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Italian Meringue
Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
2 1/4 cups sugar
12 egg whites (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 1"
pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Paste
Food colouring (if desired)
Velvet
Underground Chocolate Cake (or any layer cake)
Coffee Mousse for filling
Yield:
8 cups
Instructions:
1. In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Use
a clean pastry brush and cold water to wash down any sugar crystals
that form on the sides of the pan as the water heats. When it comes
to a boil set a timer for seven minutes, and let boil.
2. After four or five minutes, in the bowl of an electric mixer,
begin to whip egg whites at high speed. Whip until stiff (they should
be done when the timer goes off).
3. With the mixer on high speed, slowly beat the sugar syrup into
the egg whites, pouring the syrup to the side of the bowl to avoid
the whip.
4. Continue to beat until the bowl is cool to the touch, about 10
minutes.
5. Slowly add the butter pieces. When the buttercream begins to
jump out of the bowl (trust me, you'll notice), reduce the speed
to low and mix the vanilla in at low speed.
5. Beat until light and fluffy. At some points the mixture might
look curdled. Just keep beating; it will become smooth again.
6. If desired, reserve one third of icing and leave white. Colour
the rest of the icing with blue or pink or whatever colour you want
the base colour of the cake to be.
Coffee
Mousse
Makes
4 1/2 cups
2 cups
heavy (whipping) cream
6 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water
In
the bowl of an electric mixer at high speed, whip the cream, confectioner's
sugar and vanilla until stiff. Gently fold the coffee/water mixture
into the whipped cream.
Assemble cake with coffee mousse filling
and buttercream icing. Use uncoloured icing with a small round icing
tip to make swirls on top and sides of cake (fun!).
Pictures
of finished cake.
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