Lambeth Cake Class
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients:
- 600g Sugar
- 450g Egg whites (pasteurized)
- 675g Butter (soft and unsalted)
- Vanilla to taste
Method:
In a large bowl over a bain-Marie combine egg whites and sugar and cook occasionally whisking to allow for even cooking.
The Mixture is ready when it's warm to touch and sugar is dissolved completely (rub the mixture between your fingers, continue to cook if you feel the texture to be gritty.) Transfer to an electric mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk until it is cool to touch, usually around 25 minutes.Add softened butter gradually and whip until incorporated, then add vanilla or the flavours of your choice. Flavor the buttercream however you like, whip in extract, melted chocolate, fruit purees or even Oreo crumbs, let your creativity shine!!!Buttercream Troubleshooting
The number one problem with buttercream is splitting, if this happens try one of the following solutions.
With heat - Warm Buttercream slightly, this can be done by microwaving it of 10 second blasts whisking each time until it comes together. If you like, remove a tablespoon of the mixture, melt it completely in the microwave and add it back to the mixture.
With friction - Continue to whip buttercream in a stand mixer, sometimes it can take approximately ten minutes to come back together.
With butter - Add more room temperature butter, do this one tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes back together.
Yields: Enough buttercream to stack and mask a 6” round cake
• 480g icing sugar (sifted)
• upto 250g whole milk(room temperature)
fluffy
2.Add sifted icing sugar in 2-3 parts. Mix each time starting on low speed and mix until the
mixture is homogeneous, light and fluffy.
3.Add milk a little at a time on low speed, thoroughly incorporating any liquid before the addition of more milk and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. You can add more milk for a looser texture or less milk for a firmer texture.
4. Use buttercream to decorate on the same day or transfer to an airtight container and
store in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for up to three months.
LET’S BAKE!
- you can heat up your milk to room temperature in the microwave or in a saucepan
- icing sugar is also called “powdered” or “confectioner’s sugar” in some countries
- granulated sugar can be used in place of icing sugar, but the frosting will be a little
- bit granular in texture from the sugar crystals
- pair bold flavours which go well with butter for an ‘american’ buttercream
Vanilla Cake
one 6" round cake layer (divide the recipe by 3 to produce 3 layers)
Ingredients:
- 40g Butter, Softened, Unsalted
- 140g Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 120g All purpose flour
- 7.5g Baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 120g Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Method:
Combine the first two ingredients. Cream until colour turns pale.Add egg, Scrape the bowl and make sure everything is combined. (if increasing the batch size add eggs one at a time scraping down between adding).Combine the dry ingredients.Combine the wet ingredients.Alternating between wet and dry ingredients, whisk together. (It is best to do this in smaller additions then larger ones as going slowly will help reduce lumps).Portion into a 6" cake pan. Bake at 325°F, or 25 to 30 minutes.
Tools, Tips and Tricks for a successful lambeth cakeTools:
- Piping bags
- Couplers
- Gel colours
- Liter container or liquid measuring cup (to easily fill a piping bag)
- The piping tips:
- #104 or #105 petal for ruffles
- #3 small round tip for pearls and dots
- small 'U' tip (Ateco 79 or a brand similar) for ruffles
- small size star tip (Ateco 32) for detailed work
- medium size star tip( Ateco 846) for swirls on the top of the cake
Tips and Tricks before getting started
The buttercream you use is key:
We choose to use swiss meringue buttercream at our bakery because we find it gives us the most stable product though you can use both swiss or american buttercream to achieve a successful lambeth. When preparing your buttercream you want the mixture to be smooth and creamy. Too firm a buttercream and you do not get air bubbles in your design, too soft and your design does not hold this shape.
Have plenty of tips and couplers handy:
Use tips and a coupler to easily interchange piping tips and avoid the mess and hassle of preparing a new bag of buttercream
What type of dye coloring to use:
Gel colors are more concentrated and thicker than food coloring, so you do not need much for coloring. Food coloring is typically watered down gel color and therefore you are only able to achieve a light color.
Since the gel colors are highly concentrated, you do not need very much of it to get a bold color. You can find gel coloring at your local cake supply store, bulk store, or online.
Food coloring is most commonly found in the grocery store and usually comes in 4 basic colors like red, yellow, green and blue.
The color palette you choose may determine whether you use gel or food coloring for your buttercream needs.
How to color buttercream:
The amount of buttercream you need to color will vary depending on what you are making and how many colors you need. We recommend starting with 1 cup. You can always darken your color by adding more gel or lighten your color by adding more uncolored buttercream.
For soft pastel color, ¼ drop or less is usually enough for 1 cup of buttercream. Use a toothpick to add the gel color to your buttercream. After the toothpick comes in contact with the buttercream, do not touch the gel color bottle with it again. You can contaminate your bottle with buttercream that can then become rancid.
If you are dying a whole batch of buttercream the same color, start with 1-2 drops and gradually add more. For darker colors you can start with 3-4 drops and go from there. Be careful when trying to create a dark color as the buttercream can easily start to taste like the dye and stain the inside of our mouth. For this reason soft pastel seems to be the color choice when it comes to decorating.
Buttercream is naturally off white due to the yellow coloring of the butter and vanilla extract. If you are planning to color your buttercream you can alway use a clear vanilla extract. Additionally you can add a touch of purple gel color to your buttercream to achieve a color that appears whiter. You can try out this trick if you are looking to keep your buttercream white for masking and decorating.
How to fill and handle a piping bag
Fit your piping bag with a coupler and then with the piping tip of your choosing and cut the point of your piping bag so the coupler fits through. Attach the tip to the coupler and tighten with the top of your coupler. Roll your piping bag inside out half way so it is easy to fill with buttercream. Fill the bag half to two-thirds full with buttercream and secure the end tightly with a chip clip or close pin. Hold the bag at the top.It’s always best to apply pressure from the top rather than right by the tip. (Think of a tube of toothpaste.) As you use your buttercream you will periodically need to tighten your bag by re-securing the top.
