Strawberry Banana Buttercream. Help!
Decorating By Eurud Updated 24 May 2014 , 1:22am by Jeff_Arnett
So Im making a Strawberry/banana buttercream. Thing is. When I mix it with my hand mixer it looks perfect. But then, when I mix it by hand a few times afterwards it looks like the pictures below. It kinda looks like cream that has started to seperate. Why is that? If I put it in the fridge, it looks fine when its hardened. But right after making it, it looks kinda gross. Am I doing something wrong? Or am I just not adding enough powdered sugar? Oh, and my recipe is; Butter, powdered sugar, banana, strawberry, and a little bit of milk.
Any thoughts would be good. I need help with this asap!
(Not sure if the pictures are showing the details clearly)
I did add like another 120grams sugar, but it didnt get a whole lot better. Maybe it still wasnt enough?
I read online that the buttercream might have been too hot. But all the ingrediens were room temperature. Yet, it would make sense, since it turns out pretty good when I put it in the refrigerator..
Should I put the strawberry and the banana in the fridge next time, before I add it?
did you drain all the liquid out off the strawberries first? because my frosting looked like that when I didn't drain it.
AI just made a mango buttercream the other day. According to the recipe I used, you cream your butter and sugar together first. At the end, you mixed in your fruit purée.
Did you dump everything in at once then mix? If so, that explains the texture.
Quote:
Ok cool. I just noticed that you used powdered sugar when you CREAMED it together with softened butter. I think a creaming method works best with a sugar crystal (not powdered sugar) since it adds in air bubbles. What I think you wound up doing was incorporating too much air which caused the butter "break" and thus the final look.
Based on your ingredients, you could have done a quick dump and mix OR even mixed by hand for a better result.
By the way, here's the "science" of what I tried to explain badly - notice what crystalline sugar does when whipped with butter:
Creaming is one of the most important mixing methods used in the entire recipe. It incorporates the maximum amount of air bubbles created by dry crystalline sugar, typically granulated white table or super-fine, or brown sugar, beaten with plastic solid fat (stick butter or margarine, shortening or lard), so a recipe will rise in the oven and be light in texture when baked. The cake rises from these air bubbles expanding from the heat of the oven, steam generated from the liquid ingredients and from carbon dioxide generated from the chemical leaveners or baking powder and/or baking soda.
Most recipes call for beating the butter WITH the sugar as the initial mixing step. However, creaming should be done by first softening the solid fat, accomplished by using an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or hand-held mixer fitted with its beaters, or by hand with a large wooden spoon. If shortening AND butter are to be creamed with sugar, initially, do not beat the two fats together; first beat the shortening, then add the butter and beat the two together. Then, the sugar should be added slowly while beating to create air bubbles held in by the fat. The mixture is beaten until it is lightened in color and often described as fluffy from its tiny air bubbles.
From: http://*********.com/quick-guide/how-to-az/mixing-method-creaming
Quote:
One thing I did, was mash the strawberries with a spoon in a bowl. I didnt puree them, Do you think that makes a difference aswell?
I don't think so. You might have had a sort of soupy mix if you added more of the juice from the fruit than needed, though. I would recommend using a "chunky" puree next time, esp if you want bits of fruit pieces noticeable. The difference between chunky and smooth are just a few clicks of a blender or food processor.
I might add that I cooked my homemade mango puree so that it was in a semi thickened state which I think I would do with most fruit based purees if I wanted to incorporate into a BC.
I have a recipe for a Strawberry meringue buttercream that uses this recipe: http://www.woodlandbakeryblog.com/homemade-strawberry-puree/ for the puree base. Just as a thought.
I think the issue is trying to incorporate the fruit into the ABC. In my experience, if you want to incorporate a fruit puree or fresh fruit, a meringue based buttercream is going to work best. I put a honey strawberry mix into my SMBC and it is heavenly. You can put so much more flavor into a SMBC by using more of an addition.
You might get better results, and more flavor to boot, if you first puree your strawberries in a blender, then cook then down in a microwave or stovetop in a sauce pan until they are reduced to about 1/4 their original volume. This not only removes excess water, but also concentrated the strawberry flavor. I use the same technique to make my strawberry cakes too.
I usually end up with about 1/2 cup concentrate...that packs a pretty good punch. If you want a bit more, stir in about 1/4 teaspoon unsweetened strawberry drink mix powder.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%