American Style Buttercream: Because Sometimes Cheap and Nasty Is Just What You Need

The other day, I was eating a shop bought cupcake. Sacrilege, I know, but sometimes I can't make them just like you can get from the shops. Which got me to thinking, what makes the icing on top -- and the filling within -- shop bought cakes so cheap and nasty, but so nice?

I decided to look on the back of the packets of shop bought cakes that had 'buttercream', and they predictably contained no butter in the icing: in pretty much every case, it was palm oil, or hydrogenated vegetable fat. So, I took to the internet to see if people make icing with these fairly gross ingredients.

I did a search for 'buttercream with vegetable fat' or something like that, and I was brought to the official Wilton recipe for buttercream icing: it used butter and vegetable shortening in equal quantities, and lots of vanilla essence. At first, I was skeptical, not only because vegetable fat on its own is fairly disgusting, but because the vegetable fat that was being used in the video didn't resemble anything we have here in Ireland.

In the States, it seems, vegetable fat -- or shortening -- is soft and spreadable and bright white; it beats up like butter. Here, we get blocks of hard vegetable lard; it's made of the same stuff, only in a solid brick of a thing. I had utterly convinced it wouldn't whip or be beaten well like the American style stuff.

However, I got some just to try. I softened the butter and the fat to room temperature and used them both to make some vanilla buttercream icing. And, in complete honesty, I was thoroughly impressed.

Advantages

• It is very stable: it's not prone to curdling or splitting like traditional buttercream made with only butter. It also holds its shape very, very well, which makes it perfect for piping
• The combination of vegetable fat and butter is quite bland: it doesn't have as strong a buttery taste, which makes it easier to flavour. You don't need as much essence, powder, or what-have-you.
• It's cheaper: a pound of butter is about €2.40, whereas a pound of vegetable fat is half the price at €1.20. So, if you mix them in equal quantities, you save 60c per pound.
• It whips up really quickly: the vegetable fat catches more air bubbles and makes something akin to whipped cream icing, but it doesn't go off like cream does. It'd make a nice filling for fondant fancies or the like.
• It's pale, therefore easy to dye.

Disadvantages

• The butter and fat take a lot of beating to come together. You need to work them a lot with a wooden spoon and a strong wrist, or with an electric beater. HOWEVER, if going the electric option, use it to mix the butter and fat only until beaten, otherwise....
• It whips up really quickly: if you use an electric beater to mix in the icing sugar, you will end up with something that's more like whipped cream than buttercream. So when adding the icing sugar, switch to a wooden spoon.
• It's a little more greasy in mouthfeel than traditional all butter icing, and doesn't have the smoothness of butter.
• It's fairly bland if you don't add enough flavouring, because it lacks the richness of the butter. You might want to add a baseline of vanilla essence in underneath whatever flavour you're adding in.

Long story short: Make sure the butter and fat are well and tempered to room temperature. Mix the butter and fat together really well on their own first. Don't over mix once you add the icing sugar. Add vanilla essence no matter what flavour you're making it for more depth. Forgive it its slightly greasy mouthfeel.

Something Savoury: Tomato Soup with Cheese Buns (Wheat-, Dairy-, and Egg Free)

I know that my blog is about baking nice sweet things to eat and be happy about, but when I'm not baking up sugary delights I'm using my other culinary skills to make meals for myself (and occasionally my companion). This time, I made some nice tomato soup with little cheese buns to dip in.

Every so often, I do a grocery shop, but then my life gets busy and I end up with vegetables in my fridge that are still in date, but a little bit too sad to serve in their own right with a meal. So, I turn them into soup, generally speaking, and usually tomato soup (or sometimes carrot and coriander).

This soup, however, is a little different to most recipes you'll see as is contains no added dairy, sugar, or flour (for thickening), but is still rich and creamy. I achieve this by using passata instead of fresh or tinned tomatoes, as it is already rich and thick, adding an apple for sweetness and texture, and a touch of rice for thickening. Sounds mad, but it works a treat!

The buns are also incredibly simple and are ready in less than half an hour, and are very easily customised. You can add some chopped spring onions, herbs, or spices if you wish.

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Nuts
☑ Eggs
☑ Dairy

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten (unless you use gluten-free flour)
☒ Refined sugar products


INGREDIMENTS

For the soup

• 1 pound (450 grammes) carrots
• ½ a white onion, or a small red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium sized dessert apple, such as a Gala or a Pink Lady
• 1 carton (500 grammes) passata
• 1½ to 2 pints (850 millilitres to 1 litre) water
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) uncooked Basmati rice
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) dried basil
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) paprika
• 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) olive oil, for cooking
• Salt and black pepper

For 8 mini buns, or 4 medium buns,

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) cornflour
• 1½ teaspoons (7 millilitres) baking powder
• ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) caster sugar
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter, at room temperature, or block margarine for those who can't eat dairy
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 to 3 fluid ounces (60 to 90 millilitres) water, at room temperature
• Salt and black pepper
• Optional: a beaten egg to wash the scones before baking, if you can eat egg

METHOD

To make the soup,

• First, prepare and cut all the vegetables for the soup. Peel and cut the carrots roughly into small pieces, no bigger than half an inch (1 centimetre) big; peel and quarter the apple (cutting top to bottom), cut out the core in each quarter, cut in half again, then chop into pieces no bigger than an inch (2½ centimetres); peel and finely cut the onion into small pieces; and press the garlic, or if you don't have a garlic press, cut into teeny tiny pieces.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and add in the onion with a generous pinch of salt and stir. The salt will make the onion release all the juices, and when it has gone moist reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes; this is called "sweating".
• After sweating the onions, increase the heat to medium again, remove the lid and add in the garlic and uncooked rice, cooking for a minute or two while stirring until each grain of rice is shiny and a little translucent. Adding the garlic at the start would be risky, as the garlic can easily burn and make the soup bitter.
• Then, add the carrots, apples, herbs, and paprika, cooking for another minute or two while stirring. Pour enough water over the top to cover the vegetables: you may not need the whole 2 pints (1 litre) now, but keep onto whatever water is left as you'll need it later.
• Bring the mixture to an active simmer, lots of little bubbles as opposed to lots of big bubbles, and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the vegetables are very tender and the rice has fallen to pieces.
• Once the vegetables and rice are cooked, add in the passata and stir to mix fully.
•  Remove from the heat, and then blend the soup. If you have an immersion blender, this is super easy as you just pop it into the saucepan and whizz until to soup is smooth. I, however, only have a regular blender: I filled the blender jug about a third full at a time (because the soup is hot), covered the blender leaving the middle of the lid out to let steam escape, and then blended until smooth, covering the hole with a tea towel to prevent splashing. I then poured the blended soup into a  3½ pint (2 litre) measuring jug to return to the saucepan after the whole soup was blended.
• Return the blended soup to the hob to heat and season. It's wise to season the soup at the temperature it will be eaten, to make sure the seasoning is accurate. Add salt and pepper to taste: it should be rich and creamy, but still a little tart.

To make the buns,

• Preheat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF, Gas Mk.6), and lightly grease a flat baking tray.
• Sieve the flour, cornflour, baking powder, sugar, and a pinch of salt and black pepper into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles something like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the grated cheese and stir until each strand of cheese is tossed in the flour. Add the water, a little at a time, mixing until it comes together in a soft and slightly sticky dough.
• Flour your hands and break the dough into 4 or 8 pieces, to your preference, rolling into balls.
• Place on the baking tray, about an inch or two (2½ to 5 centimetres) apart. Brush with milk or beaten egg, if you can eat those.
• Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on size), until they are puffed up and pale brown on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This soup keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge, but also freezes exceptionally well. The buns can keep for up to a week in an airtight container, but are best enjoyed on the day they're made.

THIS TIME IN 2014: Quick Pizza Base (Wheat-, Dairy-, Egg-, and Yeast Free)

THIS TIME IN 2013: Chewy Caramel