I know what you mean by that egg white taste in meringue and marshmallows, but mousseline isn’t like that, probably because of all of the fat—of which meringue or marshmallows have none.
I don’t want to make the mousseline because I don’t like anything made with egg whites - marshmallow, meringue. I am afraid it will be the texture/taste I definitely don’t want, like meringue or marshmallow. I have made meringue many times, I’, not afraid to do that at all. It’s the taste/texture thing I want to avoid.
MrsM,
Oh please do try the Mousseline. It doesn’t resemble meringue in taste or texture at all once you incorporate the butter. It is one of the “unbutteriest” buttercream (2nd IMO to Silk Meringue) I’ve ever tasted. From my experience in making it and the advice of the great bakers on this forum, the key to not getting that butter taste is to make sure to beat the butter until it is nice an light in color before adding it to the meringue. Also, add the liqueur. I don’t drink alcohol, but I add the liquer to the butter cream and it cuts any butter taste. The alcohol evaporates so none is left, only a wonderful, light & fluffy/creamy BC. I’ve added other flavorings which also helps, but for vanilla to not have the buter taste IMO you must add a liqueur.
I also am not fond of meringue. Give me whipped cream any day! But you really can’t taste the meringue in the buttercream. The only problem I’ve had is the “too buttery” one and the folks here have already given you great advice on how to avoid that.
MrsM,
The first time I tried the neo-classic buttercream, it LOOKED greasy, so I gave it a taste before I added my chocolate. Yuck! And I love buttercream! But after adding the chocolate, it was delicious. I agree with the rest that maybe you should try the mousseline. But I’d also suggest that maybe, like you originally stated, buttercream just isn’t your cup of tea. There are so many other delicious ways to eat cake, why bother trying to like something you make when you can just make something you like?
I’m a bit late to the party, but since I made my first neoclassic buttercream yesterday I thought I’d chime in. I loathe buttercream. Really. Having grown up in Germany so many homemade cakes have tons of bad buttercream on it, especially my dad’s favorite cake.
However, I tried the neoclassic yesterday and I though it was fantastic! That being said, I put A LOT of lemon zest in it, half of it into the syrup to cook it a bit. It came our fabulous. Reading over the comments I think that the zing of the lemon zest and the lemon juice probably helped it and prevented it from tasting too heavy. Now I can’t stop thinking about what I’ll bake next that involves buttercream. Ohhhh….
Will also have to try the Menringue buttercream now I guess
Silke, I’m with you, I love the neoclassic. Have you tried the version with Lyle’s syrup in RHC (pistachio cake)? Very tasty.
The last time I made the lemon neoclassic, I whipped the butter for a good ten minutes before starting the bc. The end result was paler and fluffier than the standard neoclassic, like mousse.
The silk meringue is even better than either the mousseline or the neoclassic (in my opinion).
Glad you like buttercream now Silke. Welcome to the “I-love-buttercream-fanclub” ^_^.
I’ve tried the neoclassic with the pistachio cake - though with regular corn syrup - it is too heavy for me! It’s delicious though but I still prefer the mousseline. Thanks for the tip Silke! Next time I will try the extra lemon zest and lemon juice.
The chocolate egg-white buttercream from RHC is yummy also. Have not tried the SMBC yet but will one of these days.
Now that I really think about it I probably wasn’t that far from the taste of golden syrup. I was running low on sugar, and so about half the sugar that went into the buttercream was VERY raw sugar - much darker and coarser than turbinado. A friend got it for me, and it has this super strong molasses taste - it can be a bit much if that’s all you use but it probably went well with the butter and the lemon.
I make Rose’s Mousseline buttercream as my go-to frosting for most cakes. I’ve gotten complains about it being “too buttery” also. I’ve concluded that, in general, people that are used to bakery “American” buttercreams crave a sweeter taste. As such, I’ve modified Rose’s recipe (I know this will cause a few gasps). I make it with either 25% or 33% more sugar (the additional amount divided between the meringue and the syrup), and have had excellent results. I also usually add a pinch (1/8 tsp) of salt to the egg whites while beating (although if I add salt, I stick to the 25% extra sweet, since the added salt intensifies the sweetness).
YMMV, and it may be the extra syrup affects the buttercream’s ability to hold as much liquid/liquor or fruit as indicated in the variations listed in other parts of The Cake Bible.
Ha, Dan, you’re picking up a conversation I just had! I have friends that won’t touch butter but eat heaps of unbelievably sweet sticky stuff claiming that butter is unhealthy and they have to keep a low fat diet in order to keep their weight / health / you name it. But that’s a whole other conversation.
And no, I’m not gasping at you modifying recipes After all I don’t even have white flour, so I’m modifying pretty much every of her recipes from the get go!
Perhaps the point is that while the buttercream just by itself is a bit heavy for most, it gains a lot by the flavorings one can put in?
Mousseline is like silk. I was making Martha’s IMBC, which is very good but once I tried Rose’s mousseline, no going back. I just love how light and smooth it is. My family loved it once they had it for the first time. My dad, however, likes that “crunchy” bakery/store buttercream, he likes it very sweet (gag!). I’ve had some people tell me the mousseline wasn’t sweet enough. I know it had a decent amount of sugar in it but most parents I know like it better because it’s not so awfully sweet. As for shortening, that’s just disgusting, we don’t eat that kind of icing here.
Hmmm… Scratching head…. So I just made the mousseline. Made it with almost the same flavoring as the neoclassic last week, Meyer lemon and grapefruit zest, and some lemon juice and tequila for flavoring. And yes, it’s like silk. It’s very good. But in my opinion it’s not anywhere close to the neoclassic. But that’s perhaps because I like egg yolks so much more than egg whites? It doesn’t have that deep flavor which I guess came from the egg yolks.
I’m with you there! I like the neoclassic, too, though the silk meringue is my favorite of all. I will say that different flavorings are needed for mousseline vs. neoclassic. The lemon neoclassic I like very much, it’s very fresh and lemony. But if you add the same flavorings (juice and zest) to the mousseline, it really isn’t very good. But lemon curd in mousseline is probably my favorite mousseline flavor.
