french buttercream
italian buttercreams yolky counterpart
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times- Swiss buttercream is my favorite and I use it on almost all of my cakes. ALMOST. But, there is a special place in my heart for French buttercream. It’s rich and buttery to the point it’s almost custard.
French buttercream differs from SMBC in that it’s made using egg yolks (sometimes whole eggs, if you’re looking to make it less rich. But like why would you do that? Go hard or go home) and a sugar syrup. Which if you’re looking for proper French terminology is referred to as pâte à bombe.
I started using this method when I found myself with an insane excess of yolks even after making pastry creams, curds, ice creams and creme brûlées non-stop. Which I think when anyone is baking at home they either end up with an excess of either yolks or whites and it’s a never ending challenge trying to use them all up. So if you’re in the extra yolk gang you can add this recipe to the line-up!
Ingredients:
175 grams egg yolks
55 grams water
200 grams sugar
455 grams butter, room temp
1 vanilla bean pod, scraped (1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract could replace this if you don’t have access to vanilla beans)
Kosher salt to taste
Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, begin whipping the egg yolks 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, vanilla and salt to the mixer. Whip for 10 minutes before switching over to the paddle attachment and whipping for another 10-15 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.
Some tips & tricks for ya:
As a way to experiment with infusing different flavors into this buttercream try substituting the water in the recipe for your favorite tea. I find French buttercream pairs best with warmer/creamier flavors since it is so rich.
This buttercream takes on spices well- my favorite to add is cinnamon. It’s like the cinnamon toast crunch cereal milk of your dreams.
My favorite iteration of this recipe is caramel french buttercream. For this; heat your sauce pot over medium high heat. Use the dry caramel method to caramelize about half of the sugar. Once you’ve got that done add the remaining sugar and water. Make sure you’ve warmed the water before hand to help prevent temp shocking the caramel and causing it to seize up. Drop the temp to a simmer to allow all the sugar to dissolve. Bring the mix back up to a boil and cook to 240°F. Proceed as usual.
Due to the use of egg yolks, this will be yellow in hue. The intensity of the yellow will depend on a few things, like the health and intensity of your egg yolks. Extremely happy and healthy egg yolks will be almost orange in color. You can beat the pâte à bombe for longer before adding the butter to incorporate more air to lighten the overall color of the buttercream.