I think you will find that most people agree that buttercream is much tastier than fondant icing but with fondant you can make so many interesting designs. Initially when I started making cupcakes I made a lot with fondant toppers as that is what everyone else seemed to do and the effects you can get are really good especially for wedding or children’s cakes however at sales and shows no-one wanted to buy them once they had tasted our buttercream topped ones. Fondant just did not compare in taste!
So the challenge is to get beautiful interesting cakes using buttercream. The limitation however, is that if you are going to use genuinely home made buttercream (not those nasty ready made frostings!!), it can be difficult to get really good pure colours. This is because butter naturally has a yellow colour and therefore whichever colouring you add will then have a tinge of yellow which can, for example with lilac icing make it look a bit mucky!
Buttercream icing is made by beating icing sugar with half the amount of softened butter, adding say vanilla extract for further flavour.
There are a number of things you can do to make a whiter buttercream. (When colouring icing always use concentrated colour gels and use a cocktail stick to add just a little gel at a time to the buttercream.)
- Butter – always use a very pale butter like Lurpack
- Mixing – beat your buttercream icing for 5 minutes, this will lighten the colour and has the added benefit of making the icing much smoother to pipe.
- Whitening – add some Sugarflair Superwhite to the icing which will help purify the colour
- Vanilla – if like me you like to add a reasonable amount of vanilla extract, make sure you use a clear vanilla not the brown liquid vanillas.
An additional tip which not only helps whiten the icing but also helps the buttercream to hold its shape better when piped is to gently melt white marshmallows (5 standard marshmallows per 500g of icing sugar) in a little water and add this to your buttercream and beat in well.
Another suggestion to whiten the icing is to mix one half buttercream with one half royal icing and although this works well for wedding cupcake icing it does slightly harden the texture of the buttercream and I do not think it makes for as pleasant a taste sensation.
If you have your own hints and tips as to whitening buttercream then do please share and leave a comment.
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Wilton make a white white icing colour which i use and it makes the buttercream white!
I have the same problem. The only way I get it white is by using the white gel or powder but it takes so much to get it white. The margarine does make it brilliantly white but not only does it have a horrible taste , it also has a terrible smell.
I agree about the Trex, it’s horrible. Like you i use a white butter, a generous dash of milk and the liquid Superwhite and leave it in the mixer for over 5 minutes, I then get a reasonable white that still tastes really good.
If you add a tiny amount of violet gel colour to your butter icing it should counteract the yellowness . You have to be so careful though as in my experience you can end up with a green tinge so a little bit on the end of a cocktail stick will be enough.
Excellent idea, I haven’t tried that yet. Talking of green tinges, I do have problems making a true ivory coloured buttercream to match the ivory fondant I buy. The gel ivory colour I use leaves a green tinge no matter how little of it I use so if anyone has any good suggestions do let me know. I have resorted to just using whitened buttercream which looks nicer but it would be lovely to get a proper colour match.
To get my buttercream whiter I add lots of milk, whisk it at the highest speed, add a little more icing sugar and then whisk at at the highest speed again. The extra icing sugar makes it slightly sweeter, but the icing is more white, creamy and easier to handle.
Hi Gill,
My local cake shop which not only makes designer cakes to order but also stocks everything needed to create my own masterpiece sells white margarine. It’s the only place to sell it as far as I know. And no, I know it isn’t butter but it tastes just as good and is designed with creating white buttercream in mind. I also use a little milk in my buttercream to get the right consistency instead of boiling water. I find it makes the buttercream more fluffy. You have a lovely site by the way : )
To get a whiter butter cream you can always substitute half of the butter with trex the vegetable substitute you can get it from tesco and makes the buttercream even fluffier x
Yes but I don’t think Trex tastes very nice.