Silky French buttercream is like a Swiss meringue buttercream, except it uses egg yolks instead of the whites. Basically, you are creating Pâté à Bombe and adding butter. What could be more intense in flavor than that? Perhaps adding the seeds from a vanilla bean?
What is a pâté à bombe? It’s French for a mixture of egg yolks and sugar. Think of all the creamy mousses out there and pâté à bombe is what makes the magic happen.
One note, pâté à bombe and French buttercream are most often made with streaming hot syrup into the eggs as they are being whipped.
While this is considered the standard, I don’t do it for two reasons. First, I have a frozen shoulder which inhibits my movements and makes pouring hot liquid into a mixing bowl of eggs quite a bit dangerous. I had to find an alternative. This is much safer for anyone with mobility issues with their arms or hands.
Second, the streaming hot 244F (118C) sugar into the eggs does not often raise the temperature to 160F (71C.) If any bacteria is present in the egg, this will not make the eggs safe for consumption. Also, this temperature instability can actually cause the mixture to spoil much faster. Not good for anyone, especially those with a weak immune system. To make it even safer, start out with pasteurized eggs. But let’s just be smart and bring it to temperature, keep chilled and use quickly.
With that out of the way, let’s make some silky french meringue buttercream, shall we? What will you use it for? Perhaps some delicious macarons?
French Buttercream
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Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) softened butter
- 5 large (100g) egg yolks
- ½ cup (100g) sugar
- 1 tsp (5mL) vanilla extract
- ½ tsp (2g) salt
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, bring water to a simmer.
- In a heat proof bowl, add the egg yolks, sugar and salt. Whisk until pale and fluffy.
- Place bowl top of pan. Constantly whisk until mixture gets up to 160F (71C.) This will ensure the eggs are safe for consumption.
- Remove from heat and using an electric mixer, beat until the egg turn glossy and are no longer warm to the touch.
- Start adding butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Once all the butter is added, beat in vanilla. Buttercream must be kept chilled until ready for use and should not sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Remove from fridge 20 – 30 minutes before serving to allow buttercream to soften. Store any leftovers immediately in fridge up to 2 days.
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