Russian Buttercream

There are a number of popular buttercreams in the world. Swiss, Italian, French, and American are all fairly well known, but Russian buttercream is just starting to become known in the baking world. How does is differ from the others?

Each kind of buttercream can be flavored in various ways, but basically Italian, Swiss, and French buttercreams are made with a variety of cooked sugar syrups. They also require the use of a thermometer to ensure their respective sugar syrups reach the proper temperature (with the exception of French Buttercream, which doesn’t always require a thermometer - although it’s highly recommended for those under 5, over 80, or immune-impaired).

American Buttercream is by far my least favorite - truth be known, I don’t even think it should be called buttercream, but it’s popular with many because it’s so fast and easy to prepare, and does not require the use of a thermometer - you just dump confectioner’s sugar and butter in a bowl and mix them together.

And finally, Russian Buttercream. Russian Buttercream is as easy to make as American (actually easier), but it has the same silky smooth texture and depth of flavor as Italian, Swiss, and French. Great, great stuff. I hope you’ll give it a try.

To recap, here are the various buttercreams and how they differ:

• Italian: made by combining a hot sugar syrup with beaten egg whites and softened butter (my personal favorite). It has a silky smooth texture, delicate flavor, and is very stable at room temperature for extended periods of time. You must use a thermometer when making Italian Meringue Buttercream.

• Swiss: made by heating sugar and egg whites together before whipping, cooling, and adding softened butter. It has a silky smooth texture, delicate flavor, and is fairly stable at room temperature, but not quite as stable as Italian Meringue Buttercream. You must use a thermometer when making Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

• French: made by combining a hot sugar syrup with beaten egg yolks and softened butter. It has a silky smooth texture and delicate flavor, but it’s is a little softer than Italian or Swiss Buttercream and is not very stable at room temperature. Not all recipes for French buttercream call for the use of a thermometer, but it’s recommended when feeding those under 5, over 80, or the immune-impaired.

• American: made with softened butter and confectioner’s sugar. It’s texture is extremely gritty and the flavor is extremely sweet. It’s gross and disgusting and I cannot recommend you make it… ever.

• Russian: made basically with just two ingredients… sweetened condensed milk and butter. That’s it. There’s no need for a thermometer because sweetened condensed milk contains all the sugar you need and it’s already been cooked. The texture of Russian Buttercream is silky smooth. It’s pretty stable at room temperature too.

So today my Russian Buttercream is actually going to be a Russian-Mexican fusion because I’ll be using dulce de leche in place of traditional sweetened condensed milk.

For decades home cooks would make dulce de leche by simmering unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk for hours until the milk inside would caramelize. Most people did this successfully, but there were always stories of those who were not so successful. I don’t know about you, but the thought of a can of sticky, molten caramel exploding all over my kitchen kept me from ever trying. Thankfully, at some point, sweetened condensed milk manufacturers decided to assume the risk for us, and home cooks the world over rejoiced.

Ok, that might be a stretch, but yay!

Start with room temperature butter, about 70F.

A hand mixer works well when making a small batch of this buttercream, but you’ll want to use a stand mixer for larger batches.

Whip the butter for 2-3 minutes until it’s light and fluffy (the photo above is after about 1 minute).

Here we are after 3 full minutes - see how light the color of the butter is?

Time to add the dulce de leche.

Whip them together until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed. You’ll want to taste it carefully and add some fine table salt to taste - just enough to highlight the butter and caramel flavors.

If you’re a fan of salted caramel, sprinkle the finished buttercream with flaked or coarse salt just before serving. Yum!

Well, that’s all there is to it. Super, super simple, don’t you think? Next up, I’ll be sharing a fun way to use this buttercream. Until then, have a great day.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• dulce de leche https://amzn.to/34J6vlR

• hand mixer https://amzn.to/34vJl2D

• vanilla variation (see notes below) https://amzn.to/48etNLv

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Russian Buttercream w/Dulce de Leche

makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (226g) unsalted butter at room temperature (70F)

• 1/2 pound (226g) canned dulce de leche

• fine table salt to taste

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, beat room temperature butter using a hand mixer for 5 minutes, until light in color and very fluffy.

2. Add dulce de leche and continue beating with a hand mixer for 1 minute.

3. Taste the mixture carefully and add just enough salt to highlight the butter and caramel flavors; continue whipping for another minute or two, scraping the bowl if needed.

Notes

• To make salted caramel variation, sprinkle flaked or coarse salt on top of buttercream when serving.

• To make a vanilla version, use regular sweetened condensed milk instead of the dulce de leche variety, and add 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.

Chocolate Baby Shower Cupcakes

I had the pleasure of making these Chocolate Cupcakes with blue Italian Meringue Buttercream for a baby shower this weekend.  The cupcakes bake up with flat tops, making them the perfect platform for festive swirls of the silkiest, best tasting buttercream you can imagine.  

The cupcake recipe will make 36.  You'll have to double the buttercream recipe to decorate them all, but you'll be left with a few cups of buttercream to freeze for another day.  

For chocolate cupcakes, I like to use brown grease-proof liners.  I also love using this heavy weight commercial quality muffin/cupcake pan.  

To start the recipe, we need to combine Dutch-processed cocoa and boiling water.  Whisk them together until smooth.

Then set it aside to cool, keeping it covered to prevent it from drying out.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment, cream room temperature butter and sugar together.

Add the eggs, salt, and vanilla extract.

Beautiful.

Then add the reserved cocoa mixture, buttermilk, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 

Done. 

The batter will make 36 cupcakes - be sure to bake just one batch of 12 cupcakes at a time.  Cover the bowl of batter with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on the counter until you're ready to bake the next batch (being sure to allow the pan to cool before filling).  I use a #20 scoop (3 tablespoons) to fill my cupcake liners so every cupcake ends up being the same size. 

The Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe and how-to photos) can be found here.  Make 2 separate batches to frost 36 cupcakes (a double batch is too big to make in a 6-quart stand mixer, but single batches will fit in a 5 or 6-quart mixer fine).  Note: you may want to use clear vanilla if you plan to tint your buttercream.  I use pure vanilla extract 99.99% of the time, but I make a rare exception when I tint buttercream a light color that would otherwise be affected by the slightly ivory tone pure vanilla extract naturally lends to buttercream.    

For this blue shade, I tinted the buttercream with this brand of gel coloring.  I also used these round sprinkles, and Ateco polycarbonate piping tips (or a Wilton 1M).  I love polycarbonate tips and prefer them to metal for a number of reasons:  they don't bend out of shape, you can see air bubbles through them, they don't rust or discolor, and they don't have a seam so they're super easy to clean.  Love them.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• cupcake carrier https://amzn.to/3r9kAlc

• dutch processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3AKkJ1Y

• professional cupcake pan https://amzn.to/3Un6poq

• greaseproof cupcake liners https://amzn.to/3oaitMd

• #20 portion scoop https://amzn.to/3g4ehJu

• white pearl sprinkles https://amzn.to/3g74tOR

• gel coloring https://amzn.to/3ycH47Y

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/3o8stWj

• wilton 1m piping tip https://amzn.to/35rMBw1

• large piping bags (I suggest nothing smaller than 16 inches) https://amzn.to/3o7VFMW

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Chocolate Cupcakes

makes 36

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup boiling water

• 3/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or clear vanilla extract)

• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in center position.

2. Line muffin pan with paper liners; set aside until needed.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth; cover with plastic wrap and cool until needed.

4. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside until needed.

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment, cream butter and sugar for a couple minutes until light and fluffy.

6. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; mix until combined.

7. Add cooled cocoa mixture, flour mixture, and buttermilk; mix just until combined.

8. Use a #20 scoop to fill cupcake liners and tap the pan on the counter to even the level of batter before baking.

9. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

10. Cool cupcakes in pan for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Note

• Be sure cupcakes are completely cool before frosting with Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe and photos found here).  You'll need to make 2 batches to frost 36 cupcakes. 

adapted from recipegirl.com