italian buttercream

This creamy, silky buttercream is perfect for decorating cakes and beyond delicious! It's easier to make than you think and might just become your go to frosting!&nbsp;

How to make Italian Buttercream

egg whites (large, room temperature)

sugar (267 grams)

salt (optional)

unsalted butter

vanilla extract (optional, 4.9 milliliters)

tsp cream of tartar (.84 grams)

water (79 milliliters)

Beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar, slowly add in 1/3 cup of sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form.

While the eggs are  getting whipped add the remaining sugar and 1/3 cup water into a medium pot and place on medium-low heat.

Stir until sugar melts and becomes clear.

Maintain at medium-high heat until temperature reads 235-240F.

Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately. At this point the meringue should be at the soft peak stage.

Run mixer until meringue is cool/tepid.

Switch to a paddle attachment. Add room temperature butter into running mixer one tablespoon piece at a time.

Add the salt and vanilla if using.

Beat until butter is combined and mixture has reached a silky consistency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP2XJ_0g-Ik

How to Make Italian Buttercream
Full Recipe: https://preppykitchen.com/how-to-make-italian-buttercream/

Of all the buttercreams in the world Italian meringue buttercream might just be my favorite! It’s light, silky, not too sweet and it pipes beautifully!! It needlessly intimidates way too many home bakers so I’m here to help and provide that little bit of encouragement and know how to help you make this amazing frosting!

How to Make Italian Buttercream

Make this showstopper chocolate layer cake with blackberry Italian buttercream when you really want to impress...  Read my tips for perfectly silky Italian meringue buttercream – it really isn’t that scary, I promise!

Chocolate layer cake with blackberry Italian buttercream

300 g | 2 cups plain flour

300 g | 1 3/4 cup soft dark brown sugar

g | 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

tbsp baking powder

tsp bicarbonate of soda

salt

eggs (lightly beaten)

220 ml | 7.4 fl oz | 1 cup - 1 tbsp whole milk

tbsp runny honey

tsp vanilla extract

300 g | 12 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)

sugar

lemon

360 g | 1 3/4 cups caster sugar

tbsp honey

100 ml | scant 1/2 cup water

liquid egg

450 g | 4 sticks unsalted butter

blackberry syrup (or more to taste)

Pink food colouring (optional)

Prepare the blackberry syrup. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring so the sugar dissolves. Cook for a few minutes, until the blackberries start to burst and release their juices. Strain using a fine sieve, collecting the syrup into a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Spray three 15cm (6in) cake tins with cake release spray and line the bottoms with greaseproof paper. The layers will be quite high as there's enough batter for four&nbsp;15cm (6in) layers. If making four layers adjust baking time to 25-28 minutes.

Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to the bowl of your food processor. Pulse for a minute on low speed to combine.

Add the cubed butter and mix for 2-3 minutes until the mixture resembles coarse sand.

Add the eggs and mix for a minute until well incorporated. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure everything is mixed in well.

Mix the milk and vanilla extract in a measuring jug. Gradually add to the batter, mixing on low speed until combined. Add the honey and mix until you have a smooth glossy batter, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter between the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cakes are firm on top and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes then turn out to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, level the tops, if needed.

Make the buttercream. Put the sugar, honey and water in a deep saucepan stir to combine. Bring to the boil over high heat and check the temperature with a digital or jam thermometer. Cook until it reaches 120°C/ 248°F.

Meanwhile, put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk at maximum speed until you have soft peaks.

Carefully pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites, while mixing, down the side of the mixing bowl. Continue to whisk for several minutes until you have a glossy meringue and the bowl feels barely warm to the touch.

Add the butter, a few chunks at a time, and continue whisking at maximum speed until it is all incorporated. The buttercream may briefly separate or look curdled, but keep whisking and it will soon become glossy and smooth.

Add the blackberry syrup and mix it in. For a deeper pink colour you can add a little pink food colouring until you have the desired shade.

Brush the cake layers with any leftover blackberry syrup. Sandwich together with the buttercream, piping or spreading it over the layers.

Pipe a generous amount of buttercream on top of the cake – I used a  Russian ball piping tip to create the ruffles.

Carefully drizzle any remaining blackberry syrup over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Serve immediately.

A moist layer cake flavored with vanilla tea and a kiss of lavender.&nbsp;

Lavender Cake

all-purpose flour (213 grams)

sugar (190 grams)

tsp baking powder (3 grams)

¼ tsp baking soda (1 grams)

whole milk (180 milliliters, room temperature)

tbsp black vanilla tea (loose)

lavender

unsalted butter (165 grams, almost melted)

sour cream (120 milliliters, room temperature)

tsp vanilla extract (10 grams)

egg whites (room temperature)

sugar (275 grams)

unsalted butter (456 grams, room temperature)

cream of tartar

water (80 milliliters)

pink and green food coloring

lb confectioners sugar (907 grams)

tbsp vanilla extract

lavender essential oil (optional)

Purple, pink and green food coloring

Preheat oven to 340F. Butter and flour three 6-inch cake pans. Soak baking strips in water. (If you're making three 8" layers then double the batter, three 9" layers would need triple the batter.)&nbsp;

Sift dry ingredients (including sugar). Whisk to combine.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, culinary lavender and loose black tea. Give it a quick stir. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Strain into a bowl to cool. Measure ½ cup for the batter. Reserve the rest for the buttercream.

In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients, including butter and ½ cup of the infused milk.

Combine the wet and dry mixtures. Whisk until combined.&nbsp;

Add damp baking strips to the cake pans.

Evenly distribute batter into each pans. I like to use a kitchen scale for precision.

Bake for about 30- 35 minutes or until the centers are set and springy to the touch.

For the Cake:

Beat the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar, slowly add in 1/3 cup of sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form.

In a medium saucepan add the remaining sugar and 1/3 cup water then place on medium-low heat.

Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately.

Run the mixer until meringue is cool/tepid, about 15 minutes. You can pack the bowl with ice or frozen peas if you want to speed the cooling down.

Add the salt and vanilla.

Distribute into multiple bowls.

Use food coloring to create a gradient of colors.

Transfer to piping bags. Snip off the tips of each bag.

For the Italian Meringue Buttercream:

In a stand mixer, cream the room temperature butter until fluffy.

Sift in half of the confectioners sugar. Mix, then add the rest.

Add in a few tbsps of the infused milk mixture until you reach a desired consistency.

Add in 2 drops of lavender essential oil. Mix until combined.

Reserve about 1 cup. Add in purple food coloring. Transfer to a piping bag.

Add about the same amount of white to a piping bag. Add both the white and purple to one piping bag.

Reserve about 1 cup for the roses. Dye with pink and orange food coloring. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 127 tip.

Dye a small amount of buttercream green for a ring, which will be the base of your flower wreath.

Reserve a small amount for the white daisies.

Transfer the remaining white buttercream to 1 large piping bag.

For the Buttercream:

Cut a square of parchment paper. Use a tiny bit of buttercream to glue down the paper onto a piping nail.

For the roses, pipe a small cone of very thick buttercream in the middle of the square.

Use a 127 tip with the pointy side up to make the petals.

Start with a spiral for the center.

Pipe small arches for each petal, pointing the tip outward as you get towards the outer petals.

For the daisies, add some white buttercream to a piping bag fitted with small petal tip. Pipe yellow in the center.

For the Flowers:

Pipe the purple lavender swirl between each layer.

Crumb coat the cake with the plain white buttercream. Smooth with a scraper and offset spatula.

Starting with the darkest pink, pipe the Italian Meringue gradient.

Smooth cake with a scraper.

Chill the cake for about 10-15 minutes.

Pipe a ring of green.

Attach flowers to the ring and pipe leaves to fill in the gaps.

For the Assembly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRNpUbQgLtI

How to Make a Lavender Cake 
Full Recipe: https://preppykitchen.com/lavender-cake/

I decided to make a tea infused cake but instead of leaving it there I had to add a bit of lavender in. I love lavender; it really doesn't get enough credit. Anyhow you can make this cake with a much simpler decoration scheme but since it's the beginning of spring I wanted to go all out and do an Italian meringue buttercream inn a pink to green ombré along with a wreath of flowers on top. It's a lot of buttercream so you could easily scale back and make just one batch of buttercream and of course skip the flowers on top.

How to Make a Lavender Cake

If you want a frosting that&#039;s light, pipes like a dream, and isn&#039;t too sweet, Italian meringue buttercream is for you! It&#039;s rich, buttery, and airy and a favorite among many bakers around the world.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

water (room temperature)

vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and water to a boil. Continue to boil until sugar syrup reaches 240-244 degrees F, soft ball stage on a candy thermometer. As it cooks, start step 2, the meringue.

While sugar syrup is cooking, separate eggs, placing whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low to medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whip on medium to high speed until stiff peaks form (they should hold their shape when the whisk is lifted).

With the mixer running, add hot cooked syrup to the whites in a slow but steady stream, beating on high speed. Pour into the center of the mixer so that it doesn&#039;t touch the mixer bowl; it will harden immediately if it does. Always be careful when working with hot sugar.

Beat on high speed until the bowl is cool to the touch - at least ten minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment and add butter a tablespoon at a time, beating between additions until you can&#039;t see the last tablespoon of butter you added. When you&#039;re done adding butter, beat for another 5 minutes.

Beat in vanilla until fully incorporated. The frosting should be smooth, shiny, and hold its shape.

Instructions

This is so so easy and super tasty. I even made it without a thermometer. 
Thank you for the recipe!

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