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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
*AAA*
Question for you: do you have a good recipe for a simple, not-to-sweet vanilla buttercream?
Re: *AAA*
Yes I do! Well, it is an Italian Buttercream, meaning that it's egg whites, cooked sugar, butter and vanilla. You seem like you are very cookin-savvy though so I am sure you could handle it!
Equipment:
Stand Mixer, Small pot, scale, candy thermometer (unless you are familiar with softball stage of sugar)
Yield: 1.45 kg approx.
Ingredients:
Sugar - 453.6 g
Water - 142 g
Egg whites - 453.6 g
Butter - 680.4 g
Vanilla extract - 7 g
Method:
1. Have egg whites ready to go on mixer. Cube butter and have it at room temperature. You should be able to squish it slightly with your fingers.
2. Combine sugar and water in small pot, cook on high until it reaches 115C using a candy thermometer. Once it reaches 115. Remove from heat. Set mixer on high and whip whites until they reach soft peak.
3. Set mixer on a med-low setting and carefully/slowly pour sugar down side of bowl into egg whites. Once all sugar has been added, set mixer on high. Beat until mixture has cooled down significantly to where you cannot feel any temperature difference when you touch the bowl (not warm or cold). This could take anywhere from 20-30 minutes, unless it is cold in your house! The whites should appear much stiffer and very shiny. If it is soupy...you'll have to start over
that usually means the sugar was added too quickly. Just go slow!
4. Add butter a cube at a time until incorporated. You can do this on a medium setting. You may also choose to switch from the whip to a paddle. If the mixture looks separated, just keep beating it. If the mixture looks like it is melting, it is too hot. Let it sit in the fridge for 10-15 minutes and try again (this usually happens to me because I get impatient).
5. Add flavoring. You can also sub in melted chocolate, coffee powder dissolved in water, or praline paste for different flavorings, all to taste!
This can take some time, so be patient, but I have found that this is the best recipe! It takes a bit more work than just beating shortening and sugar together (think grocery store frosting, yuck!) but it is worth it! Also the longer you beat it, the whiter it will get!
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
oh that is a sweet idea!
What kind of cake are you making??? You can make the frosting a few days ahead and then just beat it for a few minutes when you need it.
I hope I converted everything correctly... I'm trying to be better about that. People argue all the time about using the metric system because it is more accurate. I have a hard time visualizing amounts that way though (like what size bowl to use, etc).
I actually don't have a cake recipe yet either! If it's going to be accurate, it's going to be a vanilla bean white cake with passionfruit mousse filling.
If you want to share an awesome cake recipe too, that would rock. I have a kitchen scale (and we use cups/tbsp for measurement)... whichever works for me. I have small 6" cake pans that I'm thinking of using.
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
Ok, here is a good one:
Chiffon Cake:
Ingredients
Cake flour - 151.5 g
Baking powder - 6 g
Sugar - 130.5 g
Salt - pinch
Egg yolks - 96 g
Vegetable Oil - 15 g
Warm water - 72 g
Vanilla Extract (you can substitute vanilla bean, just scrape however much you want in)
Egg whites - 96 g
Sugar - 36 g
Lemon Juice - 6 g
Yield - 2- 6" cakes
Method:
1. Spray pans well. Parchment circle on the bottom is optional/helpful. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Place in a mixing bowl with the first sugar.
3. In another bowl, combine yolks, oil, water, and vanilla.
4. Add yolk mixture gradually to the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl well and mix for about two minutes (you can do this by hand with a whisk).
5. On a mixer, form a meringue with the whites, sugar and lemon juice. Whip to medium peaks.
6. Fold the 1/3 of the meringue into the batter. Once this is incorporated, gently add the rest. Fold until batter is no longer streaky and everything is incorporated.
7. Divide evenly into pans, bake at 175C for approximately 30 minutes. Invert pan onto a wire rack and let cool. Once pan is cool to the touch, you can bang out the cake!
For the passionfruit mousse, can you get passionfruit puree from somewhere? I would just fold that into some whipped cream. That is the easiest kind of mousse that doesn't involve a lot of work and will still taste good. But only use a little of the puree and add some sugar. The puree is usually concentrated and can be bitter/sour!