Buttercream frosting

I've always had this problem with cake frosting. I want it rich and creamy, but not too sweet. When you make the easy buttercream frosting, you mix butter, vanilla, and way more powdered sugar than I can even comprehend putting in my mouth. And it's just way too sweet. So, I always try to cut down the powdered sugar I put in, which changes the texture of the frosting. It never manages to hold its shape quite right, since the powdered sugar is what stabilizes it. I've heard rumblings of this buttercream frosting that's made with eggs. The eggs stabilize it instead of the sugar. Sounds promising, right? Or course, fear of the technique had me running for the hills. I finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot, though. And the result was INCREDIBLE!!.



Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that!

And now for the part you're all waiting for -- how to make the magic happen :)

The recipe is from cookingforengineers.com.

You'll need 4 eggs, 4 sticks of butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 tsp. salt. And a metal bowl, and a saucepan with which to make a double boiler. Yup, that's where this whole process gets scary. And a thermometer.

Crack the eggs in to the metal bowl.

Add the sugar and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.

Now set up your double boiler. You want the water hot but not boiling in the saucepan. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't hit the water. Got that? You need to cook the eggs until they hit 160 ˆ F. Whisk constantly as you cook to stop the egg proteins from forming scrambled eggs. I don't think you want that look in your frosting.

Once you're reached 160, remove from heat and beat on medium-high for 5 minutes. It should turn light and fluffy by the end of the 5 minutes. And it should have cooled down. You don't want to melt the butter when you add it.

Reduce the speed to low and begin adding the butter, 2 Tbsp. at a time. Wait a few seconds in between additions. Keep on going until you've added all the butter.

Keep the mixer running until the frosting is smooth. Just wait for it. It'll happen. Really.

And you're done! This recipe makes enough to frost the 9in. 2-layer cake shown above. With a little extra for hubs to eat while I was working.

Trust me, it was worth the effort.