Hello and welcome to Keyk. Today I am making a delicious Italian Meringue buttercream and am using four different pastry tips to show you how beautifully it pipes.
Italian Meringue Buttercream ingredients:
- 275g sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- egg white of 6 eggs
- 150g water
- 250g butter at room temperature
I am using a very important tool for this recipe: I will be using a sugar thermometer to measure the temperature of the syrup I will be making.
Italian Meringue Buttercream Step-by-Step Instructions:
Step 1) Make the syrup
To make the syrup, combine water and sugar and cook it on high heat for about 8 minutes until it reaches 245 Fahrenheit or about 118 Celsius.
Step 2) Beat egg whites until stiff peaks
In a stand mixer, beat the egg white until it reaches the stiff peak stage. If that happens before the syrup reaches the right temperature, then reduce the speed, but keep it moving.
Step 3) Combine egg white and syrup
Once both of the ingredients are ready increase the speed of the stand mixer to high and gently pour the syrup directly into the egg white. Avoid touching the bowl, as the syrup will harden straight away. The syrup is essentially cooking the egg white at this stage and allow it to volumize.
Step 4) Reduce temperature of meringue
Once the syrup is well incorporated, the next goal is to get it to room temperature. Continue beating the meringue until it cools down. To speed the process, you may place it in the fridge for a few minutes, then continue.
Step 5) Add butter
Then, little by little, add in the butter. If the egg white is still warm, the butter will melt and you’ll get meringue soup.
Step 6) Add aroma or flavors
Once the buttercream is incorporated, add the vanilla extract or any other flavour or jam you may like.
Troubleshooting the Italian Buttercream:
Case 1) Soupy buttercream
If you add in butter to warm meringue, you will get soupy buttercream. To recover from soupy buttercream, wetten a kitchen towel, place it in the freezer for a few minutes then wrap it around the bowl and increase the speed for 4 - 5 minutes. That should help the buttercream recover.
Case 2) Emulsified buttercream
If your butter is too cold, it won't incorporate into the meringue. To recover from this, grab your hair dryer and gently heat the sides of the bowl. It is more challenging to recover from this consistency than case 1, but it is still possible.
Piping the Italian Meringue Buttercream
In the video below, I show you the instructions step by step. Plus I show you how beautiful it pipes. I am using four different pastry tips. I'll be providing the Wilton equivalent tip numbers.
Piping Consistency of Italian Buttercream:
From Left to Right on the cover page, I have used Wilton (or equivalent) tips: 1 A, 2D, 6B, 1M
