Desserts & Baking

Italian buttercream

By
11 December 2005
± 500 g buttercream
Easy
30 minutes
15 minutes

Italian buttercream is luxuriously smooth and incredibly stable. Hot sugar syrup is streamed into whipped egg whites to create a strong meringue, then emulsified with butter for a satin-smooth finish. Using light brown sugar adds gentle caramel notes and a soft colour, giving the buttercream a warmer, deeper flavour while keeping its signature silky texture and stability.

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Ingredients

Method
  • 150 g Woolworths light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 large free-range egg whites
  • ¼ t cream of tartar
  • 250 g salted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 t vanilla extract

1. Gently heat the sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and boil until the temperature reaches 118°C on a sugar thermometer.
2. While the sugar boils, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar using a stand mixer until soft peaks form.
3. Once the sugar reaches temperature, stream it into the whites while beating. Pour the sugar mixture down the inside of the mixing bowl, rather than onto the moving whisk.
4. Beat continuously until the mixture cools – the mixing bowl should be cool to the touch.
5. Add the butter 1 T at a time, followed by the vanilla, while beating until the mixture is thick and glossy.

Find more icing recipes here

Photography: Shavan Rahim

Recipes and production: Marcelle van Rooyen

Food assistant: Bianca Jones

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Marcelle van Rooeyn

Recipe by: Marcelle van Rooeyn

Marcelle van Rooyen is a Stellenbosch-born, Cape Town-based food stylist and producer with a background in classical cheffing from Silwood. She’s worked on everything from cookbooks and commercials to TV shows like The Taste Master SA and Ultimate Braai Master. Her style is all about thoughtful detail, beautiful food, and big flavour. With local roots and global experience, she brings creativity and calm to every shoot.

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