This is the only buttercream recipe you're ever going to need! It's quick, it's easy, it's
delicious, it's stable and it's versatile. I'm going to show you how to make it and troubleshoot
common issues like air bubbles, graininess and that yellow tinge buttercream can have.
If I had to give a single tip for perfect buttercream it would be about the butter.
It doesn't matter what brand you use but make sure your butter is at room temperature because
cold buttercream is the easiest way to make lumpy buttercream. Take it out of the fridge four hours
before you use it so that it's so soft that you can slice through it easily with a spatula.
You'll need powdered sugar or icing sugar for this buttercream. If you sift your sugar and you
find that your buttercream is still grainy, try a different brand of sugar because that might be the
problem - not all sugar is created equal and even if you regularly use a brand of sugar that's very
fine without lumps I do recommend taking a few minutes to sift your sugar every time you make
buttercream because if the sugar is exposed to any dampness it can get lumpy and that will make
lumpy buttercream if you don't sift it. A batch of my four minute buttercream will fit into a three
and a half quart mixer or a double batch will fit in a six quart mixer. I should mention that you
absolutely don't have to have a stand mixer for this! I've made buttercream several times with
a hand mixer and as long as you use the slowest speed and have a little bit of arm strength you'll
be fine. Put your room temperature butter into the mixing bowl and then add a quarter of the sugar.
It's tempting to dump the whole amount of sugar into the mixing bowl at once but trust me, you'll
regret it if you do! That much light powdery sugar will make a big mess when you start to mix
so after adding just a quarter of the sugar, mix that into the butter. Patience is key here. Using
the lowest or slowest speed on your mixer will prevent air bubbles in the buttercream but also
it means that the sugar won't fly out of the mixing bowl when you turn it on.
It will take less than a minute, maybe 30 seconds to combine the butter and sugar but it won't look
like silky smooth buttercream yet. Add another quarter of the sugar, mix for another minute,
another quarter, and then mix for another minute. Electric mixers are great but they're not perfect.
You'll find that clumps of sugar get stuck at the bottom of the bowl because the paddle or beater
doesn't go all the way down to the bottom so after each addition of sugar you should scrape down
to the bottom of the bowl to scoop that up so it gets incorporated when you turn the mixer back on.
Add the final quarter of the sugar and the salt. Salt is an optional ingredient for
this because if you've used salted butter you can skip it. If you've used unsalted butter,
add half a teaspoon of salt and this brings out the flavour in the buttercream and
also cuts the sweetness. The final ingredients are I think the most important: first, vanilla,
which should be real not artificial so the only ingredients should be vanilla and alcohol and
this is what gives buttercream it's deliciously rich flavour. Next and finally, milk or cream.
This is how you'll get the perfect consistency of buttercream. Without any liquid the
buttercream will be stiff and difficult to spread and pipe and frost a cake with,
and it makes the buttercream thinner or runnier and also makes it much smoother.
Now that we think the buttercream is ready we need to check the consistency. I'm Emily
by the way and I've been making and using this buttercream to decorate cakes for over 10 years
and I'm so excited to share the recipe with you! I really want you to get the most out of the recipe,
mastering making it, flavouring it, tinting it to make hundreds of different colours,
getting it super smooth on your cakes and using it for all sorts of unique cake decorating
techniques so I'm going to give you a discount code for my Basics of Buttercream MasterCourse,
where you'll learn all of that and more and the link with the discount is in the top of the
screen and also in the video description. Okay, consistency! Buttercream should be quite easy
to stir and when you pull your spatula through the buttercream it should leave a smooth trail behind.
If it's stiffer than this add more milk or cream a spoonful at a time. Now this is perfect for
spreading, piping, frosting and smoothing. So, you've made your buttercream, your kitchen is
a mess, what next? How you store your buttercream is really important. It needs to be covered with a
lid or cling film or saran wrap so it doesn't dry out and crust. When it's covered you can leave it
at room temperature for two days and the sugar will prevent the butter and milk from spoiling.
You can refrigerate buttercream for two weeks or freeze it for two months! When you're ready
to use it, let it come to room temperature and then stir it to knock out any air bubbles and
then use it as normal. If you've struggled with air bubbles, condensation, graininess,
yellow buttercream, buttercream that's too stiff or too runny, don't give up - there
are easy solutions for all of those problems. Air bubbles are caused by mixing at high speed
or with a whisk because both of these things incorporate lots of air into the buttercream.
Always use the lowest speed when you're mixing and use a paddle or beater attachment, not a whisk.
Graininess is caused by gritty sugar. If your butter is at room temperature your buttercream
should be perfectly smooth and if it isn't, try a different brand of icing sugar or powdered sugar.
Look for 10x on the label which means it's been sifted 10 times so it's very fine. There are a
few tricks to take away the yellow tinge of buttercream. The easiest is to beat just the
butter for one minute at the lowest speed before adding the sugar. This will lighten the butter.
You can also add a tiny bit of violet gel to take away the yellow tone.
I'll teach you everything I know about buttercream in my Basics of Buttercream
MasterCourse on my cake school - click the link in the top of the screen or in the
video description for a discount. Thanks for watching! [Bloopers] like air grabbles grables
if you do sift your butter it's tempting to jump jump because if he used the dip wow