Month: August 2017

  • All posts, Fillings & icings, Recipes

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

    Today I have for you our favorite cake filling recipe: Swiss Meringue Buttercream or SMBC!

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream Minh Cakes SMBC

    Swiss Meringue buttercream is our first choice of frosting for cupcakes and cakes, because it’s very stable, has a long shelf life and is wonderfully fluffy. By heating our meringue to 70 degees Celsius, we make sure to pasteurize the egg whites, so it can be enjoyed by everyone!

    While making SMBC can be a little tricky at first, once you master the temperatures of the ingredients, it should come together really nicely. I do recommend using a thermometer while making this buttercream – you can find inexpensive ones in most household stores.

    Recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    • Servings: 1kg / 4 cups
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    Ingredients

    • 250 ml  / 1 cup egg whites (approx. 8 eggs, we tend to use pre-bought egg whites in a carton)
    • 300 g / 1.5 cups sugar
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 500 g / 4.5 sticks soft butter, at room temp (at least 22 degrees Celsius)


    Preparation

    Place sugar, egg whites and salt in a large bowl and heat to 70 C / 158 F over a gently simmering water bath. Stir and scrape the edges with a rubber spatula every 2 minutes or so – you don’t want the egg white to coagulate. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature.

    As soon as the mixture hits the right temperature, transfer it to a clean mixer bowl immediately. Beat it with a whisk on medium-high speed, until you have a stiff meringue. Keep beating the meringue until it has cooled down below 30 C / 86 F.

    If using a stand mixer, swap the whisk attachment for a mixing paddle. Turn the mixer on the lowest speed (this is very important!) and add the butter slowly, one heaped tablespoon at a time. Make sure your butter is really soft – you should be able to cut through it with a knife effortlessly. We must ensure that the meringue and the butter are at equal temperatures – that will make the water-based egg white and the fat-based butter emulsify (mix together) more quickly, while losing a minimum of the volume of the air bubbles in the meringue.

    Then comes the easy part: Sit back and wait! Keep the mixer on the lowest setting. Don’t panic if the mixture looks liquid or curdled. The buttercream will go through what I call the “cottage cheese” stage. And soon afterwards, it should emulsify beautifully and look like a fluffy buttercream.

    Once it has reached this stage, you can turn the mixer on high again and beat your buttercream on medium-high for 5-10 minutes, to incorporate some more air. You will notice it will get a lot lighter in color.

    Your buttercream is done! Now you can add color and flavors of your choice.

    The moment when SMBC emulsifies… it’s like magic, every time!

    Here are some flavoring ideas for Swiss Meringue buttercream:

    If you make SMBC, please leave a comment!

    Thanks and happy baking,

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  • All posts, Fillings & icings, Recipes

    White drip ganache recipe

    Our recipe for dark drip ganache is trending on the blog these days! Of course I’ve also been asked for the recipe with white chocolate. So without further ado: Here’s the white drip ganache recipe for you!

    White Drip Ganache

    White chocolate is a bit more finicky than dark chocolate, because it melts (and breaks) at lower temperatures than dark chocolate. That’s because white chocolate, unlike dark oder milk choc, contains no cocoa liquor, but only cocoa mass – and a whole lot more of cocoa butter.

    When making white ganache for dripping, you will only use half as much heavy cream than for the dark drip ganache. Optional: For a really nice sheen, you can add half a teaspoon of glucose or corn syrup.

    To make white drip ganache, you will need:

    • 200 g white chocolate
    • 100 ml heavy cream
    • 1/2 tsp corn syrup
    • a chilled cake to be dripped

    In order to not overheat the ganache, I usually heat the cream and chocolate together, in burts of 30 seconds of the microwave. It’s important to stir well after each melting round.
    White Drip Ganache

    After 2 or 3 rounds in the microwave, your chocolate should be melted. Let it cool down for 1-2 hours, until it flows in thick ribbons from your spatula. White Drip Ganache

    Grab your chilled cake from the fridge only moments before you are ready to drip! (On the turntable today: Chocolate ganache cake :))
    White Drip Ganache

    Then you can start dripping! Personally, I prefer to use a spoon, doing the sides first. Then I finish the top with an angled spatula.

    Here’s a video for you:

    Ganache Dripping works on any cold surface: Fondant, Buttercream, Ganache, Meringue.

    Here’s the print version of the recipe for you:

    White drip ganache

    • Servings: 300 g
    • Print

    Ingredients

    • 100 ml heavy cream
    • 200 g white chocolate, chopped
    • 1/2 tsp glucose syrup or light corn syrup (optional)

    Directions

    Combine the chopped chocolate and the cream in a microwave-safe bowl.

    Heat the mixture during bursts of 30 seconds in the microwave, at 75-80% power. Between each interval, stir with a spatula for at least 30 seconds.

    You can emulsify the ganache with a stick blender. That will also help dissolve the last lumps of chocolate. Just be careful not to incorporate too many air bubbles.

    Stir in syrup, if using.

    Let ganache cool for an hour or two, until the consistency is very thick.


    Source: http://minhcakes.ch/en/white-drip-ganache-recipe


    Please leave questions and comments below – Happy dripping!

    Love,
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