All Love for French Meringue Buttercream

You’ve probably already guessed I’m not a huge fan of crazy sweet frosting. I want to be able to taste all of the nuances in a dessert, and I definitely don’t need everything to taste like candy. To be honest, I love it when people tell me their dessert wasn't too sweet. 👌 👏 

We top most of our cakes with a meringue buttercream or marshmallow dipped in chocolate. These frostings offer a sweet, but not overly, component — plus a whole lot of texture and flavor. But my current BFF is a French buttercream. Since it’s hard to make in a hot Summer kitchen — I’m taking advantage of these cool Spring days and topping anything I can with French meringue. 

So what’s the big deal with French Meringue? It’s made with egg yolks instead of egg whites, and the best butter you can find. Compare it with pastry cream, or a custard like frosting. It’s rich, creamy, not too sweet, and carries the flavor notes of whatever you can dream up. 

We are topping a few kinds of cakes with it in March — including a chocolate cake with French mocha buttercream and a blueberry cake with a French vanilla buttercream. 

If you are a baker, give French buttercream a try. I’ve included my trusty recipe below, if you give it a spin I'd love to hear about it!

Ingredients: 

1 cup sugar (200g) 

1/4 cup water (60ml) 

6 egg yolks (about 105g) 

2 1/2 sticks of butter ( 280g) 

2 tsp vanilla