Whole Egg frosting

It can be a frenetic - life with two young children. So occasionally it's quite pleasant to have an excuse to not be able to do anything else for 10 minutes, except stand at the stove and whisk eggs. If that's your   idea of slow torture, then don't read any further - go for a run or a bike ride instead!

I tried this out because I was getting tired of the basic buttercream icing, and although I love Swiss Meringue Buttercream, I usually run with a surplus of egg yolks (from using up the whites making tylose paste, macarons and SMB, to name just a few ). So to find something that tastes as silky smooth as SMB but uses whole eggs, was a recipe worth a try. 

It takes a bit of time to make - and it is a little tricker than just mixing butter and icing sugar together, but the extra effort is definitely worth it.

As promised in my post about Sour Cream Vanilla Cupcakes, here's the recipe for the icing:

"Whole Egg Frosting"

4 large eggs

1 cup caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract (I use Vanilla Girl vanilla drops)

350g - 500g butter, at room temp. - cut into small cubes

Use a mixing boil that you can place over a pot of simmering water. 

(the bowl must not be in contact with the water itself).

In  the mixing bowl, beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla. 

Place the bowl onto the pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly for about 10 min. (If you have a candy thermometer, you are aiming for a temp of 70'C). 

Remove from heat, and beat the mixture with your electric mixer until it cools down to room temperature.

Add the butter slowly, one piece at a time. Continue beating and adding butter until the icing is smooth (don't worry it may curdle - just keep beating) and stiff enough to pipe. It won't be stiff to the touch the way buttercream icing is, but it will maintain its shape when you lift up your mixing paddle. I found it reached this stage after 350g of butter, but the original recipe called for 500g butter, so you may need more. 

Other flavours and colours may be added to it as with traditional buttercream icing and SMB. 

This icing can be refrigerated for a week, or frozen for 6 months. Simply thaw and soften to room temperature then rewhip until it is silky smooth again. 

Enjoy!

xxM