French Buttercream

This is quite different from other buttercream icings that I've had. I am, of course, familiar with American buttercream: overly sweet and greasy, but very quick and easy to make. And I've made Swiss meringue buttercream before. I quite like that one since the meringue base means it's not so cloying and doesn't taste quite so fatty and greasy. I'd never heard of French buttercream before though. It's very rich with its egg yolk base. And pouring the boiling sugar into the eggs made me a bit nervous. It does make a pretty nice icing in the end though. I think it's probably a bit too butter-forward to be my favourite, but it's still an improvement over American buttercream IMHO.

The original recipe provides instructions for making 3 c. (just the right amount to frost a dozen cupcakes), 5 c. (should be enough for a 23cm (9") round two-layer cake), and 6 c. (enough to ice a three-layer cake). It also suggests a couple flavour variations in addition to the basic vanilla.

Vanilla French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Makes ~3 c.

Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. Beat egg yolks on medium speed for 4-6 minutes.
2. Combine sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and pour hot sugar mixture into the whipped yolks in a thin, steady stream. Don't let the sugar directly touch the sides of the bowl or the beaters/whisk.
4. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 5-10 minutes. Mixture should be well-aerated and no longer warm.
5. Reduce speed to medium low and beat in butter 1 Tbsp. at a time.
6. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for another minute or two.

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Variations

Almond French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

Coconut French Buttercream (for Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. coconut extract
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. (20 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

French Buttercream (for a Two-Layer Cake)

Makes ~5 c.

Ingredients

• 7 large egg yolks
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 2/3 c. corn syrup
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 Tbsp. almond or coconut extract (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

For this larger amount you can add the butter 2 Tbsp. at a time rather than 1.

French Buttercream (for a Three-Layer Cake)

Makes ~6 c.

Ingredients

• 8 large egg yolks
• 1 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. corn syrup
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. almond or coconut extract
• 1/8 tsp. salt (optional)
• 2 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

Butter can be added 2 Tbsp. at a time rather than 1.