Comparing 6 Types of Buttercream- American, Swiss, Italian, French, German, & Russian

so today we are going to do a deep dive into  making buttercream and you may not even know   this but there are a lot of different types of  buttercream in fact today we are going to make   six different types which actually isn't even  all of the different types but these are the   most commonly used types of buttercream and i  want to show you how to make each one and then   we'll talk about the differences in all of them  they all have a slightly different flavor texture   and best use so today we are going to cover  american buttercream swiss meringue buttercream   italian meringue buttercream french buttercream  german buttercream and russian buttercream   it's a united nations of buttercream let's go  we're going to start with the easiest buttercream   to make which is american buttercream it involves  just beating butter and powdered sugar together   start by adding 227 grams which is two sticks of  room temperature unsalted butter to your mixer   and beat with a paddle attachment for about 30  seconds until creamy then i typically start with   about 2 cups which is 240 grams of powdered  sugar and beat that with the butter you can   go ahead and add your vanilla extract or whatever  flavorings you like here and a big pinch or two of   salt and then scrape down your bowl now you can  add more powdered sugar to get to the sweetness   level that you like up to about two more cups  or 240 grams more if your frosting is getting   too thick then you can add a few tablespoons  of milk or cream to thin it out this style of   buttercream is the sweetest and thickest of all  of the styles we're covering today and it stays   lightly pale yellow and after it is added to your  cake or cookie it does develop this thin crust on   the surface this can actually be really helpful  for cookie decorating so that they don't easily   get messed up if they touch each other but it  can make it really difficult to create a smooth   look on a layer cake next up is swiss meringue  buttercream to start you need to set up a double   boiler which is a pan of simmering water that  your heat proof bowl sits on top of make sure   that your bowl is not coming into direct contact  with the water add 180 grams or three quarters of   a cup of egg whites to your mixing bowl along  with 400 grams or two cups of granulated sugar   gently whisk the egg whites and the sugar  together while warming them over the double boiler   you aren't trying to whip air into the egg whites  at this point rather we're just continuously   stirring them with the whisk so that they do not  get too hot on the bottom of the bowl and cook   the goal here is to heat the mixture until  the sugar is completely dissolved which will   happen around 160 degrees fahrenheit or 71 degrees  celsius if you don't have a thermometer to check   the temperature you can stream some of the mixture  off of your whisk and then rub it in between your   fingers to check for graininess it should feel  completely smooth once your mixture is hot enough   remove it from the double boiler and transfer it  to the stand mixer fit with your whisk attachment   whip on medium speed until the meringue cools down  completely i always check by touching the bottom   of the bowl to see if i can still feel any warmth  this will take around 8 to 10 minutes once the   meringue is cool and it reaches stiff peaks you  can add vanilla extract or any other flavorings   and a big pinch of salt and then we're going to  add our room temperature butter that has been   cubed up little by little you will add a total  of one pound which is 480 grams or four sticks   of butter don't be alarmed if the mixture breaks  and starts looking really curdled as you're adding   your butter this is completely normal keep beating  it and it will come back together into a really   silky smooth frosting swiss meringue buttercream  is ivory in color and it is definitely less sweet   than american buttercream and it is so silky  smooth which makes it really great for smoothing   on cakes next we have another type of meringue  buttercream which is italian meringue buttercream   for this method we are going to make a sugar syrup  which we will stream into the egg whites rather   than heating the egg whites with the sugar in my  pot here over medium-low heat i have 400 grams   or two cups of granulated sugar and 170 grams or  three quarters cup of water for this method you   do need to use a candy thermometer because it's  really important to get to the right temperature   i also have 180 grams or three quarters cup  of egg whites in my stand mixer ready to go   you want that set up because we're going to start  whisking once our sugar syrup gets hot once your   sugar syrup is about 200 degrees fahrenheit or 93  degrees celsius go ahead and start whisking your   egg whites on medium-high speed you want them to  be filling up with quite a bit of air before you   string in the syrup once your thermometer reads  240 degrees fahrenheit or 115 degrees celsius take   it off the heat and slowly and carefully stream  it into your mixer while it is still running   keep it slightly away from the side of the bowl  because the sugar syrup can stick to it and harden   after all of the syrup is in continue mixing until  the mixture cools down completely and the egg   whites have reached stiff peaks be patient with  it this is going to take a good 8 to 10 minutes   to fully cool down you can add your vanilla or any  other flavorings you like and a few big pinches of   salt here and then after the mixture is holding  stiff peaks you can start slowly incorporating   the butter add your room temperature butter one  cube at a time while continuing to whisk on medium   medium-high speed and we will be adding a full  pound of butter which is 450 grams or four sticks   i always use unsalted butter for all of my  frosting so that way i can control how much   salt i'm adding but you do want to add salt  to any of your frostings so it doesn't taste   overly sweet this frosting will start to break and  look curdled as well as you incorporate the butter   but again just keep mixing and it will come back  together into a very smooth and silky frosting   i find italian and swiss meringue buttercreams  to be extremely similar in flavor and texture   italian is a bit more stable so if you need to  use it in a warmer environment that can be really   helpful and i also find that it doesn't get quite  as many air bubbles as the swiss meringue does   but picking which one to use is really just  a preference of method i personally like the   italian method better it pipes like a dream  as well and it is so easy to smooth on a cake   for the french buttercream the method is identical  to the italian meringue method except we are going   to use egg yolks rather than egg whites so  once again i have my pot set up with my candy   thermometer and i have 250 grams or one and a  half cups of sugar and 115 grams or a half cup   of water and i'm heating that over medium heat in  my stand mixer fit with my whisk attachment i have   200 grams or three quarters cup of egg yolks this  will take about 12 large eggs to get this amount   as the sugar syrup reaches 200 degrees fahrenheit  or 93 degrees celsius turn on the mixer to   medium-high speed to whip some air into the yolks  as soon as your thermometer reads 240 degrees   fahrenheit or 115 degrees celsius take it off  the heat and slowly and carefully stream it into   your egg yolks while the mixer is still running  keep it slightly away from the side of the bowl   because the sugar syrup can harden onto the side  let the mixture continue running until the bowl   is cool to the touch and then you can add your  flavorings of choice and a few pinches of salt   add your room temperature butter one cube at  a time while the mixer runs and we will add   one pound which is 450 grams or four sticks  this buttercream does not typically split on   me while i'm adding the butter but if it does  just keep mixing and it will come back together   i find this to be the richest tasting  of all of the buttercreams which is   not surprising because it has so much fat in  it with all of the egg yolks and the butter   it is great as a filling for a cake but be  aware that it does not hold up to heat well   it's super silky smooth and it's pretty bright  yellow in color and it pipes like a dream next we   are diving into a lesser-known buttercream which  is my absolute favorite style and that is german   buttercream it starts with pastry cream so in  my pot over medium heat i have 340 grams of milk   which is one and a half cups and then in a mixing  bowl i'm combining 200 grams or one cup of sugar   40 grams or a third cup of corn starch three large  eggs and a big pinch of salt and i'm whisking all   of that together to combine as soon as the milk  is starting to slightly simmer we are going to   temper the egg mixture by very slowly streaming  in about half of the hot milk while whisking   then i'm going to add the egg mixture to the  pot and whisk continuously over low heat until   it starts bubbling up and thickening it's going  to get very thick once it has thickened up you   can turn off the heat and whisk in your vanilla  extract or any other flavorings you like then   transfer your pastry cream to a bowl and press  some plastic wrap right on top of it so it doesn't   form a film and then we're going to refrigerate  it for at least one hour until completely cooled   once the pastry cream has cooled down put 570  grams which is two and a half cups or five   sticks of room temperature butter in the bowl of  your stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment   beat on medium speed for several minutes  until it has lightened in color and   increased in volume scrape down the bowl  periodically during this process now we can   start adding the pastry cream little by little to  the butter scraping down the bowl every so often   once it is all added you can increase the speed  to medium high and beat for another three to four   minutes until it is very light and fluffy german  buttercream is also known as creme mussoline and   is often used as a filling for pastries i describe  the flavor as ice cream in frosting form and it is   the sweetness level that is perfect for me  it's just enough but it's not too sweet and   do be aware that this buttercream is not very  stable in the heat but if you've never tried it   i highly recommend and the last buttercream  we are covering today is russian buttercream   or also known as sweetened condensed milk  buttercream this buttercream is almost as   simple as the american buttercream you just need  to be a little bit more careful with your timing   i have a half pound which is 227 grams or two  sticks of room temperature butter in my mixing   bowl fit with the whisk attachment and i'm going  to start by whisking it on medium high speed until   it is about triple in volume this is going to take  several minutes and you want to scrape down the   bowl a few times during this process the butter  will lighten in color and become very pale yellow   once the butter has increased in volume we're  going to slowly add one 14 ounce can or 396 grams   of sweetened condensed milk make sure that it's  sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk   i do this in about four additions while  whisking well in between each and then   scraping down the bowl you don't want to do this  too fast otherwise it won't incorporate fully   once all of the milk is added you can add your  flavorings of choice and a few pinches of salt   the mixture may look really thin and soft at  first but keep whisking and it will thicken up   this buttercream is really light in texture  almost like a slightly thicker whipped cream   it pipes very easily but it is not  very stable to hold intricate shapes   this buttercream is much lighter and  less sweet than american buttercream with   relatively little extra effort but i do have to  admit though that this is my least favorite of   all of the buttercreams it has a very strong milk  flavor which i just don't love but many people   really do like it so you should definitely try  it if you haven't so i really hope you enjoyed   this video and i hope this inspires you to try  one of these different types of buttercreams   and if you do please let me know what you  think and if you have any questions you can   always leave those down in the comment section  i do my best to answer them and make sure you're   subscribed so you never miss a video and i'll  see you next time with another baking tutorial oh my god that was amazing

Channel: Baker Bettie

Views: 1,568,329

Keywords: buttercream, types of buttercream, buttercream frosting, american buttercream, swiss buttercream, swiss meringue buttercream, italian buttercream, italian meringue buttercream, french buttercream, german buttercream, creme mousseline, russian buttercream, sweetened condensed milk buttercream, easy buttercream, best buttercream, icing for cake, types of frostings, how to make buttercream, buttercream icing

Id: DtNgNSBEvlE

Length: 12min 58sec (778 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 07 2021