chocolate french buttercream
originally posted 2/24/23
My quest for the perfect chocolate buttercream has been quite the journey but I think I’ve finally landed on one I actually enjoy. Which as we know I’m not a chocolate lover so I really picky about it. It’s rich as fuck and not too chocolatey. There’s a ton of butter here which lends to the perfect texture once you add in the cocoa powder.
I found that making what I call chocolate “sludge” is the best way to go about adding chocolate to buttercream- in my opinion. By heating together some butter and cocoa powder you’re blooming the cocoa and bringing forth a stronger flavor with less chocolate. By omitting the SLUDGE you’re left with a plain french buttercream as well!
This recipe makes 1500 grams of buttercream which is more than enough for 2-6” cakes or 1-8” cake.
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Ingredients:
Chocolate Sluge
170 grams butter
85 grams cocoa powder
French Buttercream:
80 grams water
295 grams granulated sugar
260 grams egg yolks (about 12 yolks)
12 grams kosher salt
600 grams butter, softened but not completely room temp soft
Directions:
To make the cocoa sludge, add the butter and cocoa powder to a bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and allow to melt together- stirring to combine. Once homogenous set aside while you make the buttercream. This can also be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge. Pull it out to some to room temp before adding to the buttercream.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, begin whipping the egg yolks and salt on medium-low speed. You’re going to whip the yolks until they pale in color and become light and fluffy. You’ll bring them to what is known as the “ribbon-stage”.
Meanwhile, place water and sugar into a medium sauce pot. Place the water first and then the sugar into the pot. This helps the sugar dissolve into the water and prevents the granules that get caught on the sides from crystalizing. If you do find you have granules around the sides of the pot- brush them down with a wet pastry brush.
Bring the syrup to a boil and cook the syrup to 240°F.
Once at temp you’ll remove the syrup from the heat and slowly pour the mix into the whipping egg yolks in a steady stream. Be sure to pour the liquid in the sweet spot between the whisk and the side of the bowl. You don’t want the syrup to stream in onto the whisk as it’ll splatter around the bowl.
Whip this mixture on medium-high until the sides of the bowl have cooled to the touch.
At this point you can add your butter and cocoa mixture. Whip for 5-10 minutes before switching over to the paddle attachment and whipping for another 5-10 minutes until helllla smooth.
You can use this immediately for frost and decorate cakes or you can store it in the fridge for up to two weeks and the freezer up to 3 months. If you store it, bring it out the night before you want to use it to come to room temp, then whip beat it with the paddle to bring it back together.
