This buttercream is made with drivert sugar, which can be found in some baking or cake decorating shops or on the Internet. It is more expensive (about $2.75 a pound in my area) than powdered sugar but drivert contains invert sugar, which means it melts smooth and won’t recrystallize. The texture is silky and very similar to swiss meringue buttercream, but there are no eggs/cooking. I think it also has a lighter texture than some that are made with all butter.
Ingredients
- 3 cups drivert sugar
- scant 1/4 cup HOT water
- 1/2 cup salted butter – room temp
- 5/8 cup Sweetex or other hi-ratio shortening
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Brite White
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or butter-van
Instructions
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Put the sugar in the bottom of your mixing bowl and pour the HOT water over it. It doesn’t have to be boiling but very hot. Stir the water and sugar until it’s uniformly melted, a minute or two. Add the flavoring. Place the Sweetex and Brite White into the bowl with the sugar and beat on low until combined (I use the KA whip attachment). When smooth, beat of high for 2-4 minutes until it’s light and creamy. Add the butter and beat until fluffy. Make sure you let the icing come to room temperature if you need to re-beat it or it will curdle. If this happens let it come to room temp and try again, it will usually come back together. This recipe can be made with all Sweetex/shortening and then refrigeration is not necessary.
is there an alternative for bright white, what is this???
You do not have to use bright white in the recipe. Bright White is a brand name for a liquid white "food color". It's titanium dioxide which is a whitening agent. That's all it is... to make thing's whiter to counter act the color of the real butter and/or true vanilla. Usuing too much titanium dioxide is not good. It can actually cause digestive problems. When using real butter instead of white shortening for an icing it's best to tell your customers the icing will not be "stark" white. Just like a brides dress... there are different shades of white. "Bright White" should never be used in an icing recipe that you plan on tinting a color. The titanium dioxide will continue to "whiten" the product and you will never get a true color, blue, red, yellow... etc.
I can't wait to try this...I've tasted a buttercream with this before and it was amazing, so smooth!...so I am dying to try it!
Hmmm, there is another product called Brite White that is a fudge based product, thick like shortening that is used to make your icing fluffier and whiter. But judging by the amount in this recipe, I would guess the Brite White I have is something different than yours. Glad you clarified
Is this a crusting cream? can't wait to try it ..thanks
For anyone who can't find a good source for the drivert sugar...check out any local bee-keeping supply stores. They sell it to feed the honey bees, and are usually much cheaper than cake decorating suppliers. Many of them also sell it in bulk.
Sorry, this took so long to show up I didn't realize it actually posted. The "Brite White" product I was talking about is an emulsifier. It may have other names somewhere else, but that's how it's packaged where I get it. It helps the icing taste less greasy and fluff up better. It sort of looks like shortening, but tastes a little salty by itself. There is a "Brite White" icing color, that Kimmichel was talking about, but not the same. Thanks for clarifying. You can make this icing without it, it just helps it out a little bit.
Oops, I forgot to add that this icing does NOT crust, unless you leave it out way too long...
Where can I find drivert sugar? I have used it before but can only find it in one place in Arizona. I am in the Dallas, TX area. I called a bee keeper service as suggested but they did not use drivert sugar. I cannot is use powdered sugar as I have an allergy to corn. I have had no success on Amazon.com either. Drivert sugar seems to be difficult to find. - thanks!