I’ve mentioned several times in past posts what the final flavor decisions were for the wedding: chocolate cake with coffee frosting.  But have I posted recipes?  I don’t believe I have!

The frosting, as I have mentioned previously, came from a friend-of-a-friend’s mother’s old magazine; a coffee buttercream.  This I also had to reduce its size, partially because my mixer couldn’t handle frosting of such magnitude, and partially because the last time I tried to make a larger batch it just didn’t quite turn out right.  Maybe I was rushing that time?  I’m not sure.  Perhaps I’ll try again sometime.

I think the frosting is super fun because (and I swear I’ve said this before) I’m pretty sure it’s considered a french buttercream as opposed to a swiss meringue buttercream.  For baking nerds who are interested, here’s a quick buttercream informational rundown.

All About Buttercream

There’s multiple types of buttercreams; here I’ll talk about the ones I’ve personally used:

• Simple: your basic “whip together butter/shortening and powdered sugar – DONE”.
• Meringue: there’s Swiss and Italian sub-styles.  Both of these employ a meringue to make the buttercream, they just differ in the way the sugar is prepared (or, depending on how you look at it, in the way the egg whites are made safe for consumption):
• Swiss: Heat the egg whites and sugar together to 140F.
• Italian: Heat sugar and water to 240F, then slowly pour into whipped up egg whites.
• French: rather than using egg whites as in the meringue buttercreams, you use the egg yolks (and sometimes whole egg too).

When making  Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB) – the style I’ve made the most – you melt your sugar in egg whites with a double-boiler and then whip that combination into a meringue.  You then beat in softened butter and boom – you have a buttercream!

When making a French Buttercream (FB) – which is how this coffee buttercream is made – you melt your sugar in water (into what Wikipedia calls the “soft-ball stage” if that means anything to you), and then slowly pour the hot melted sugar into beaten egg yolks.  Beat in softened butter and boom (again) – you have a buttercream!

Personally I think I’ve found the FB to be more buttery-tasting than the SMB, though both will taste predominantly like butter until you add in an extract or other flavoring (in our case, instant coffee or espresso).  I think the FB is a little less putzy to make (“putzy” meaning “having to tinker with”), but you do have to keep a constant eye on your sugar to make sure you don’t burn it (which I have dome before).  Additionally you have the risk factor of getting hot melted sugar on you, which I hear is particularly painful.

When making the SMB you don’t quite have the burning danger, but you have to keep an eye on your egg white/sugar mixture to make sure you don’t actually cook the egg whites (which I have done before).  It also has a slightly lighter taste.  Really, I think it’s a toss-up between the two in terms of both taste and work necessary; I’m not sure I really prefer one over the other.  Let me know if you have opinions otherwise; I’d love to talk about them. ^_^

   

Sometime I may have to do a blind taste-test with friends to see what people think about what…hmm, sounds like a fun series coming on…

Anyhoo, there’s some inside info on buttercreams.  And now, let’s have some recipes!

Coffee Buttercream Recipe

Slightly modified from an old 70s magazine.  Will cover a 2-layer 10″ cake (approximately 4 cups).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 + 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/2 + 1/8 cup water (for melting sugar)
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 tbsp instant coffee/espresso powder (I used Starbucks Via Colombian coffee)
• 1/4 tbsp hot water (for mixing coffee/espresso)

Instructions

1. Put your butter out on a plate to soften (if it’s cool in your house, you may want to cut it up into cubes to expedite the process).

2. Mix together water and sugar in a pot.  Heat until a candy thermometer reaches 240FDEGREES (or, if you’re like me, eyeball it – heat until the mixture is still slightly less than watery, but not yet gummy.  Bubbles should slightly resist the liquid, but not bubble up slowly and push against the liquid).

3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and egg yolks in a metal bowl until light and fluffy (I beat them in the bowl of my stand mixer with whisk attachment).

4. Once the sugar has been melted, pour a slow stream of the sugar into your beaten eggs.  Mix simultaneously.

5. Continue beating the egg and sugar mixture until the bowl cools; the volume of your mixture should have approximately doubled (or at least increased).

6. If your butter is appropriately softened (it probably is by now), slowly add cubes of butter to the mixture (I changed my mixer to the paddle attachment), and beat at a medium speed until your buttercream comes together.  Remember – having a curdly-looking stage is good!  Don’t give up, just keep on with the mixin’.

7. Once the frosting has come together mix the instant espresso/coffee in the hot water and add it to the frosting, beating it until it’s thoroughly integrated.  Now eat a spoonful!  It’s done – and DELICIOUS!