No. Another Warren Brown tip. But once you do it once, you can expand it to anything. It's even more subtle in taste than the Europeans, probably due to the amount of milk. You make a custard. The one I learned from is his Peanut Buttercream. The peanuts are steeped in simmering milk and sugar. Drain peanuts and proceed to make a true custard from the milk with eggs and his favorite, potato starch (but any thickener will do). When the custard coats the back of a spoon, it is removed. At this point it is a true custard, still slightly liquid because it is hot. It gets put in the mixing bowl and is mixed until room temp. The consistency is more like FBC base at this point. At room temp, the same process of adding the room temp butter is done. It breaks apart and emulsifies just like the European buttercreams. Then add flavor. It will handle just as much as the others.
I think it is more mellow and less butter tasting. This basic recipe, or any sturdy custard will work. Just make sure the ratio of custard/butter is the same. If you don't have the recipe, I can get it. This particular Peanut Buttercream is amazing. The steeped peanuts are later put on a cookie sheet with sugar and candied. They are added back into the buttercream along with a tiny bit of peanut butter and honey. But the steeped milk alone already has a wonderful peanut taste.
I have only experimented with plainer flavors where I want a mellow flavor vs. my stronger (and alcoholic) buttercreams. The availability to make buttercreams taste like pastry cream, creme Anglaise, egg custard, eggnog, etc., are attainable with this recipe.
scp1127, have you tried any of the vanilla or fruit cakes from sky high?
