Valerie, once more, I don’t hold a food safety certification.  I know for sure that the temperature which the egg whites are heated from the hot sugar IS NOT hot enough to kill salmonella, that I know for a fact, you can google it.

Regarding using egg white product, like oology, it will work to make the mousseline.  It is suppose to be salmonella free since repeatedly tested at the factory as required by their law.  But I don’t think this egg white product is any safer than using your own cracked eggs, because it is just a matter of statistics in the numbers.  The egg white product can still carry salmonella, I don’t think they test every single batch of product, plus the product travels so far and it is handled so many times, that it is how usually Miss Salmonella catches the ride.  Your own cracked eggs goes thru far less hands/handling, less changes, in the numbers, too.

Mousseline is no longer egg.  The whites are no longer whites.  They are chemically (heated with sugar) and physically (whipping) something else.  Plus the butter emulsification.  Sugar is a natural preservative, I am speculating that salmonella will grow in Mousseline; butter has a similar effect.

I know for sure, you are not eating eggs, you are eating Mousseline!

In my heart, I believe that eating shortening is worse for your health than eating raw egg!  So please, let’s lobby in favor on keeping egg in buttercream (and butter, too).

I used to be able to find whole (in the shell) Pasteurized eggs when I lived in MN.  I haven’t seen them for quite a while, but I know they’re out there somewhere. 

Personally, I think the salmonella risk has been grossly over stated.  If you do a google search you can find supposed ways to pasteurize eggs at home, but I’ve never tried it.

Patrincia, agreed, and the key now is to find out how fast (if any) salmonella grows in a egg preparation full of sugar, butter, and where the egg has been whipped/heated!

Hey everyone,

I’ll be posting the buttercream recipe I mentioned under another heading: Foolproof chocolate frosting (Cook’s Illustrated).

Roxanne

Hi Everyone!

Let me just add AMEN to the discussion!

The entire basis for my cake business are Rose’s buttercreams! I never liked cake until I made my first classic buttercream recipe. What a revelation! The first thing we tell customers is about our all natural products and melting point on the tongue and so on. Then if they balk at the price compared to say..C@stc@ we point out that the only natural ingredient in those cakes is flour! IN fact, the store recently sold a chocolate banana cake that had NO chocolate OR banana in it!

We are becoming known as the makers of cakes that are “good for you” and I just have to laugh when I hear it because obviously someone is hearing our message.

HECTOR—I feel the same way about those cupcakes from a very popular bakery here in california. I think the best thing about them is the box! and honestly I think that’s what EVERYONE likes about them! THere’s a certain cache that comes from walking down Rodeo drive with one in your arms!

VALERIE- I’m doing a big “taste” event next week and worried about the problem of unpasteurized eggs being outside all day. I just tried making Rose’s mousseline buttercream with the pasteurized egg product. The results were interesting and I think I’ll try more experiementing.
First: the whites needed to be beaten for a significantly longer time to achieve a meringue say about 7 minutes. the result was a less airy meringue. I also added another 1/2 tsp of tartar. After I added the butter the frosting came together well, it was much more dense than usual but the biggest difference was that it wasn’t very sweet. As though there was no sugar in it at all. Some of the problem was resolved by adding more vanilla, but if you want it to be white, then that won’t work. So, back to the drawing board. Perhaps removing the extra cream of tartar and adding powdered sugar will make the difference. I need to keep experimenting.

jen

*edit*

i won’t be using this method for my event. instead i plan to pour my hot sugar over more of the meringue surface area to be sure it all heats up!

jen

Hi-

I’ve made an Italian Meringue with the pasteurized whites from Eggology, Just Whites, I think. It works beautifully. I haven’t tried it in buttercream due to a mental block that the whites are for low fat baking, and whole eggs are for the real thing, but it’s an interesting idea.

Roxanne- Yes, yes, please share the vanilla version, if you’re willing.

Cathy

Do you all use Rose’s buttercreams for underneath fondant?  I’ll have to try to find it, but I thought I saw her mention that the only time she uses the powdered-sugar/Crisco-type “buttercream” is when she is covering with fondant.  I’m supposing it is b/c that type gives a stickier surface for the fondant to adhere to.

Unfortunately, I still have a lot of people who prefer the Crisco/ps type buttercream, and think the European (even MB) tastes too buttery.  Then others rave about MB.  Yikes!  It is hard to please everyone!