GEOF MANTHORNE
Charm City Cakes
410-235-9299
A recipe from GEOF MANTHORNE…
FRENCH BUTTER CREAM
Yield: Roughly four pounds of butter cream (enough to ice a 3-tier cake)
10 egg whites
15 oz. granulated sugar
2-1/2 lbs. butter (room temperature)
Start whipping egg whites slowly in the mixer by themselves (no sugar or butter yet) until the whites are foamy. Make sure to have a completely clean and dry bowl when you start our process; any fat or liquid at all in the bowl will stunt the protein development of the albumen (egg white protein) and you will not have a proper meringue at the end -- results can be disastrous!
Increase the speed of the mixer and slowly start adding the sugar until all the sugar is incorporated.
Once all the sugar is in, increase the speed of the mixer even further and whip until the mixture is shiny and stiff. You now have a meringue. You know when your meringue is done when you pull out the whip, hold it horizontal, and you have what looks like a “sparrow’s beak” on the end of the whip.
Replace the whip, turn the mixer on medium and start adding the butter a bit at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer on high and leave it for a while. Depending on the weather, the butter cream could take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to form. You will know when it has formed when you hear the motor of the mixer start to slow down and whine a little bit. Also, when you first add the butter, your meringue will break down and look nasty. This is good and is what you want. When the butter cream is done, the mixture will be homogeneous and consistent...and tasty!
Remove the butter cream from the bowl and place in an airtight container. Butter cream can be kept at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge for a week or two. But, remember to always use warm butter cream when icing a cake. To warm up the butter cream, put it back in the mixer using the whip or the paddle, and apply direct heat with a propane torch (which you can find at any hardware store).
NOTES: Using a blowtorch directly on a good product is a very standard practice (see crème brulee).
Don’t worry about using raw egg whites in your butter cream; the sugar cooks the egg whites and makes them perfectly safe to eat. If you are still uneasy about this, use a pasteurized egg product.
