a standard cupcake pan, with cupcake liners. Whisk together eggs, heavy cream, sour cream and vanilla. Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set aside.

Combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed to blend, about 30 seconds. While mixer is still running, add butter, one piece at a time (Make sure to cover mixer bowl with a kitchen towel for the initial mixing, to keep all the ingredients in the bowl instead of your lovely face :).

Mix until butter and flour begin to look  pebbly, with pieces about the size of peas, 30 to 40 seconds after all the butter is added. Add reserved 1 cup egg mixture, mixing on lowest speed until until incorporated, about 10 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Add remaining egg mixture  into batter, in slow, steady stream, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape sides and bottom of the bowl. Beat until well combined, 15 seconds longer

Divide batter equally between pans. Pick up each filled pan a few inches off the counter and drop several times to 'belch' any air bubbles to the top, as well as to evenly level the batter in the pans.

Bake until tops are light golden and wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cakes on wire rack 8 to 10 minutes. Run thin metal spatula around pan perimeter to loosen. Invert cake onto parchment-lined wire rack, peel off parchment, and reinvert cake onto parchment paper-lined rack.**  Cool completely before frosting. Adapted from The Best Recipe, by Cook's Illustrated.

*To make your own superfine sugar, process granulated sugar in a food processor or blender for about one minute.

**This cake will level off a bit once it comes out of the oven. If the cake still has a dome after a few minutes of cooling, take a piece of  parchment paper and lay it over the cake. Rest another cake pan over the warm cake, and  press it down, gently. Hold  for 15-20 seconds and release the pressure. If cake still has a dome, repeat the process. This is a  technique commonly used by cake decorators to level most cakes without the need to slice the tops off.

I hope you'll bake this wonderful cake soon. But I'm warning you, you'll need a shower afterward.

Have a good weekend, my friends.

Designs by Gollum
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