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Mousseline the Magic Buttercream!
Another Beautiful Cake from Patrincia!
Hi Rose, Here is a photo of the 2nd wedding cake I made this past weekend. I used your Mousseline Buttercream and you might be interested to know that the reception was held in a place that serves meals to senior citizens, so the room was warm before anyone arrived. Add to that about 100 people and a bunch of spotlights (one directly on the cake - yikes!)... so let's just say it was VERY warm. The great news is this - your buttercream held up extremely well for the 3 hours the cake was on display; it didn't slide or shift at all. I added grosgrain ribbon to match the bridal party - it stuck to the buttercream without any problems either. Thanks to you, this stay at home mom's can turn out cakes that not only look like they were made by an upscale professional bakery, but they taste like it too! Sincerely, Patricia Reitz (Patrincia), Winchester, VA
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Great story! I always look at my finished baked goods and wonder if could have made it any better or sweeter for a recipe for success!
Reply to this Posted by: Ed | September 7, 2008 5:29 PM #
Rose...I've told the story about you picking me out countless times...it was so funny to me. Hope you're having a good weekend...I know you have so much work to do with the new book, but try to find some "off time". We all need it.
Reply to this Posted by: Bill | September 7, 2008 9:43 AM #
What a lovely story! From Proust's madeleines to Mike's chocolate cupcakes with orange buttercream, the foods of childhood baked by loved ones will always feed our souls with love.
Reply to this Posted by: MarkMc | September 6, 2008 12:41 PM #
Bill,
Thanks so much for sharing this story, it makes me feel warm all over! I bake for children often and I hope they grow up to have similar memories.
Best,
Julie
Reply to this Posted by: Julie | September 6, 2008 12:31 PM #
Such a touching story - isn't it wonderful how food can bring back such lovely memories!
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | September 6, 2008 10:36 AM #
i'm reading this in nj on the porch, hurrying to see what's posted bf the promised thunderstorms force me to shut down the internet to protect the modem and computer! tears in my eyes. this is why we all bake or cook--to give pleasure and joy to others. we had dinner this week at thor in the rivington hotel and met the new chef jesi solomon and his brother daniel who is the sommalier. i'll be posting our experience on the blog soon--without photos as i was too enraptured to stop and take them! but my point is that it totally exemplified this principle and it made me remember how much i love my colleagues and exactly why!
ironically, as i read your posting i was half holding my breath thinking maybe you were going to report that someone the mousseline turned to soup! au contraire.
just last night i was reminiscing about the nyu collaborative cuisine flour demo and how i walked into the room, saw you, and knew immediately that it was brace billy!
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | September 6, 2008 10:09 AM #
That's a great story Bill. Keep baking!!!
Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | September 6, 2008 8:26 AM #
Rose:
I really miss you guys, and I really miss participating in the blog...but this is a very busy time of year for me, orthodontist...kids back to school...AHHHHHHHH! but I wanted to relate a baking incident involving the orange mousseline buttercream. I recently attended a party at my sister's place. I Brought a carrot cake and a couple of dozen cupcakes. Following your suggestion in the cake bible, I freeze my left over frostings, and when I have a bunch of containers, I bake up a bunch of cupcakes. One of the frostings I had left over was the orange mousseline. I had baked chocolate cupcakes and the chocolate with the orange was really yummy. Anyway, there were four left over and my sister put them in a plastic container and put them in the fridge. The next day her husband's friend Mike stopped by and she offered him some cupcakes. He took one look at them: "are those chocolate cupcakes with orange Icing?, he asked. "Yes" said my sister. "are they made with real oranges?" asked Mike. "not sure, but knowing my obsessive brother, I would bet he used real oranges" said my sister (gotta love your family). "My grandmother used to make chocolate cupcakes with orange buttercream" said mike. He took one bite and his eyes welled up. It was as if my sister gave him back his grandmother and his childhood. She gave him the container with the remaining three cupcakes to take home. He carried them to the car as if they were a priceless treasure.
That's why I bake.
Rose, Thank you again for your delicious orange mousseline buttercream recipe. You made a man in New Jersey named Mike very very happy.
Reply to this Posted by: Bill | September 5, 2008 5:52 PM #
HOT kitchen is NEVER an issue. I like to use a ice filled water jacket or kep my creamed butter down to 60oF (put in the fridge for a few minutes).
NO, mousseline won't get beter by storing in the fridge. You ca use it cool and think it is perfect consistency, but will run when leaving at room temp.
don't discard, use it for filling or to frost the top.
it is runny because sugar wasn't heated to the EXACT temperature.
you coul whip a second batch, if perfect mix with your runny batch and it become 50 percent less runny.
Reply to this Posted by: hector | July 14, 2008 12:06 AM #
I have a question regarding Mousseline...I hope that someone sees it before I leave work today at about 2 PM new york time.
Last night I made a batch of mousseline buttercream...something I've done many times. Once, when my kitchen was hot, it did break down into the hopeless puddle that rose cautions us about. So now, when it is hot, I usually do the mousseling in my dining room where there is airconditioning. Anyway, last night, hot kitcen, lazy boy, mousseline buttercream in the kitchen. Anyway, it didn't break down, but it was very soft...I was planning on using it today, so I covered it and put it in the fridge. When it comes to room temp, with the buttercream have enough body to pipe? was it just that it finished product was too warm? Or could the structure of the buttercream have been compromised? Rose, Patricia, Hector, Help! I don't want to put all this butter down the drain, but I don't want to beat in my beautiful curd only to find tha the buttercream won't hold up at room temperature.
thanks
Reply to this Posted by: Bill | July 13, 2008 8:54 AM #
HA!!! Luca and my DH speak the same language!
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | June 13, 2008 6:35 PM #
Just something to churn brains. I was trying to figure out how much frosting to use for a 5" tall cake instead of 4" cake, and here is the response of my mathematician, Luca!
(the results are printed on page 513 of TCB, under master chart for frosting quantities).
Hector: "I am doing heavy math right now. Don't know how to calculate how much frosting I need for a 5" tall cake instead of a 4" tall cake. Diameter is
9" on both cakes .....Can you help? What is the factor? Just the frosting to cover the outside of the cake: top and sides.
Luca: "Sure I can help. Image the cake as if it was made of two parts: the top and the sides. The top is just a circle, so the area is r * r * pi, where r is 4.5" if the diameter is 9. The sides is just a rectangle once you open it up. The area of a rectangle is base * height. The base is the circumference of the cake so base = 2 * pi * r, the height is either 4 or 5, depending on which cake you want to make.
So!!!
if the frosting amount is proportional to the area:
frosting1=r*r*pi+2*pi*r*4
frosting2=r*r*pi+2*pi*r*5
so if you were using, say 2 cups of frosting for 4 inch cake, you will need:
2cups*frosting2/frosting1
final_amount:
= 2cups*(r+10)/(r+8)
= 2cups*(4.5+10)/(4.5+8)
= 2*(14.5/12.5)
= 2.32 cups
= 2 cups and 1/3
... "
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | June 13, 2008 6:05 PM #
Thanks for the feedback. I know that there are other brands out there, but I live in a very small rural town and it's difficult to get anything other than Hershey's, Baker's and the store brand. Since I have limited options, I'm trying to find out how to fix what I have.
Reply to this Posted by: mommypayne | April 20, 2008 7:30 PM #
And callebaut!
Reply to this Posted by: MarkMc | April 16, 2008 7:32 PM #
Hi Mommypayne - I know exactly what you mean about the Hershey's Special Dark (which according to the packaging, is dutch-processed). I find it works well in cake batters, but not frostings because of the ashy color.
There are several other brands of Dutch-processed cocoa that are more of a chocolatey brown color: Penzey's, Droste, Green & Black, Lindt, etc.
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | April 16, 2008 7:09 PM #
From what I remember reading about that a while back, it is already a blend of DP and natural process.
Reply to this Posted by: Matthew | April 16, 2008 4:41 PM #
I had a question regarding cocoa powder. I have always been a huge fan of Hershey's Dutch Process. Then they came out with the Special Dark. The taste is amazing but the color is horrible! It comes out this weird grayish brown. Any ideas on how to fix that? I've tried 1/2 and 1/2 with regular DP cocoa, but it doesn't taste as good.
Also, several months ago, someone posted a problem with getting gritty frosting due to the wrong temp on the syrup. I was disappointed to see that no one mentioned elevation affecting temperature readings! That is so important! Same with temperatures when baking a cake.
Reply to this Posted by: mommypayne | April 16, 2008 4:14 PM #
oh Hector- you are again killing us with suspence! and how faithful the custodian is!
Reply to this Posted by: nushera | March 25, 2008 11:16 PM #
Some more pictures of cake in progress:
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Katie-sWorldCakeInProgress.html
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 25, 2008 8:23 PM #
I agree with Hector. I made the pina colada cake from the Cake Bible last week. I used the amount of rum stated in the recipe and then some......I made it on Fri evening and the cake was served on Sat evening. There was no trace of rum at all. I was disappointed BUT it proved that using alcohol in buttercream and cakes does not result in the finished product tasting of alcohol.
Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | March 21, 2008 9:48 PM #
hint: for all of you who dislike the taste of smell of alcohol on the Mousseline, try using Vodka and make your buttercream or frost your cake 2 days in advance.
As stated, alcohol perfects the emulsification on the Mousseline into pure sheet.
Vodka has no flavor, and it evaporates quickly! After 2 days, NO-ONE will ever know that alcohol was used!
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 21, 2008 7:37 PM #
Oh wow.... fantastic Hector! :)
Reply to this Posted by: Anonymous | March 21, 2008 7:14 AM #
Sweet Coconut Tart Crust
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Katie-sWorldCakeContinents.html
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 21, 2008 1:42 AM #
P.S. Carol is the first one to make a spun off from my Star Copper Topper! Check her out at
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/260/
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 19, 2008 3:39 AM #
As fellow blogger Carol asked, here is the first picture on countdown week: the blank canvas.
Note the wire 'triangles' made out of clothes hangers. These are the dry ice holders to keep the cake refrigerated during assembly.
If there is magic, now I need it, to turn this pile of cardboard and foil into cake!
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Katie-sWorldCakeCanvas.html
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 19, 2008 3:36 AM #
As fellow blogger Carol asked, here is the first picture on countdown week: the blank canvas.
Note the wire 'triangles' made out of clothes hangers. These are the dry ice holders to keep the cake refrigerated during assembly.
If there is magic, now I need it, to turn this pile of cardboard and foil into cake!
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Katie-sWorldCakeCanvas.html
P.S. Carol is the first one to make a spun off from my Star Copper Topper! Check her out at http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/260/
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 19, 2008 3:36 AM #
The BIG ones are here, color mix of Teal plus Royal Blue. White edges.
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Katie-sWorldCakeOpenOcean.html
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 13, 2008 11:41 PM #
straight line parallel with the bag from tip opening to bag opening. do I make sense?
as stripes I guess.
better explained on the wilton book =)
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 13, 2008 9:34 PM #
Hector, Do you put the streak vertically in the piping back or horizontally as you would if you wanted stripes? Your work is super-fantastic. Roseanna
Reply to this Posted by: Roseanna | March 13, 2008 9:31 PM #
..... "dreamy" (as Rose said).....
Valerie, on swiss you don't heat the sugar that high, so it is a less stable buttercream at room temp.
Color is Teal (Wilton's). The mousseline has been flavored with Absolute Vodka, and a drop of Fiori di Sicilia. Vodka is colorless and fiori di sicilia is orange. The white edge on each petal is a technique I've learned from Wilton's: streak the inside of your piping bag with white buttercream and align it with the narrow edge of your rose tip.
The picture colors are indeed accurate. I do prefer to refrigerate the buttercream roses before photographing, so it isn't shiny and glossy.
Yes, fruit acidity as well as alcohol, makes buttercream less greasy on your palate.
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 13, 2008 7:51 PM #
Hector-the roses are the most beautiful shad of blue. Did you custom blend the colour? Now that you mention it I too notice that when I add lemon curd to the buttercream it has a less greasy mouth feel. Rose or anyone - I'm curious why the swiss meringue buttercream method is not as popular on this forum as the mousseline {IMBC} preparation is? Are there advantages to one method over the other?
Reply to this Posted by: Valerie | March 13, 2008 7:29 PM #
Hector - your poor wrist! You should wear a wrist brace next time you take on such a work hazard. I'm telling you... your friends don't realize how much Hector you put into your cakes!
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | March 13, 2008 5:53 PM #
great Patrincia, and this just makes me think (I haven't post on that), whenever I add the suggested amount of liqueur on the Mousseline Buttercream, the greasy taste and impression of butter is smoothen out, becoming "less greasy." It must be that urban legend says that alcohol dissolves and cuts off the fat!
And similarly, if adding the suggested fruit variation on the Mousseline Buttercream, a similar thing happens.
I just never ever use the Mousseline Buttercream alone. Can it be Ying and Yang?
BTW, my right hand wrist is still swollen from piping 200 large roses (the picture I posted is for the medium ones I did last week). For these large roses, I used my giant JB Prince piping bag, it was so heavy that I had to lean the bag on an inverted pot and push against it with my fist, instead of squeezing with my palm! This just makes me think on getting a foot triggered air pump and connect it to my piping bag...
I am going to copy this post on your Magic Buttercream post, which is full of nice info...
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | March 13, 2008 3:37 PM #
it can be done but it's tricky. you might want to do it in two parts. i hope they vote for it!
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | March 12, 2008 8:51 PM #
Good ideas. I thought of fondant but I am not sure how to manage rolling out a sheet to cover a 14 and 18" x 4" tier. That is SO large. I would need to roll out two pieces and then blend them together right? I will give them a sample of fondant covered cake and also a piece covered wtih your white choc cream cheese icing only. Ultimately, they may have to adjust the time they want the cake left out if they want cream cheese. Rose, you are so creative and scientific at the same time. I bet you have fun in the kitchen.
Reply to this Posted by: Valerie | March 12, 2008 6:14 PM #
Good ideas. I thought of fondant but I am not sure how to manage rolling out a sheet to cover a 14 and 18" x 4" tier. That is SO large. I would need to roll out two pieces and then blend them together right? I will give them a sample of fondant covered cake and also a piece covered wtih your white choc cream cheese icing only. Ultimately, they may have to adjust the time they want the cake left out if they want cream cheese. Rose, you are so creative and scientific at the same time. I bet you have fun in the kitchen.
Reply to this Posted by: Valerie | March 12, 2008 5:32 PM #
I'm still getting comments about the ganache covered wedding cake I made over a year ago!
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | March 11, 2008 10:56 PM #
the new book will have an all dark chocolate wedding cake. is there anything better than ganache?! i used to call it the ultimate nosh which in yiddish is defined more or less as an indulgent snack.
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | March 11, 2008 10:49 PM #
Any chance you can talk them into Rose's Dark Chocolate Ganache?
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | March 11, 2008 10:47 PM #
what about rolled fondant. some people think it's like candy and just bc they don't like butter doesn't mean they won't like sugar! suggest it.
Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | March 11, 2008 10:03 PM #
THEY DON'T LIKE MOUSELLINE BC????
Please help, anyone. My client doesn't like mousseline buttercream!! And, yes, I make it properly and in a variety of flavours. It is our usual covering on Rose's cakes. Our business relies on it and people know us for this combo. The comment was "tastes like a mouthful of butter". We have the wedding cake [5 tiers] to do and the in one month. They love the cake [Rose's yellow buttercake, apricot filling] but they did not like buttercream [2 flavours tried] TOO BUTTERY!! They swooned over my chocolate mouselline version. Asked for white chocolate and then said it too was "too buttery" I have tried adding top quality white chocolate in hopes that this would satisfy the bride and groom. To no avail. Now, they are asking for white chocolate cream cheese but I am afraid to use this on the yellow butter cake which will be on display out of cooler for 4hrs.[indoors, next month]. PLEASE, any ideas. This is getting down to the wire and the client is becoming very difficult to satisfy. I am thinking that they may end u