For german buttercream I use instant pudding mix, learned this working in a german bakery. It's really quick and easy because you don't need eggs, no cooking nor waiting for the custard to cool and it still tastes great! Tip: use less milk than what's stated in the instructions to get a more stable buttercream. I usually reduce a quarter, sometimes by half when it has to stay out for a long time or in hot weather Recipe if your pudding mix calls for 500ml milk: 2 packages of instant vanilla pudding about 90 - 120g (already sweetened), 1L milk, 300g - 500g butter (the amount is really up to you how buttery you like it)
Yes, and it's still tricky. When you use the wrong temperature or add too much pudding at once it still becomes "grizzelig" (butter and pudding start splitting up again)
I do my ermine a bit differently than how you did it, and it's my go-to! Super stable, fluffy and light. (And smooths on cakes great!) Mix the milk (120g), flour (20g), and sugar (75g - can be adjusted for sweetness) in the saucepan, heat on med-hi, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken. Turn the heat to med-low and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute. Mix in vanilla or flavoring. Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely. Whip 2 sticks (226g) butter until light and fluffy, then add in paste a spoonful at a time. Whip to heart's content. If you get any big air bubbles (I usually get minimal), take a spatula and run it through to mix, pressing the spatula down to get out any bubbles.
FYI you absolutely can do a cream cheese ermine. I did it for a 10in tall wedding cake and it was incredibly stable and survived a summer wedding (at least 1-2hrs in the sun). It does have the issue of smoothing due to the gel like texture like you mentioned in your video but if you do a rustic cake you can get away with the texture not being perfectly smooth. Because of the stability, I was able to add more lemon juice and cream cheese to the recipe than your Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe and it had a much more satisfying cream cheese flavor (similar to American Cream Cheese frosting) while maintaining stability.
@@thunderdragon66 I've been wanting to try a recipe like this! I think my grandmother did something like this for her red velvet cake, but I couldn't find it. I have struggled to find a good cream cheese frosting recipe. I'm not good at keeping up with which recipes I have used that work.
@@thunderdragon66 I've been wanting to make lemon and poppy seeds cupcakes. That's it, I am sold and I will be making these tomorrow lol the frosting sounds delightful.
Im saving this for when i make carrot cake! ive tried both of her creamcheese frostings which were delish but the stabler one wasnt as cheesy as id like. Cant hurt to try this one! i made an ermine a long time ago that was pretty meh but it was probably user error since im a noob. Thanks!
This is the comparison I've been looking for everywhere thank you so much!!! As a side note from a German gal: We usually make our Buttercreme with vanilla pudding mix that we cook with half the amount of milk as stated on the package :) Makes the process a whole lot easier, though I admit it could be tastier to do it from scratch
You have to be American. My husband is German and we live in Europe, we don't have vanilla pudding mix. If you are German what is the brand you are getting and perhaps I can look for it.
@@carms7859wheater you do not searching in the right stores or whatever you where looking for, but not pudding mixes. If you have an Aldi or Lidl around they have their own brands commonly in chocolate or vanilla flavor. . there is the world wide operating brand ( Dr. ) Oetker, they have pudding mixes in several flavors.
@@carms7859 This is super late but in case you or someone else is curious, the most popular brand is Dr. Oetker! But the store brand versions work just as well. Pudding mix is just a mixture of corn starch and flavourings, really!
As a casual home baker and prior to this video, I was not aware of all these different buttercreams! This was so informative and fun to watch, thank you!
Oh how i love you. This is way more info than I picked up in food science college classes. I have been contemplating doing a weeks worth of frosting testing that you just did for me, and more. THANK YOU. I am providing 200 cupcakes & a cake for a friend’s wedding next year. The problem is, i’ve only ever made American BC & a “mock” SMBC (whip up a box of pasteurized egg whites - see Bake My Day Mimo). I have used the Italian meringue method for macarons before & loved it, so I’ve been wanting to try that method for frosting. Speaking of which, have you ever tried Italian vs French macarons? Do you have a preference? 😊
@Sugarologie I'm so so so happy you included Russian buttercream!!!!! I married a Russian guy and I could never figure out why his mom's icing tasted so much differently (and better) than mine! I should have bloody known it was condensed milk! Lol they use it for everything sweet! Now I can make my daughter's 1st cake with a more Russian twist (to celebrate her american/Russian heritage)!!!
That the starch based emulsion resisted temp and humidity longer makes sense - even if the butter begins to break, the starch holds the separating fat and water in emulsion, and the ermine's low sugar makes it the least hydroscopic. Wonderful video!
Would you consider doing a similar study with margarine or other non-dairy fats? I'm guessing margarines vary in water content which could be a real challenge. I especially enjoyed the stability/cake sauna test. That seems to be the cake-iest season for me.
I bake for allergy clients and vegan clients and use mostly organic pure palm high ratio shortening because it is a stabler fat than vegan butter or margarine
@@rachellebovits9360 same here, re. Clients. But I've found using coco margarine (at least what's available) to be too "loose." Is there a brand or label you recommend? TIA.
Yes please! I'm allergic to uncooked butter, and it's making my life so hard when I know I won't have a good time eating any buttercream frosting, even with lactase supplements. Cooked butters don't hurt me like uncooked does, so cookies and pastries are perfectly fine. I don't know if there are frostings that cook the butter, but if there are any alternatives I would be so happy!
Thanks for the video. It’s always helpful to have an overview over all possible options. :) One amazing thing I want to mention about German buttercream is that you can make ones with amaaaazing punchy flavours by just swapping the pastry cream for a pudding of any flavour you like. I once made a raspberry pudding using raspberry purée instead of milk and used that instead and it was incredible. So full of real fruit flavour. Since it’s cooked/stabilised it doesn’t change the texture whatsoever and you can also adjust the amount of sugar you use because it’s structural integrity doesn’t rely on it. ☺️
I love the lateral thinking of "I could use a terrarium as a controlled test environment!"... Also: informative and accessible video that's quite helpful. Thank you.
Please do a comparison of cake fillings: custard, mouse, pastry cream, cremeaux, etc. comparing taste and when to use each in layer cakes. Thanks for the informative videos
For the last 5 years I've been trying to figure out how to make my mom's buttercream/custard, I tried everything (she passed away 5yrs ago so all I had to work off of was memory and some brief notes in recipe books). The German buttercream that you showed here, nailed it. Love this video, so glad I came across it. Thanks a million!!!
OMG you are a GENIUS! I just started baking and LOVE the science behind baking and the time you took to break everything up for an overthinker like me! Thank you!!
Omg now I feel so validated in my struggle to get a smooth finish with ermine frosting! I’ve recently gotten into cake making and I’ve found I love ermine frosting for its lightness, but I’ve struggled with decorating with it. Excited to try out other buttercreams based on this video
In my country (in Latin America tropical climate) lots of cakes are frosted in Italian meringue as a standard, I believe the resistance to humidity and heat are a factor.
@@Sugarologie I love the German buttercream and I also make it from scratch, despite the fact that I also live in Germany. The truth is - the Dr. Oetker pudding is nothing other than ordinary corn starch with some vanilla flavor, preservatives and coloring (to mimic the egg yolks) the and sugar. BUT it sells times more expensive than regular corn starch and it also tastes quite artificial for me. The egg yolks in the basic creme patisserie (pudding) give more in depth flavor, therefore it is worth the extra mile and I would always prefer it to the other version. Thank you so so much for your video!!! I am hobby baker since many years and know most of the buttercreams you showed, but still it was a please to watch again the basics and the science behind.
You are the first person on YT I’ve seen who uses whole eggs for French! I learned this from a pastry chef local to my area, but every time I suggest doing this to others, I always get “that’s not French buttercream” lol. My question is: how much can you push the lower boundary for sugar in these buttercreams? Would love a video on this, since you seem to also prefer not-so-sweet ones :)
@@AllTheArtsyThat doesn't really work because frosting alters the texture and taste of cake in a positive way beyond it just being sweet. It makes it moister, softer, and more aromatic. It also just adds diversity in texture to the cake. Thing is, the ratio of icing changes the experience a lot. I like to use a lot of icing for textural reasons, but with most icings this comes out WAY too sweet. That's why I usually just use whipped cream. You can adjust the amount of sugar in that as much as you want.
im not a baker, by any means ive only just learned how to make like a very basic sponge cake. I am a marketer and use a lot of data and studied a lot of data analytics and must say that the graph at 2.16 is the most satisfying thing i think ive ever seen, and has been the best resource ive come accross in my journey learning to bake because it just matches how my brain works so well!! thank you!!!!
this is the quality content for which I return to UA-cam. Instant subscribe *edit* I need to clarify: the attention to detail, the helpful and informative tone, the expertise...just wow
This is my first intro to your channel and as an engineer I love this! Food science and home experiments coming together and sharing in a user friendly quiz! I’m obsessed!!
How do you not have millions of subscribers yet?! Your craft is amazing, I'm an instant subscriber. Thank you so much for putting in such effort in what you do. I'm a huge fan of the Cakeculator :)
Gotta say it, this UA-camr has their $h*t together. Very clear explanations, to the point, thoughtful, enough personality and human touch to keep it relatable. Keep at it!
Italian meringue buttercream is my go to. As someone who likes baking but not necessarily eating sweets. It’s a good a good medium. Not too sweet but still easy to work with. Plus it’s always a crowd pleaser
Looooove how detailed and scientific you are! My friend has asked me to make her wedding cake for an Italian summer wedding and this video is a life saver! 🎂
French buttercream truly is king! I’ve tried other recipes but yours looks so simple! I’ll definitely be giving it a try for an upcoming cake I’m making for a birthday ☺️
YOU are a GENIUS... Your testing was phenomenal and covered ALL the necessary decision points. Unbelievable. Thank you for your efforts and thoughts.... and of course, especially the effort for sharing this. Looking forward to more. Outstanding.
So what about mouth texture? Sometimes I eat a cake with a buttercream and it feels like there’s a film coating my tongue and roof of my mouth. I tend to prefer whipped cream frosting since they are less sweet, but your ermine buttercream sounds like something I’ll definitely attempt. 🎉😊
Ermine is yummy on Red Velvet and Chocolate cakes. Most people frost Red Velvet cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting but Ermine, I find is lighter-we heard many years ago it was from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and someone paid to get the recipe. Yummy!!
JB I think the frostings that taste/feel waxy are not true buttercreams but are using vegetable shortening. I think many bakeries use it because it is stiffer at room temperature and holds up for a long time. Some cakes at grocery store bakeries are sitting in the case for awhile.
I love this! I wish i had a detailed explanation of my options for everything in life just like how you laid out the buttercream options. I love the attention to detail!!!
I love Italian Meringue it's my all time favourite. I find it actually very easy to do, so long as I have all my Ingredients pre measured. I also use an infrared thermometer, it's highly accurate, and when I check the temp of the Meringue after I add the hot sugar, it's enough to have cooked the eggs. It's the easiest to pipe and smooth, and hold up the best, and the flavour is very pleasant. You just have to be patient and keep your eye on everything
I Absolutely love your video. I am a middle school culinary teacher and this is my first year in this position. One of the things that I would like to with my students is to show them the science behind the food and give them healthy options. We were fortunate to have Bakery Donation cake flour and pastry flour Plus I have gluten-free and all purpose flour. I want to do something very similar with the flour. What recipe do you recommend (or someone could please) that We can do a one to one with? I would appreciate any recommendations so my students can have some fun with the science behind baking and cooking. I’m going to show them this video to focus on the mise en place. You do this so beautifully. ❤❤❤❤
So that’s a good set of flours - I’d start with something really simple and flour heavy so you could immediately see the crumb structure and texture of each. Maybe a pound cake? Or muffins? That way it can be easily made and you’d have less variables that would potentially mess up the outcome. Even something as simple as pancakes with different flours will yield different textures :)
I always wondered why I struggled with smoothing out cakes. It never seemed as easy as I saw on TV or YT and now I know it's because I was using an Ermine Buttercream. I had the hardest time defining this buttercream I grew up eating. I just always knew it as grandma's frosting. And I've been looking for Years! Lol Thank you so much for posting this. It's helped me out SO much. I always assumed it was my technique. Even after SO much practice over the years. I love the taste of ermine buttercreams because that's what I grew up eating. I prefer that they aren't as sweet and you can taste more of the vanilla. But.. Next time I try doing a layered cake, I'm definitely trying a different buttercream.
I just want to thank you for this and the calculator you created! Very empowering being able to create your own recipe from the cake to the frosting and have it in one spot! Very dope on your end! I can tell you are absolutely a problem solver
Love, love, love this so much! I so appreciate your methodical approach and attention to every single detail. I know it took ages to do and hope you know what an incredible resource you've created for the community. Thank you!
Don't know how I only just discovered you, but I love your videos. I science the crap out of my baking too, so it's wonderful to have so much more info now❤️❤️❤️
I recently began my journey on becoming a cake baker/decorator. Your videos resonate with me the most. The details, pacing, and knowledge you provide are excellent. Thank you very much for this. You give me hope.
I’m new here and I’ve only seen a few videos so far. I’m officially hooked. I had heard you mention the “Cakeulator” before but wasn’t sure what it was until now. That’s friggin’ GENIUS! Watch out, Claire Saffitz!
Thank you for taking the time to do this. It’s all the questions that I have always wondered and you have taken the time to experiment and explained everything so clearly. I really enjoy watching your videos and I was never really into science. I think you would make a wonderful science teacher :D
This was a great video! Would you ever consider making a video going over the best types of non-buttercream frostings? I love cake but I really hate having that buttery taste in frostings, so I would be very interested in a video on that!
I've made mascarpone frosting (chocolate but using cocoa powder) and I really loved it, it tastes like chocolate ice cream. The recipe was from pretty simple sweet I think. It's not very "durable" though, can't beat butter.
@@phillipfrancis9842white chocolate ganache gives you a lot more flexibility with flavors, you just have to adjust the ratio of cream to chocolate when you make it, to account for white chocolate being so soft
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Easy to understand, easy to follow along, EXCELLENT TUTORIAL. I made your French Buttercream it was my very first time ever making frosting. I have a stand mixer that I used and I cant wait to get that frosting on!
I love how you did a reel as an ad for this video! I don't think it would have come up in my recommended otherwise but I really enjoyed it! Go science!
When I was growing up, my mother had a wonderful chocolate icing recipe that was so much better than what you bought at the store. I later learned that it is a (hot sugar syrup) French buttercream. That will always be my go-to and the gold standard to which I compare every other icing.
From your tree chart to your encompassing buttercream explanations all the way to your cakeulator I don't even Bakr like that but I appreciate the thoroughness and knowledge that you provide with your skills. Amazing I'll come to your channel for questions
Wow ... That was so inspiring and educational at the same time! Do you have a cookbook? You're really good at breaking things down and making them easy to remember. Wish my anatomy lecturer would take lessons from you!
Hats off to you for the efforts you put in the details of explaining each and every butter cream and literally making a chart which makes everything very clear to a confused person. Great work gal
I made chocolate ermine frosting last night... and I am so in love with it. It is perfect, light and fluffy, not grainy, and not sickeningly sweet. I had not eaten cakes in years because of the super sweet frosting. My hubby loves it too.
Whoa, this is information overload for me. I'm learning how to pipe frosting on a cupcake for Valentine's in a few days and I wanted a buttercream frosting that is easy to work with. I didn't want something too sweet but for now, I will have to use American buttercream because I already have the ingredients. As I get better I will experiment with the challenging ones.
Wow-- you don't mess around! I appreciate that you get right to it and don't have a long introduction or jingle or graphics or any of that. I also appreciate that not only did you make all that frosting, but you made 16 cake rounds and also cupcakes! What did you do with all that cake???
I LOVE this video!!! As a new cake decorator, who HAS YET to have a successful buttercream, your video gives me hope!! Thanks SOOOO much and I'm now on my way to binge the rest of your videos and have already hit that subscribe button! :)
I'm not into baking nor making deserts usually. But this video was a fascinating watch, seeing all of the different techniques and that chart you showed earlier on also looked interesting. Very well done!
OMG where have you been all my life?! I love love LOVE the scientific methodology of your testing, your deductions, reasoning, measurements, sugar to butter content and explanations are exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you SO much! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for - a "geek out" on buttercream. I'm getting into baking since semi-retiring. I have an engineering background and my maiden name is Baker so I feel compelled.
this might get burried BUT a neat industry trick to signnificantly shorten the time on any water bath use for meringue is microwaving and mixing on 30 secs intervals, saves you a lot of time and energy, for most uses it takes about 5 minutes to get it done
Excellent information. Very well done Adriana. You certainly help bakers & cakers understand what works and how it works from the recipe to the table. You are wonderful to share your knowledge. Thank you. 🧁🧁🧁
Hello from New Zealand. Thank you so much for the work you put into making it easier for us to choose which frosting to use and on which occasion. Carole
Amazing video! I made my very first cake with buttercream today and I used ermine. I had trouble smoothing the buttercream but now I understand why. At least my cake will not fall down by tomorrow. 😂
I love this channel. I am an engineer by profession and have started perfumery. This is precisely what I need to get into pastry. Thanks so much. I wonder how buttercream would taste if you used Stevia instead of sugar.
Super super educational video. Your methodology, precision, rigor and consistency is impressive. The diagram with texture vs. difficulty illustrates clearly how they compare among each other. Thank you for superb content.
My grandma used to make a frosting that I would say is similar to the ermine- She would cook cornstarch in water and then let it set. Then drop that set mixture into a butter/sugar mix. whole family loved it, but nobody makes it anymore. I tried looking online for a recipe like it- the ermine was the closest. She was of German descendants, so I guess I can see how that would happen!
For german buttercream I use instant pudding mix, learned this working in a german bakery. It's really quick and easy because you don't need eggs, no cooking nor waiting for the custard to cool and it still tastes great! Tip: use less milk than what's stated in the instructions to get a more stable buttercream. I usually reduce a quarter, sometimes by half when it has to stay out for a long time or in hot weather
Recipe if your pudding mix calls for 500ml milk:
2 packages of instant vanilla pudding about 90 - 120g (already sweetened), 1L milk, 300g - 500g butter (the amount is really up to you how buttery you like it)
So what ingredients is the pudding mix substituting? Do you still double boil the milk while then adding in yolks to the pudding mix?
The pudding mix has dried yolk an starch in it. So you only have to add milk and sugar to the pudding mix :-) @alvitocabral
right you can also use diffrent pudding flavours
Yes, and it's still tricky. When you use the wrong temperature or add too much pudding at once it still becomes "grizzelig" (butter and pudding start splitting up again)
@@yashcorazan just wait untill everything has room temperature and be patient with mixing. This way nothing goes wrong for me
Only ppl who truly love baking would understand & appreciate the GENIUS creation that is your buttercream chart. So brilliant and helpful 🤗
But butter has nothing to do with baking...
@@bichitomaxit is used for cake decor and pastry filling. So it is related to baking
🤦♀️🤐
I do my ermine a bit differently than how you did it, and it's my go-to! Super stable, fluffy and light. (And smooths on cakes great!)
Mix the milk (120g), flour (20g), and sugar (75g - can be adjusted for sweetness) in the saucepan, heat on med-hi, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken. Turn the heat to med-low and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute. Mix in vanilla or flavoring. Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely.
Whip 2 sticks (226g) butter until light and fluffy, then add in paste a spoonful at a time. Whip to heart's content. If you get any big air bubbles (I usually get minimal), take a spatula and run it through to mix, pressing the spatula down to get out any bubbles.
Posting a reply here to bookmark this!
I think that's Alton Brown's recommendation too. Mixing the flour and the sugar at the beginning meant that my ermine stopped splitting.
I do this, but add the vanilla and salt after the butter is incorporated...idk if that makes it better tho
how buttery does ermine taste compared to swiss or italian?
@@Charlotte-gv8to very buttery no flour taste
FYI you absolutely can do a cream cheese ermine. I did it for a 10in tall wedding cake and it was incredibly stable and survived a summer wedding (at least 1-2hrs in the sun). It does have the issue of smoothing due to the gel like texture like you mentioned in your video but if you do a rustic cake you can get away with the texture not being perfectly smooth. Because of the stability, I was able to add more lemon juice and cream cheese to the recipe than your Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe and it had a much more satisfying cream cheese flavor (similar to American Cream Cheese frosting) while maintaining stability.
If anyone wants the recipe, you can find it here: bakingamoment.com/magical-cream-cheese-frosting/
@@thunderdragon66 I've been wanting to try a recipe like this! I think my grandmother did something like this for her red velvet cake, but I couldn't find it. I have struggled to find a good cream cheese frosting recipe. I'm not good at keeping up with which recipes I have used that work.
@@thunderdragon66 I've been wanting to make lemon and poppy seeds cupcakes. That's it, I am sold and I will be making these tomorrow lol the frosting sounds delightful.
Im saving this for when i make carrot cake! ive tried both of her creamcheese frostings which were delish but the stabler one wasnt as cheesy as id like. Cant hurt to try this one! i made an ermine a long time ago that was pretty meh but it was probably user error since im a noob. Thanks!
@@thunderdragon66 thanks fam!! I was just about to ask. Can't wait to try 🤩
This is the comparison I've been looking for everywhere thank you so much!!!
As a side note from a German gal: We usually make our Buttercreme with vanilla pudding mix that we cook with half the amount of milk as stated on the package :) Makes the process a whole lot easier, though I admit it could be tastier to do it from scratch
You have to be American. My husband is German and we live in Europe, we don't have vanilla pudding mix. If you are German what is the brand you are getting and perhaps I can look for it.
@@carms7859wheater you do not searching in the right stores or whatever you where looking for, but not pudding mixes. If you have an Aldi or Lidl around they have their own brands commonly in chocolate or vanilla flavor. .
there is the world wide operating brand ( Dr. ) Oetker, they have pudding mixes in several flavors.
@@carms7859 This is super late but in case you or someone else is curious, the most popular brand is Dr. Oetker! But the store brand versions work just as well. Pudding mix is just a mixture of corn starch and flavourings, really!
@@TinaOe Thank you, I had no idea.
So you use vanilla pudding mix and half the milk the pudding calls for then mix in butter once it cools?
As a casual home baker and prior to this video, I was not aware of all these different buttercreams! This was so informative and fun to watch, thank you!
Oh how i love you. This is way more info than I picked up in food science college classes. I have been contemplating doing a weeks worth of frosting testing that you just did for me, and more. THANK YOU.
I am providing 200 cupcakes & a cake for a friend’s wedding next year. The problem is, i’ve only ever made American BC & a “mock” SMBC (whip up a box of pasteurized egg whites - see Bake My Day Mimo). I have used the Italian meringue method for macarons before & loved it, so I’ve been wanting to try that method for frosting.
Speaking of which, have you ever tried Italian vs French macarons? Do you have a preference? 😊
I have tried both macarons - the Italian method is more consistent for me, though some ppl swear by French just the same. :)
Good luck with the cupcakes and cake!!
@Sugarologie I'm so so so happy you included Russian buttercream!!!!! I married a Russian guy and I could never figure out why his mom's icing tasted so much differently (and better) than mine! I should have bloody known it was condensed milk! Lol they use it for everything sweet! Now I can make my daughter's 1st cake with a more Russian twist (to celebrate her american/Russian heritage)!!!
Wrong group? @@AP--BA
That the starch based emulsion resisted temp and humidity longer makes sense - even if the butter begins to break, the starch holds the separating fat and water in emulsion, and the ermine's low sugar makes it the least hydroscopic. Wonderful video!
All really good points 👍 and thanks
What do you guess I could add to the emulsion to extend the resistance? Rum? Extract? Citrus? Water? Idk about science but I'm trying to experiment.
Would you consider doing a similar study with margarine or other non-dairy fats? I'm guessing margarines vary in water content which could be a real challenge. I especially enjoyed the stability/cake sauna test. That seems to be the cake-iest season for me.
I bake for allergy clients and vegan clients and use mostly organic pure palm high ratio shortening because it is a stabler fat than vegan butter or margarine
@@rachellebovits9360 same here, re. Clients. But I've found using coco margarine (at least what's available) to be too "loose." Is there a brand or label you recommend? TIA.
Yes please! I'm allergic to uncooked butter, and it's making my life so hard when I know I won't have a good time eating any buttercream frosting, even with lactase supplements. Cooked butters don't hurt me like uncooked does, so cookies and pastries are perfectly fine.
I don't know if there are frostings that cook the butter, but if there are any alternatives I would be so happy!
I just made all this but vegan I love this so much !! I’ll be uploading it to my baking channel.
@@roombavoomba have you tried to melt the butter first and then put it back in the fridge to solidify it again and see if that makes any difference?
Italian meringue buttercream is my go to for cakes when I’m in Florida. That southern humidity and heat hasn’t melted a cake yet!
Thanks for the video. It’s always helpful to have an overview over all possible options. :)
One amazing thing I want to mention about German buttercream is that you can make ones with amaaaazing punchy flavours by just swapping the pastry cream for a pudding of any flavour you like. I once made a raspberry pudding using raspberry purée instead of milk and used that instead and it was incredible. So full of real fruit flavour. Since it’s cooked/stabilised it doesn’t change the texture whatsoever and you can also adjust the amount of sugar you use because it’s structural integrity doesn’t rely on it. ☺️
I love the lateral thinking of "I could use a terrarium as a controlled test environment!"...
Also: informative and accessible video that's quite helpful. Thank you.
I live in Jamaica, so the heat and humidity test was incredibly helpful, thanks to you I''l be using an Ermine frosting on my next cake!!
Update: the Ermine is a winner, was smooth and silky and didn't budge loved it
Happy to hear the results!
Please do a comparison of cake fillings: custard, mouse, pastry cream, cremeaux, etc. comparing taste and when to use each in layer cakes.
Thanks for the informative videos
You have no idea how happy this makes me. Especially the family tree and the diagram.
For the last 5 years I've been trying to figure out how to make my mom's buttercream/custard, I tried everything (she passed away 5yrs ago so all I had to work off of was memory and some brief notes in recipe books). The German buttercream that you showed here, nailed it. Love this video, so glad I came across it. Thanks a million!!!
OMG you are a GENIUS! I just started baking and LOVE the science behind baking and the time you took to break everything up for an overthinker like me! Thank you!!
You are so welcome!
Omg now I feel so validated in my struggle to get a smooth finish with ermine frosting! I’ve recently gotten into cake making and I’ve found I love ermine frosting for its lightness, but I’ve struggled with decorating with it. Excited to try out other buttercreams based on this video
You're an absolute legend for making this video. Was just about to go on a buttercream journey and here you come answering my questions. Thank you!
In my country (in Latin America tropical climate) lots of cakes are frosted in Italian meringue as a standard, I believe the resistance to humidity and heat are a factor.
Here in Germany we don't make custard cream, because in our supermarkets their are instant "Pudding by dr. Oetker" - packets. So it's really ezy :)
I wish Dr Oetkers products were more readily available here in the US - they really are amazing. I have a stockpile of Sahnesteif in my pantry
@@Sugarologie I love the German buttercream and I also make it from scratch, despite the fact that I also live in Germany. The truth is - the Dr. Oetker pudding is nothing other than ordinary corn starch with some vanilla flavor, preservatives and coloring (to mimic the egg yolks) the and sugar. BUT it sells times more expensive than regular corn starch and it also tastes quite artificial for me.
The egg yolks in the basic creme patisserie (pudding) give more in depth flavor, therefore it is worth the extra mile and I would always prefer it to the other version.
Thank you so so much for your video!!! I am hobby baker since many years and know most of the buttercreams you showed, but still it was a please to watch again the basics and the science behind.
You are the first person on YT I’ve seen who uses whole eggs for French! I learned this from a pastry chef local to my area, but every time I suggest doing this to others, I always get “that’s not French buttercream” lol.
My question is: how much can you push the lower boundary for sugar in these buttercreams? Would love a video on this, since you seem to also prefer not-so-sweet ones :)
Just use less, if you don't want it too sweet
I've heard that you can usually decrease sugar in most recipes with 20% but I guess it's riskier with frosting.
@@AllTheArtsyThat doesn't really work because frosting alters the texture and taste of cake in a positive way beyond it just being sweet. It makes it moister, softer, and more aromatic. It also just adds diversity in texture to the cake. Thing is, the ratio of icing changes the experience a lot. I like to use a lot of icing for textural reasons, but with most icings this comes out WAY too sweet.
That's why I usually just use whipped cream. You can adjust the amount of sugar in that as much as you want.
@@AllTheArtsy sugar is necessary for stability, it doesn't just make a frosting sweet, so you can't "just use less" and not risk it being a mess.
im not a baker, by any means ive only just learned how to make like a very basic sponge cake. I am a marketer and use a lot of data and studied a lot of data analytics and must say that the graph at 2.16 is the most satisfying thing i think ive ever seen, and has been the best resource ive come accross in my journey learning to bake because it just matches how my brain works so well!! thank you!!!!
I don’t leave comments ever but this was fantastic!! Tests like this show you care so much for your craft. On to the macarons!
this is the quality content for which I return to UA-cam. Instant subscribe
*edit* I need to clarify: the attention to detail, the helpful and informative tone, the expertise...just wow
Wow! The amount of work you put in to make this video is enormous, thank you so much!🙏🏼🙏🏼🙌🙌🙌
This is my first intro to your channel and as an engineer I love this! Food science and home experiments coming together and sharing in a user friendly quiz! I’m obsessed!!
Amazing video, so much work must have been put in it to make it. Thank you! Hope you get over a million views
It's a labor of love ...and thank you 🥰
I don’t bake but I love how detailed this is. I feel like this is helpful for when I’m talking with a baker and deciding what frosting to use
How do you not have millions of subscribers yet?! Your craft is amazing, I'm an instant subscriber. Thank you so much for putting in such effort in what you do. I'm a huge fan of the Cakeculator :)
Gotta say it, this UA-camr has their $h*t together. Very clear explanations, to the point, thoughtful, enough personality and human touch to keep it relatable. Keep at it!
I've never seen a better and clearer video for buttercreams. Ever.
Italian meringue buttercream is my go to. As someone who likes baking but not necessarily eating sweets. It’s a good a good medium. Not too sweet but still easy to work with. Plus it’s always a crowd pleaser
Clear, concise, thorough, easily applied. Just excellent, thank you for this!
Damn, the details. I can't thank you enough for doing this test and put together all the information in a very easy to understand way.
What an amazing Video! So much detail and accuracy! I love it! Thank you for doing all this hard work and then sharing it generously!
I waited to find a channel that combines science and baking! Definitely worth my sub
A video I never knew I needed! Thank you for this. I learned so much!
You're so welcome!
This video is severely helpful and she is so amazing for explaining everything and doing all the research for all of us
Looooove how detailed and scientific you are! My friend has asked me to make her wedding cake for an Italian summer wedding and this video is a life saver! 🎂
French buttercream truly is king! I’ve tried other recipes but yours looks so simple! I’ll definitely be giving it a try for an upcoming cake I’m making for a birthday ☺️
I'm speechless 🙊 all that comes to mind is you are amazing for sharing your experiences with us!
I have never ever learned more with a cooking video than with this one, and I watch a LOT of cooking videos and TV shows, honestly amazing!
I've never needed to make a buttercream but I'm definitely vibing this person's methodical approach to figuring all of this out
YOU are a GENIUS... Your testing was phenomenal and covered ALL the necessary decision points. Unbelievable. Thank you for your efforts and thoughts.... and of course, especially the effort for sharing this. Looking forward to more. Outstanding.
What an incredibly informative video!! I saw the flowchart and I knew this was gonna be great.
So what about mouth texture? Sometimes I eat a cake with a buttercream and it feels like there’s a film coating my tongue and roof of my mouth. I tend to prefer whipped cream frosting since they are less sweet, but your ermine buttercream sounds like something I’ll definitely attempt. 🎉😊
Ermine is yummy on Red Velvet and Chocolate cakes. Most people frost Red Velvet cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting but Ermine, I find is lighter-we heard many years ago it was from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and someone paid to get the recipe. Yummy!!
JB I think the frostings that taste/feel waxy are not true buttercreams but are using vegetable shortening. I think many bakeries use it because it is stiffer at room temperature and holds up for a long time. Some cakes at grocery store bakeries are sitting in the case for awhile.
I love this! I wish i had a detailed explanation of my options for everything in life just like how you laid out the buttercream options. I love the attention to detail!!!
This is the best, and most concise explanation of the science of Buttercreams. That I have watched.
I love Italian Meringue it's my all time favourite. I find it actually very easy to do, so long as I have all my Ingredients pre measured. I also use an infrared thermometer, it's highly accurate, and when I check the temp of the Meringue after I add the hot sugar, it's enough to have cooked the eggs. It's the easiest to pipe and smooth, and hold up the best, and the flavour is very pleasant. You just have to be patient and keep your eye on everything
OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!! I bake for friends' parties and this is going to save me!
I Absolutely love your video. I am a middle school culinary teacher and this is my first year in this position. One of the things that I would like to with my students is to show them the science behind the food and give them healthy options. We were fortunate to have Bakery Donation cake flour and pastry flour Plus I have gluten-free and all purpose flour. I want to do something very similar with the flour. What recipe do you recommend (or someone could please) that We can do a one to one with? I would appreciate any recommendations so my students can have some fun with the science behind baking and cooking. I’m going to show them this video to focus on the mise en place. You do this so beautifully. ❤❤❤❤
So that’s a good set of flours - I’d start with something really simple and flour heavy so you could immediately see the crumb structure and texture of each. Maybe a pound cake? Or muffins? That way it can be easily made and you’d have less variables that would potentially mess up the outcome. Even something as simple as pancakes with different flours will yield different textures :)
I love how obsessed are you about cakes as I am. Lovely and informative video. I will try your french butter cream recipe.
I always wondered why I struggled with smoothing out cakes. It never seemed as easy as I saw on TV or YT and now I know it's because I was using an Ermine Buttercream. I had the hardest time defining this buttercream I grew up eating. I just always knew it as grandma's frosting. And I've been looking for Years! Lol Thank you so much for posting this. It's helped me out SO much. I always assumed it was my technique. Even after SO much practice over the years.
I love the taste of ermine buttercreams because that's what I grew up eating. I prefer that they aren't as sweet and you can taste more of the vanilla. But.. Next time I try doing a layered cake, I'm definitely trying a different buttercream.
I just want to thank you for this and the calculator you created! Very empowering being able to create your own recipe from the cake to the frosting and have it in one spot! Very dope on your end! I can tell you are absolutely a problem solver
Love, love, love this so much! I so appreciate your methodical approach and attention to every single detail. I know it took ages to do and hope you know what an incredible resource you've created for the community. Thank you!
Don't know how I only just discovered you, but I love your videos. I science the crap out of my baking too, so it's wonderful to have so much more info now❤️❤️❤️
As usual had me glued wanting more 🎥 🍿. Never clicked so fast. Love your content thanks so much.
I recently began my journey on becoming a cake baker/decorator. Your videos resonate with me the most. The details, pacing, and knowledge you provide are excellent. Thank you very much for this. You give me hope.
You are an absolute angel for this. So quick to get to it and so well spoken
I’m new here and I’ve only seen a few videos so far. I’m officially hooked.
I had heard you mention the “Cakeulator” before but wasn’t sure what it was until now.
That’s friggin’ GENIUS! Watch out, Claire Saffitz!
Wow this was so impressive! Thank you very much. I’m a new fan and this was my first video of yours.
Thank you for taking the time to do this. It’s all the questions that I have always wondered and you have taken the time to experiment and explained everything so clearly. I really enjoy watching your videos and I was never really into science. I think you would make a wonderful science teacher :D
This was a great video! Would you ever consider making a video going over the best types of non-buttercream frostings? I love cake but I really hate having that buttery taste in frostings, so I would be very interested in a video on that!
Would love that video too !
I've made mascarpone frosting (chocolate but using cocoa powder) and I really loved it, it tastes like chocolate ice cream. The recipe was from pretty simple sweet I think. It's not very "durable" though, can't beat butter.
Ganache is really sturdy and no butter to it. You are limited in flavor though as it's chocolate and cream.
@@phillipfrancis9842white chocolate ganache gives you a lot more flexibility with flavors, you just have to adjust the ratio of cream to chocolate when you make it, to account for white chocolate being so soft
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Easy to understand, easy to follow along, EXCELLENT TUTORIAL. I made your French Buttercream it was my very first time ever making frosting. I have a stand mixer that I used and I cant wait to get that frosting on!
This is so insanely detailed, with all the links and thorough blog/article posts, I'm blown away.
Never knew there's so much to buttercream, kudos!
I love how you did a reel as an ad for this video! I don't think it would have come up in my recommended otherwise but I really enjoyed it! Go science!
I've been trying to figure out the timing on Italian Buttercream. Thank you so much for walking through this with such specificity!
When I was growing up, my mother had a wonderful chocolate icing recipe that was so much better than what you bought at the store. I later learned that it is a (hot sugar syrup) French buttercream. That will always be my go-to and the gold standard to which I compare every other icing.
I have always said baking is chemistry and this really proves my point.
From your tree chart to your encompassing buttercream explanations all the way to your cakeulator
I don't even Bakr like that but I appreciate the thoroughness and knowledge that you provide with your skills.
Amazing I'll come to your channel for questions
Tell me how I feel that I am in class when in your channel. You sounds so smoothly your voice is so calm
Things like this give me faith in humanity
Wow ... That was so inspiring and educational at the same time! Do you have a cookbook? You're really good at breaking things down and making them easy to remember. Wish my anatomy lecturer would take lessons from you!
Hats off to you for the efforts you put in the details of explaining each and every butter cream and literally making a chart which makes everything very clear to a confused person. Great work gal
I made chocolate ermine frosting last night... and I am so in love with it. It is perfect, light and fluffy, not grainy, and not sickeningly sweet.
I had not eaten cakes in years because of the super sweet frosting.
My hubby loves it too.
Ermine is such a revelation the first time you try it - I wish it were more popular
This video is beyond helpful!! I love the science aspect to your videos and you explain everything so well.
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! Never knew there were so many different kinds! YOU'RE THE BEST! ❤️
Whoa, this is information overload for me. I'm learning how to pipe frosting on a cupcake for Valentine's in a few days and I wanted a buttercream frosting that is easy to work with. I didn't want something too sweet but for now, I will have to use American buttercream because I already have the ingredients. As I get better I will experiment with the challenging ones.
Wow-- you don't mess around! I appreciate that you get right to it and don't have a long introduction or jingle or graphics or any of that. I also appreciate that not only did you make all that frosting, but you made 16 cake rounds and also cupcakes! What did you do with all that cake???
You are literally the absolute best human being on earth.
I LOVE this video!!! As a new cake decorator, who HAS YET to have a successful buttercream, your video gives me hope!! Thanks SOOOO much and I'm now on my way to binge the rest of your videos and have already hit that subscribe button! :)
I'm not into baking nor making deserts usually. But this video was a fascinating watch, seeing all of the different techniques and that chart you showed earlier on also looked interesting. Very well done!
OMG where have you been all my life?! I love love LOVE the scientific methodology of your testing, your deductions, reasoning, measurements, sugar to butter content and explanations are exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you SO much! ❤️❤️❤️
I found you through tiktok and am so excited! This data based baking is what I live for!!
I love the classification and science approach to such a delicious product!!!!
Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for - a "geek out" on buttercream. I'm getting into baking since semi-retiring. I have an engineering background and my maiden name is Baker so I feel compelled.
That's a lot of cakes and frosting! What dedication to the science of frosting!!!
Ermine is my favorite and it’s what my mother always made ❤️
Super well made video, loved how you broke everything down and tested each frosting across different variables.
this might get burried BUT a neat industry trick to signnificantly shorten the time on any water bath use for meringue is microwaving and mixing on 30 secs intervals, saves you a lot of time and energy, for most uses it takes about 5 minutes to get it done
This is awesome
Thank you for teaching me so much! I use the cakeulator and buttercreams often and they always turn out great. You really inspire me to bake more.
Excellent information. Very well done Adriana. You certainly help bakers & cakers understand what works and how it works from the recipe to the table. You are wonderful to share your knowledge. Thank you. 🧁🧁🧁
Hello from New Zealand. Thank you so much for the work you put into making it easier for us to choose which frosting to use and on which occasion. Carole
OMG, your website is fantastic. Thank you for all the information and experiments you show on your channel! 🥰
My pleasure 😊 I’m so happy you find them useful!
Amazing video! I made my very first cake with buttercream today and I used ermine. I had trouble smoothing the buttercream but now I understand why. At least my cake will not fall down by tomorrow. 😂
Very high production value. Very well presented. You are genius. Thank you!
I love this channel. I am an engineer by profession and have started perfumery. This is precisely what I need to get into pastry. Thanks so much. I wonder how buttercream would taste if you used Stevia instead of sugar.
Super super educational video. Your methodology, precision, rigor and consistency is impressive. The diagram with texture vs. difficulty illustrates clearly how they compare among each other. Thank you for superb content.
My grandma used to make a frosting that I would say is similar to the ermine- She would cook cornstarch in water and then let it set. Then drop that set mixture into a butter/sugar mix. whole family loved it, but nobody makes it anymore. I tried looking online for a recipe like it- the ermine was the closest. She was of German descendants, so I guess I can see how that would happen!