Swiss Buttercream Brave Tart Food

SWISS BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a heatproof stand mixer's bowl above the water.
• Add the sugar, lemon juice, salt and egg whites to the mixing bowl, and whisk together by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and whisk until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar completely dissolves. Transfer to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until cool and the whites hold stiff peaks, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Toss in a couple of chunks of butter at a time, making sure the pieces are incorporated before adding more. After all the butter is added, continue whisking on medium-high speed. The mixture will deflate and appear curdled. Continue whisking until the buttercream comes back together to form a smooth and spreadable consistency. Slowly drizzle in the optional flavoring while beating until smooth and light. (If the frosting is very soft or begins to break, refrigerate until set but still spreadable and then beat until light before using.)
• Chocolate:
• Remove the buttercream from the stand mixer into a large bowl and, in three batches, fold in 6 ounces melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate.
• Citrus:
• Stir in the zest of half a lemon or orange.
• Boozy:
• Stir in 2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur and 1 tablespoon vodka.

SWISS BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Whip sugar and egg whites together in a double boiler until the temperature reaches 120 degrees F, on an instant-read thermometer, and sugar is dissolved. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer, whip to soft peaks and add butter, a little at a time, until incorporated and fluffy.
• This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Wipe the bowl of an electric stand mixer and the whisk attachment with lemon juice to remove any trace of grease. Add sugar and egg whites to the bowl.
• Whisk sugar and egg whites together in the bowl of the stand mixer over simmering water, whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 140 degrees F (60 degrees C), about 10 minutes. Return bowl to the stand mixer.
• Whisk sugar-egg white mixture in the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until mixture is thick, glossy, and temperature of outside of bowl is room temperature. Change attachment to the paddle attachment and continue mixing on low speed. Add butter, 1 cube at a time; mix until silky-smooth. If mixture curdles, continue mixing and it will return to smooth.
• Pour vanilla extract and sprinkle salt into butter-sugar mixture; beat until fully incorporated.

SWISS BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a simmer. Weigh your egg whites and sugar into your mixer bowl. Place your mixer bowl over the simmering water and whisk frequently until all of the sugar dissolves and the mixtures lightens in color. The mixture will be about 160 degrees F and you should feel no graininess when you dip your finger into the mixture and rub your fingers together.
• Remove the mixer bowl from the heat and place on the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the meringue on high speed until the mixer bowl feels cool to the touch. This can take 10 to 15 minutes. The mixture will be very white and glossy and will have tripled in volume.
• Once the meringue is cool, turn the mixer to medium speed and begin adding the butter in chunks, allowing a few seconds for each addition to be incorporated. The meringue will look a bit deflated but just continue adding the butter and beating until all of the butter has been added. Continue beating the buttercream until it looks fluffy and creamy. Add the salt and vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes.
• The buttercream can be covered and kept at room temperature overnight.

SWISS BUTTERCREAM - BRAVE TART

Steps:

• Combine the egg whites, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean together in an clean bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of water and turn the heat on medium low. You don't need the water to even simmer, you just want it hot enough to steam, since steam is what actually heats the whites.
• Whisk frequently to prevent an egg white omelet forming on the sides, but continual mixing isn't necessary. Aim to get the mixture to at least a 145° for food safety reasons, but reaching 150° would make for a nice margin of error. If your egg whites are at room temperature, this won't take very long, maybe just a few minutes. Whites straight from the fridge will take longer.
• When the mixture is sufficiently hot, remove from the heat and use the whisk attachment to whip on medium high speed until the mixture has doubled in volume and turned snowy white. Continue whipping until the meringue is cool. Use your hands to feel the bowl itself, rather than simply testing the temperature of the meringue. You want it to feel perfectly cool to the touch with no trace of warmth. Note: if you are using a glass or ceramic bowl, even if the meringue has cooled, the bowl itself may still be quite warm and continue conducting heat into the buttercream over time. If you are using a glass or ceramic bowl, transfer the meringue to a new bowl before proceeding or continue mixing until the bowl itself is cool.
• Turn the mixer down to medium-low and begin adding in the butter, one chunk at a time. If you didn't let your meringue cool enough, this is when you'll really regret it. By the time you've added all the butter, you may need to scrape down the bowl to fully incorporate any butter or meringue that's stuck at the sides.
• Finally, splash in some vanilla extract or what have you. Just keep adding a 1/4 teaspoon at a time until it suits your tastes.
• The buttercream freezes beautifully. I always have a few containers in my fridge to pull out when I want to make macarons or layer cake.
• Variations
• Caramel: after making the buttercream, whip in 16 ounces of room temperature caramel, or more to taste.
• Cranberry: after making the buttercream, drizzle in up to 8 ounces of room temperature Cranberry Syrup. Unlike the caramel variation, you can't keep adding Cranberry Syrup to taste, as too much will cause the buttercream to break.
• Cream Cheese: reduce the butter to 16 ounces, and replace the rest with 16 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature. After finishing the buttercream, whip in 1 ounce lemon juice to reinforce the cream cheese tang.
• Green Tea: after finishing the buttercream, whip in 2 Tablespoons matcha powder, or more to taste. Matcha has a naturally bitter flavor, so start small and add the rest a little at a time until it's just to your liking.
• Milk Chocolate: milk chocolate doesn't pack enough punch to stand up to all the sugar and butter in this recipe, so you'll need a little dark chocolate for the flavor to shine through. While whipping the meringue, melt 8 ounces milk chocolate and 5 ounces dark chocolate in the microwave, stirring with a spatula every 30 seconds to prevent scorching. Once the meringue has cooled and you've added all the butter, turn the speed down to low and add the melted chocolate all at once. Move quickly, as the melted chocolate can form chips against the side of the bowl. Increase the speed to to medium-high and whip until homogenous.
• Spiced Chocolate: especially nice with Chai Cocoa Cupcakes. Follow the Milk Chocolate variation, using all dark chocolate instead. After finishing the buttercream, whip in 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or more to taste.
• Peanut Butter: for this variation, omit the salt in the recipe. Commercial peanut butters are salted, making additional salt unnecessary. After whipping in the butter, you can add as much or as little creamy peanut butter as you like, tinkering until the taste is right for you. This is obscene, but I've added up to 32 ounces of peanut butter....obviously that increases the yield by several cups, but there are worse problems to have.