Strengthening Strawberry Flavor

Baking By sweetaudrey Updated 14 Mar 2011 , 8:00pm by sweetaudrey

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sweetaudrey Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 7:17am
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I was wondering if anyone has any recipes or tips on how to strengthen the flavor of strawberry in buttercream without making it watery? I added a strawberry puree to it and I drain some of the natural juice because I'm terrified of soupy bc. It gave it a decent flavor, but it was a little to subtle under my other chocolately flavors. I'd like I stay towards fresh and natural ingredients but I'm wondering if there are methods you can use to get the best favor from strawberries...such as certain parts of the actual fruit? Or really anything to just strengthen the strawberry flavor that I cannot think of. I'm young and I'm learning so any knowledge you could pass on would be greatly appriciated! Thanks!

18 replies
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silverdragon997 Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 8:05am
post #2 of 19

I'm sure it's not natural, but I use candy oils to enhance my fruit flavors. I use fresh fruit in my fillings, but I always add a dram of candy oil to the recipe and it always makes the flavor pop.

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galliesway Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 8:43am
post #3 of 19

Davinci gourmet all natural strawberry syrup.

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scp1127 Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 11:25am
post #4 of 19

Olive Nation pure strawberry extract. These extracts make my fruit buttercreams better than all of my competition. I add 1/2 to 1 tsp per double batch of IMBC, but it can be more to taste. I get gourmet jam infused with liqueur for some of my buttercreams. I use as much as I can and fill in with the extract. I have strawberry, raspberry, and key lime so far. They have so many. No bitter taste like other extracts. You can put a drop on your finger and taste it.

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LindaF144a Posted 12 Mar 2011 , 4:39pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetaudrey

I was wondering if anyone has any recipes or tips on how to strengthen the flavor of strawberry in buttercream without making it watery? I added a strawberry puree to it and I drain some of the natural juice because I'm terrified of soupy bc. It gave it a decent flavor, but it was a little to subtle under my other chocolately flavors. I'd like I stay towards fresh and natural ingredients but I'm wondering if there are methods you can use to get the best favor from strawberries...such as certain parts of the actual fruit? Or really anything to just strengthen the strawberry flavor that I cannot think of. I'm young and I'm learning so any knowledge you could pass on would be greatly appriciated! Thanks!




When you make the puree do you strain it through a sieve to get out all the seeds and other stuff? I do that for raspberry and it is delicious. Also, have you tried it after a few hours to give it time to meld?

You also say you are terrified of a soupy BC, but you do not say what ratio of strawberry to BC and what kind of BC. Knowing this would help me in helping you.

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LisaR64 Posted 13 Mar 2011 , 1:58am
post #6 of 19

I like to use the All-Fruit Strawberry jam. Very flavorful, and doesn't water down the buttercream. I've also used strawberry Jello to flavor icing, and it worked great.

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FromScratchSF Posted 13 Mar 2011 , 2:30am
post #7 of 19

If you want to stick to fresh and natural, make a SMBC or IMBC. You can add a ton of puree (1 cup or so per batch) without having to resort to artificial flavorings or jams. It's divine.

Jen

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AmysCakesNCandies Posted 13 Mar 2011 , 2:51am
post #8 of 19

Strawberry jello works great for both cakes & buttercream

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sweetaudrey Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 1:37pm
post #9 of 19

Well, I've been trying to use IMBC, but honestly, all my attempts have been disasterous!! I love the flavor of the meringue so I'd like to keep using it, but I always have a problem with soup consistancies. I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong. I always make sure I do everything at room temp and I know the humidity factor so I try to check that as well but this part of Illinois (and really all of IL) is very humid almost year around (it stinks!!). So....that being said....I'm at a loss with it!!! I've hear that once you start adding the butter to your meringue that it will eventually thicken up again if you keep beating it, but I've had no luck so far. Maybe I'm giving up to soon. And as far as strawberry to bc, I use one cup and I strain it.

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galliesway Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 3:39pm
post #10 of 19

sweetaudrey- I am from NIL and get humdity! I love SMBC! The recipe I use from here! I have little problems but when I did I finally figured out the culprit~ butter too cold! I think the recipe is called well dressed meringue or something like that. Do a search for SMBC and it's the one with over 30 pages! HTH!

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sweetaudrey Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 4:41pm
post #11 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by galliesway

sweetaudrey- I am from NIL and get humdity! I love SMBC! The recipe I use from here! I have little problems but when I did I finally figured out the culprit~ butter too cold! I think the recipe is called well dressed meringue or something like that. Do a search for SMBC and it's the one with over 30 pages! HTH!




So you make sure your butter is VERY soft and not cold at all? I have tried a SMBC and it did pretty much the same thing as the IMBC did. icon_cry.gif

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LindaF144a Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 5:10pm
post #12 of 19

Possibly you are doing something else differently. Ate you whipping the meringue til you have stiff peaks and it has completely cooled? A meringue that had not cooled enough will melt your butter. When I make meringue it can take a good 15-20 minutes for the meringue to cool to at least 82 degrees. I check it with an instant read thermometer. I put ice packs around the outside of the bowl too. Next time I make it, I am adding bags of ice also to cool it faster. At 82 the butter can still melt, so I try to get to 79 degrees at least. I would like it cooler, so that is why I am adding bags of ice next time.

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sweetaudrey Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 5:16pm
post #13 of 19
Quote:
Originally Posted by LindaF144a

Possibly you are doing something else differently. Ate you whipping the meringue til you have stiff peaks and it has completely cooled? A meringue that had not cooled enough will melt your butter. When I make meringue it can take a good 15-20 minutes for the meringue to cool to at least 82 degrees. I check it with an instant read thermometer. I put ice packs around the outside of the bowl too. Next time I make it, I am adding bags of ice also to cool it faster. At 82 the butter can still melt, so I try to get to 79 degrees at least. I would like it cooler, so that is why I am adding bags of ice next time.




I haven't took the actual temp (I'll start doing that), but my meringue is always cool to the touch...not just the bowl...but I acutally touch the meringue and it is cool to the touch.

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FromScratchSF Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 5:19pm
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lilbitacake Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 5:20pm
post #15 of 19

You could try juice from strawberry pie filling or a pack of kool-aid. You will love the tasty of the icing.

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LindaF144a Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 5:20pm
post #16 of 19

Yes, but rembef our body temp is 98.6. I used to trust my touch too until I got the thermometer and then I found out just how far off I was. What felt "cool" was over the melting point of butter. Don't forget it has a low melting point, somewhere in the low 80's I believe. I don't have the ability to look that up right now.

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scp1127 Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 6:27pm
post #17 of 19

I use my chocolate thermometer.

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stlcakelady Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 6:42pm
post #18 of 19

I take frozen strawberries and cook them down to a jam. I always add some lemon juice to perk it up...really seems to bring out the flavor.

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sweetaudrey Posted 14 Mar 2011 , 8:00pm
post #19 of 19

Thank you LindaF...that remided me of what I wasn't even thinking about! haha! This is very true and I will deffinitely start taking it's temp before adding the butter.

Also....has anyone used naturesflavors . (com)? If you have, would you recomend their strawberry (or any) flavors?

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