I am experimenting with different buttercreams and have made a batch of French Vanilla Buttercream. It is from Toba Garret's book, though I've seen a similar recipe here on CC. It's the one with granulated sugar melted with cream until crystals dissolve, then whisk in flour, salt and vanilla and cool over an ice bath slightly; add this custard to butter, combine then whip until light and fluffy.

The texture is similar to a SMBC or IMBC in that i doubt it would crust and in richness of butter content. My big question is if this French version that contains no egg would be stable enough to fill a cake or to hold piping borders, let alone hold under fondant. Or is it much to delicate and would melt out (i live in So. AZ so this is a concern).

(my little boy has a bad egg allergy and so i'm always trying to find egg free options in my kitchen)

thanks in advance for your experiences

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hi, i just made this the other week end for my sil b/d. i make it every now and then. it is well liked when i make it. i make it and use it on red velvet cakes. that is the original icing for red velvet. not the cream cheese. i haven,t piped borders, fillings, etc. i don,t think it would hold up for that , but i don,t know. we really love the taste of it and the texture, etc. i think , using it for fillings and piping would be ok for a cake that would be in a cool room. no heat at all. again, i haven,t tried it for that.