Soupy Buttercream

[Erin]

I followed a recipe for a caramel swiss meringe buttercream. 5 eggwhites and 1 1/2 c sugar whisked in mixing bowl over simmering water until 150F. Whip in stand mixer until doubled in volume and sides of the bowl are cool to the touch. Add 1# butter, softened, 1T at a time, then add salt, vanilla and 1/2 cup caramel. I have made swiss buttercream before with no problem. This time, the frosting never set. It was soupy. It never curdled when I added the butter in, never got thick. It tastes great, but no chance of being able to pipe it unless it hardens. I put it in the fridge hoping it will harden to pipe. Any chance this will happen? And, if it does harden enough to pipe, will it melt if left out? I want to frost a cake and cupcakes with it, and don't want to have to worry about refrigerating them once arriving at the party.



Was the butter too warm? The egg whites and sugar whipped up beautifully. Were they still too warm when I started adding the butter?



Thanks!

 

[Tina Nord]

My guess is that either your butter melted or the caramel was too when you added it. Those things need to be Ted perfectly to prevent a disaster. Is there a video you could watch, or suggested temperatures for each ingredient?

 

[ChesterV]

Oooooooooo..................

This sounds like the French Buttercream I used to make for cakes when I worked in a bakery.

Eggwhites, butter, sugar, flavoring. Had to slowly whisk the eggwhites over a SLOW heating double boiler, while adding in small chunks of butter at a time while continually whisking. OMG that stuff took forever to make!!!!!
I would make one gigantic batch at once, enough to last two weeks at least, because it was SOOOO difficult and time consuming to make!

And if you didn't do it JUST RIGHT, it would turn out like egg soup, or scrambled egg.

This kind of buttercream you have to practice, practice, practice with in order to get it right.
Practice with small batches. Maybe make cupcakes or a small cake in a pan for family or friends, in case of failures.
So at least, if it's edible, it won't go to waste.

 

[Diane Lane]

That sounds really delicious, but I tend to make things that are hard to mess up, so I just use a simple buttercream recipe and it never fails. I don't have the patience, nor the money to waste on ingredients that don't turn out well. If I did have to make it, I would probably do what @ChesterV mentioned, and make extra, especially if I'd be needing it again soon, or if I could freeze it for later use.