One Buttercream for Everyone?

Things would be boring in the cake world if there were one cake flavor, one cake shape.....one type of buttercream.......

There are five variations of buttercream frosting; Swiss, Italian, French, Classic and American. The difference between the five are the use and preparation of eggs.

Lets start with American vs. Classic Buttercream. American Buttercream doesn't contain eggs and is usually made with water, powdered sugar, shortening, butter and flavoring. It forms a soft crust if left uncovered and it's probably the most common form of buttercream used. Classic Buttercream is made with egg yolks, sugar, corn syrup, butter and flavoring. The up side to this buttercream is that it spreads easy, but the downside is it tastes like a sweetened stick of butter and if it's not prepared properly it turns to a soupy liquid.

Italian vs. Swiss vs. French. Both Italian and Swiss are made with nearly the same ingredients, the key difference is in the preparation, heating and combination. Italian Buttercream is made with egg whites, butter, sugar and water. It's a light and fluffy buttercream that spreads easy and isn't heavy on the sweetness. Swiss Buttercream is made with egg whites, butter, sugar and flavoring. It's a light glossy buttercream thats often described as silky and sinful. French Buttercream is made with sugar, water, egg yolks and vanilla. The yolks give this buttercream a yellow color and it's shelf life is shorter than Swiss or Italian, but it has the same smooth meringue like look and texture.

Whichever buttercream you choose to use, now you'll know you have a choice!