Hello,
I'm new here so I hope I ask this properly and receive some helpful answers.
Just made some italian buttercream. The egg whites whipped nicely. The butter was nice and soft. The sugar mixture sat on the stove until it was bubbling REALLY well. I kept placing the candy themometer in the sugar mixture, but my pan was so wide it had little depth for the thermometer.
So, I think I didn't get the sugar to soft ball stage, much less the hard ball stage. The sugar was about to change color, but it wasn't super thick.
Poured it into the mixture. It didn't hit the sides or the beater.
I waited until the whites were cool... They were cool in about 5 minutes of me placing the heated sugar in the whites.
The butter whipped up nicely. But the buttercream looks the consistency of butter. BUTTER.
Now I used European butter (same texture) and I'm out over 20 dollars in butter and eggs. All i have to show for it is a lemony tasting butter thing.
It isn't runny, but you certainly couldn't create anything with a soft peak, much less a stiff peak with it. It's... well.. butter!
Is this the way it is suppose to taste and look? I don't think so.
help 
Mine usually takes about 20 mins to cool down, so maybe your sugar was not hot enough. Need to boil about 7 mins I believe. Also, sometimes, you have to keep whipping it after adding the butter sometimes it doesn't look right till that last stick is added in. Also you want your butter chilled when you add it.
Maybe not straight from the fridge, but you don't want to be able to mush it if you pick up the stick for sure. Try sticking it in the fridge and then re whipping it.
I buy the unsalted butter from costco. I bought a lot recently because the price is 1.48/lb Awesome price. And I go through a lot.
Take heart. I messed up the recipe 3 times before I got it right, Don't give up. I now consider myself a very accomplished baker because I can make it now. And everyone can't believe the taste of the icing.
You have definitely not failed, you are on your way!
My butter was very very soft. ABSOLUTELY room temperature not hard at all.
Perhaps the white were warm and I just didn't realize it. Maybe they melted the butter as it was so warm in the first place 
The buttercream tasted like butter... perhaps I need to add some flavoring?
The texture of the buttercream seemed much better after I refrigerated it. Left it out for about 4 hours and whipped it.... then it became grainy.
If I had used it directly from the bowl yesterday... iced the cake and then refrigerated the cake... the icing would have been nice.
NOT usable for piping decorations.. it was soft as room temperature butter... couldn't spike even if you scared it.
SURELY this isn't the wonderful italian buttercream about which everyone raves.
Maybe this will help:
http://www.cakescanada.com/HowTo/IMBC2.pdf
It will be softer than a powdered sugar buttercream, but you can still pipe with it and I've even made flowers.
It IS very buttery tasting. But when combined with cake, it tastes wonderful. Some people really don't like it, though, because they're used to very sweet powdered sugar buttercream.
You should add some flavoring, like vanilla.
Sorry you're disappointed! Maybe try making a Swiss Meringue buttercream next time. It's essentially the same, but a different process to make it. I think it's a little easier. Martha Stewart's site has a good recipe.
Yes, the Italian version is a bit tricky. Are you using a thermometer? If so, make sure it is around the 248 to 250 degree temp.
The Swiss is much easier, because it involves consecutive steps, not doing two or thee things at once. You pretty much just get the whites to pasteurization stage, 140 degrees and hold for 3 1/2 minutes, then continue with recipe.
Here is another version I like that differs from the Italian and Swiss by using egg yolks and it too is a bit easier as you don't even need a thermometer or to check temps, plus there are all kinds of variations.
http://www.recipelink.com/cookbooks/1999/0811817687_4.html
Well, I'm going to try it again. 
This time, I won't use European style unsalted butter, (Almost 8.00 a pound 
). I'll just use plain ole' unsalted butter from the market. For the sugar mixture bubbling on the stove, I'l use a smaller pan which should increase the depth of the mixture. This should enable the thermometer to actually reach into the sugar mixture itself. Last time it simply hoovered over it and I had to tilt the pot to put the thermometer completely in the liquid.
Lastly, I will wait until the sugar mixture hits just before the hardball stage. Perhaps I didn't let it become hot enough last time.
Too, I will try the other recipes. as well as the swiss buttercream.
(Also thinking of adding Contreau into the italian buttercream, but I'll wait until I think I have the process down pat more.)
ps: Any suggestions on how to add the liquer? After the butter has been amalgamated? Surely not while the white are still warm? Don't know, so I'm asking.
Help is much appreciated. 
Very Happy
I don't have my cookbook with me at the moment, but from memory you always add the liquor or any other variation/ingredient at the very last, after it has all come together and cooled. In fact, if you are going to put it in the fridge and use another day, wait and add the liquor before you are going to actually use it, just re-whip the icing with it in.
Good luck.
I have tried 3 different meringue based buttercreams - the Italian (that was a pain to make), the Swiss and the last one was a French and it was the best. The Swiss is very tasty and very easy to make, however, mine always got warm in my hands and making roses was ummmm....yeah....words don't really describe how hard that was (flash freeze the bag, pipe a couple roses, freeze again....)!
So anyway, onto the recipe. Now, I got this recipe from Duff Goldman (well, it came from his shop manager who okayed sharing it) and I left the bowl out (at a cool room temp) for 2 days and it was still soooo good! Not to mention making roses was a breeze!
French Buttercream
Recipe courtesy Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes, Baltimore Maryland
Ingredients:
10 egg whites
15 Oz. granulated sugar
2 1/2 pounds of room temperature butter
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 min
Yield: Roughly four pounds of buttercream (enough to ice a 3-tier cake)
Equipment:
5 qt. mixer w/ bowl and whip attachment
Rubber Spatula
Start whipping egg whites slowly in the mixer by themselves (no sugar or butter yet) until the whites are foamy. Make sure to have a completely clean and dry bowl when you start your process, any fat or liquid at all in the bowl will stunt the protein development of the albumen (egg white protein) and you will not have a proper meringue at the end, the results could be disastrous.
Increase the speed of the mixer and slowly start adding the sugar until all the sugar is incorporated.
Once all the sugar is in, increase the speed of the mixer even further and whip until the mixture is shiny and stiff. You now have a meringue. You know when your meringue is done when you pull out the whip, hold it horizontal, and if you have what looks a sparrows beak on the end of the whip.
Replace the whip, turn the mixer on medium and start adding the butter a bit at a time, once all the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer on high and leave it for a while. Depending on the weather, the buttercream could take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to form. You will know when it has formed when you hear the motor of the mixer starts to slow down and whine a little bit, also, when you first add the butter, your meringue will break down and look nasty, this is good and is what you want. When the buttercream is done, the mixture will be homogeneous and consistentand tasty.
Remove the buttercream from the bowl and place in an airtight container. Buttercream can be kept at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge for a week or two, but always use warm buttercream when icing a cake. To warm up the buttercream, put it back in the mixer using the whip or the paddle, and apply direct heat with a propane torch you can find at any hardware store.
Notes:
1. Using a blowtorch directly on a food product is a very standard practice (see crËme brulee) and anyone who says otherwise is a jackass who knows nothing about cooking.
2. Dont worry about using raw egg whites in your buttercream, the sugar cooks the eggwhites and makes them perfectly safe to eat, if you are still uneasy about this, use a pasteurized egg product.
I flavored mine with a caramel syrup and it was so AWESOME! It does have a light buttery flavor but let me tell you - everyone at both my work and my dh's work RAVES about my icing!
Hope this helps! I found that the French was by far the easiest and tastiest recipe hands down. Oh and one last thing - they leave their cakes at cool room temp for up to 2-3 days...so that's why I left it out. I had originally emailed to ask when his new show was coming out on Food Network, but I threw in a fondant/buttercream question and got the recipe too!
Thank you SOOOO much for the French Buttercream Recipe, and for posting it for others.
Delicious recipes are hard to find.
I'm going to give this one a whirl!
I haven't read all the posts yet but this is what I know. When your buttercream "breaks" if you just put it into your KA and whip it with the whipped attachment for litterly 20 minutes, it should come back. I have had this happen to me before and tried just leaving it alone for that long whipping on high, and it worked. I had a great BC. GL
Is it not a sugar syrup in Duff's recipe? Why does he say the sugar "cooks" the eggs? Is it just that enough sugar is in the recpie to preserve the eggs? sorry if I'm missing the obvious or didn't read correctly.
I agree with leaving the buttercream and the cakes out. It is a real pain to warm up after refrigerating.
candy - thanks for that recipe - it sounds great & no cooking involved!!!
Have you ever used it under fondant before? Do you know if it's consistency would be strong enough to be under fondant on a wedding cake? I'm doing a friend's cake later this month & was going to use the WBH BC but have now found out that it may not hold up well under the fondant & I don't want to test that theory with her wedding cake!!
Swoda, I realize you are asking about the other recipe posted by Candy 177. (I can't wait to use Candy's recipe.) But as far as the recipe I used which was very soft, I ended up using it under fondant.
I thought it was fine. However, I defer to Rodneyck's opinion. Perhaps most buttercreams are too soft to use under fondant. My fondant covers are always thin and the layer between the cake and fondant isn't heavy either. (YET, note the yet, the successful fondant cakes I have seen, when disected, appear to have a very thick layer of fondant and a good agent layer between the fondant and cake. --- So take my "buttercream was fine under fondant with a grain of salt and keep in mind the lower melting point.
But for the curious, the Italian Buttercream which was VERY VERY soft, silky and not too sweet, but very buttery was Dede Wilson's Essential Buttercream recipe.
Ingredients are:
1 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
8 large egg whites, at rom temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 pounds unsalated butter at room temperature.
Follow Italian Buttercream Recipe and / or Just to let you know, the recipe I used turned out GREAT for under fondant. I realize you were asking about the other recipe posted by Candy 177.
I can't wait to use Candy's recipe.
But for the curious, the Italian Buttercream which was VERY VERY soft, silky and not too sweet, but very buttery was Dede Wilson's Essential Buttercream recipe.
Ingredients are:
1 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
8 large egg whites, at rom temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 pounds unsalated butter at room temperature.
Follow Italian Buttercream Recipe and / or http://www.cakescanada.com/HowTo/IMBC2.pdf
IMBC on cakescanda has a slightly different list of ingredients and may lead to a more satisfactory (less fluid) product. 
That is interesting! Dede's recipe is the only one I use for making IMBC and it has always turned out fine. I think you're right by saying that maybe the thermometer didn't read the temperature right. I ended up getting an instant read digital thermometer that beeps when it reaches the temperature. The tricky thing about this buttercream is to coordinate all the steps. I've found, though, that you can leave the whites whipped to the stiff-peaks-but-not-dry stage if your sugar syrup is not ready yet and then start rewhipping when the syrup reaches the temperature. I always have to whip the egg whites and sugar mixture for over 20 minutes in my KA (funny thing was that when I did it at my friend's parent's house on my friend's mom's 30-year-old KA it just took 10 minutes at the most...).
I don't use this buttercream under fondant because it needs refrigeration and fondant doesn't do well in the fridge.
Inma
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