Welcome to howtocookthat I am Ann Reardon
Today I am going to show you how to make seven different types of frosting and we are going
to put them each through a taste test and then we are also going to put them out in
the hot Australian sun to see how well they hold up and test if they can be used with
fondant.
Our first frosting recipe is American buttercream and this is the frosting most people are familiar
with. Beat your butter until it is smooth. All of the quantities that you are going to
need for these frostings are on the website howtocookthat.net I will put a link to the
recipes in the description just below this video. Stir in your icing sugar or confectioners
sugar and then beat it on high speed for at least a minute. Add in 1-2 tablespoons of
milk. Then for all of the frosting recipes that
I am doing today I am adding 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla essence and a pinch of salt. Scrape
down the sides of the bowl and beat until it's smooth.
American buttercream is easy to make and it pipes well and that's why it is so popular.
Lets see what my taste testers think of it.
This one is very sweet. This one is my favorite I think I'd give it
a 5 out of 5 Quite grainy in texture
IT;s really sugary and nice and like you get a sort of crunch with it.
Tastes like birthday cake icing but very traditional tasting so I would say
I'll give it a 3. Disgusting I give it a one it's all like gritty
and sugary in a bag way.
It was really sugary Tastes like icing I would make like simple
you can really taste the sugar while you are eating it I'll give it a five
because I really love sweet things.
But it's good I'll give that one a five because I would usually make it so it has to be the
best.
For our second frosting we are making french buttercream.
Mix together the sugar and water in a saucepan. Whip the egg yolks on high until they are
pale, I recommend that you use pasturized eggs for any of these frostings that have
eggs in them. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and then
continue to heat it until it reaches 238 farenheit or 114 centigrade. Then with the mixers running
pour that hot sugar syrup into the yolks. It will turn into a consistency a bit like
milk but just keep beating it and it Will go pale and thicken up as it cools. Then add
in the butter a little at a time. Then add the vanilla and salt and keep beating on high
for a minute or two until it is smooth and glossy. Then pipe it onto your cupcakes.
Mmmmm The icing tastes really flavourable.
It is nice its sweet its not too sweet but its nice an creamy.
The icing really rates a tiny bit buttery. I'd give it a 2 because it doesn't have enough
sugar in it.
The one is very buttery very rich tasting really smooth.
It's too creamy and I don't really like the flavour of it.
I give it a four. I'd give this one a four, A three, a four.
To make italian meringue frosting add some cream of tar tar to the egg whites. I am using
pasturised egg whites that you can buy in a carton for this. Beat on high speed until
you have soft peaks. Mix together the water and caster sugar.
And heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Then add a candy thermometer just like we
did with the French buttercream and heat until its 238 F or 114 Centigrade. Then turn your
beaters on and pour in the sugar syrup in a thin stream. At first it';s going to go
all liquify but just like we did with the other one keep beating and keep the mixers
running for about 5 minutes and as it cools it will thicken up. Then you can add your
vanilla and your salt. You end up with a light fluffy fat free frosting. It pipes well but
expect it to drop down and lose some of its height.
I like it because it sort of tastes like meringue.
Very very soft not overly sweet. Was that even icing.
Very very light foamy I like it four. A five, I din't even feel like there was icing.
I'd give it a four. Oooo this one looks cool.
I'll give it a 2, me too. To make Swiss buttercream take cooled Italian
meringue frosting and add cubes of butter. At first it will look a bit like this curdled
lumpy mess. But just keep on whipping it on high and it will come together to form a smooth
glossy frosting.
Thick creamy, not very sweet. I don't really like it so I think I'd give
it a q out of five. There's not heaps of flavor I'll give it a
three. Yeh definitely a one I don't like it, a three, it's good I;ll give that one a three.
Next we have ermine frosting. To make this beat together butter and caster or superfine
sugar until it is smooth and pale. In a saucepan whisk together the flour and the milk and
then stir it over high heat, the mixture will start to get lumps, keep stirring it over
the heat and then it will thicken into a smooth paste. Once it is thick keep stirring it for
another minute just to allow all those starch granules to burst so you don't have a flowery
taste to it. Allow it to cool. To speed up the cooling process I placed the base of the
pan in a sink of cold water. Then with the beaters running add one spoonful at a time.
Add your vanilla and salt and beat until light and fluffy.
I like it I'll give it I think yeh a four. It tastes a tiny bit salty to me.
It's got a nice creamy sort of feel to it. I will give this one a three.
So I'll give it a four. Yeh I think I'll give it a four because it's
quite sweet. It tastes sugary.
I don't know it's too hard. That ones a good one, I would go 4.
Traditional cream cheese frosting is made by beating together cream cheese and butter
until they are smooth, this is easiest if you've bought both ingredients up to room
temperature first. You need to be using the block cream cheese not the spreadable ones
that you buy in a tub because they are too soft.
Stir in your icing or confectioners sugar and then beat on high for 2 minutes. The frosting
is quite soft but holds its shape reasonable well when swirled onto a cupcake.
I am going to need to run after this. I think its gross and disgusting I think I'll give
it a one it's sort of sour. I love cream cheese so I'll go number 5. It's sour but I reallly
like it I will give it a four. It tastes like what my mother in law puts on carrot cake.
Um and I'll give it a four. whooah that, I'll give it a one.
I'll give it a one.
So I wouldn't use cream cheese frosting on a cake for young kids.
Next we have white chocolate ganache, to make you heat up your cream until it just starts
to boil and then pour the hot cream over white chocolate. Let it sit for 30 seconds and then
stir it in. If there are still lumps of white chocolate
you can microwave it for 10 seconds and stir it again until its smooth. Leave it to cool
overnight or if you are in a hurry you can pour it into a large bag and then spread it
flat and put that on a shelf in the fridge for about an hour.
Once it has thickened up Put it into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high for
2 minutes.Then add your vanilla and a small pinch of salt.
It pipes nicely and holds its shape as it is quite a thick frosting. If you want it
to be softer you can increase the ratio of cream to chocolate.
I like this one. Mmmm tastes a lot like white chocolate.
And I thin it's my favorite so far, five. I like the flavour but I think the texture
is a bit too hard I think I'll give it a two. It tasted really nice so I'll give it a 5.
That one is thicker than the other ones just so you know but it's still good still four.
A five. Here we have some of each frosting piped onto
fondant and left overnight. If the moisture content in the frosting is too high then the
fondant will start to weep. And that is exactly what has happened with the italian meringue
and cream cheese frostings. But the rest it's all fine. So if you had your italian meringue
or cream cheese under fondant on a cake then the underneath layer of the fondant would
start to dissolve and you'd get a puddle of sticky liquid oozing onto the cake platter.
Lets see what happens if we put the cupcakes outside on a hot day. Today it is 32C or 90F
and these cupcakes have been in the fridge for several hours before going outside. If
you have this frosting under fondant on a shaped cake then you are going to need your
frosting to hold up in the heat if you want you cake to stay together. All the frosting
starts to soften but after 20 minutes in the heat the ganache and the french buttercream
just collapse. The swiss, ermine and american all start to bow down too and the swiss topples
over after 30 minutes. The others manage to hold on for at least 45 minutes
So the best frostings for outdoors are ermine, american, cream cheese and italian meringue.
Thanks for watching subscribe to howtocookthat for more cakes, chocolate and dessert recipes
and leave your request in the comments below and I'll see you all on Friday. [music: the
Boat song by youtube.com/setsailtv used with permission]
Oops sorry my blonde hair is in the way, oh that's an issue, don't do that, don't do that
at home. Because I just like it all.
so [bang] that just fell in front of the camera. Ready set last one, so sad.
I'll give it a one.