Hi.  I made the neoclassic buttercream but did not let sugar get hot enough or something and now have
buttercream pudding instead of frosting.  I made enough for the 150 person cake so I’d like to try to fix
it.  Anyone know how?  Need to know asap.

Wow, you read my mind~ I was going to post something about this today since I had problems with a large batch of the mousseline (for 150 in the wedding cakes chapter) this weekend.

My advice is to scrap it and start from scratch.

I had a soupy batch of buttercream (my only guess is that the eggs weren’t cool enough) flavored with lemon curd that I tried to save (and ended up using to crumb coat the cake) but I should have just bit the bullet and thrown it away immediately.

If it doesn’t set up properlly to begin with, I would set it aside and start a new batch. I made two smaller batches of mousseline that I made after my precious* first batch remained soupy and they both turned out perfectly.

Don’t do what I did ~ try to salvage the buttercream ~ just start again. The crumb coat (which was the soupy mousseline) started to weep through the outer perfect frosting and created not only a marbled appearance but was far too tempermental to sit outside for hours. I ended up needing to chill it at the reception site and hang around to serve the finieshed cake at the weeding.

That was nervewracking and I wish I had just thrown the first batch away! Believe me, I know how painful it can be to throw away all those ingredients. 

*Precious and painful because I had made the lemon curd from scratch to flavor it!!!!

Thanks for the advice.  I’m sure you’re right.  This is for my 60th birthday party.
I might as well go the route of least resistance.    Frankly, though, I’m finding Beranbaum’s
recipes are too convoluted.  Back to tried-and-true Martha Stewart.

neoclassic buttercream is as simple a recipe as it gets. perhaps the room or the mixture were too warm I would try cooling it in the refrigerator and rebeating before you toss it.

as far as martha stewart goes, buttercream recipes are fairly close to rose’s as the both use the cooked sugar method.

for a more certain result, use a cookie thermometer and try the classic buttercream recipe. i make it 5 times a week and the only time i’ve had a problem is when it’s just too warm.

jen

5 times a week!  Aha, an expert! 
It was warm but I think the sugar was not hot enough—even though it was really bubbling.
Not sure if the bubbles were ‘big’ enough. 
Do you think I can add some additional cooked sugar to it?  Refrigerating and rebeating didn’t
work.  Or how about adding a little powered sugar?

lollyz - 13 July 2008 10:53 PM

5 times a week!  Aha, an expert! 
It was warm but I think the sugar was not hot enough—even though it was really bubbling.
Not sure if the bubbles were ‘big’ enough. 
Do you think I can add some additional cooked sugar to it?  Refrigerating and rebeating didn’t
work.  Or how about adding a little powered sugar?

Lollyz - You shouldn’t have to worry about the temp of the sugar/corn syrup when making the Neoclassic BC… in this particular recipe, the mixture will come to a full boil at exactly 238F (as Rose points out in the recipe’s introduction).  Are you sure you used the correct quantity for all the ingredients?  How long had your butter been sitting at room temperature?

A few hours.  Do you think I can fix it by adding powdered sugar?

Before I’d add powdered sugar, I’d see if it was beyond repair as is.  It’s possible your butter was too soft - if that was the case, you should still be able to get the NBC to work.  What has happened to the NBC since you made it?  Is it in chilling in the fridge?  Is it sitting out on the counter?

I really appreciate your advice here, so thanks.
I suspect my butter could have been too soft in the first place, but the recipe said room temp,softened.
Some is in the refrigerator.  Some I put in the freezer since I didn’t know what
to do with it.  I had refrigerated and rebeat it before to try it on a cake, but it remained way too soft.
Like pudding.

You can tell if the butter has softened too much or is too warm if it starts to look separated or greasy.  Ideally, the softened butter should still have the appearance of a cold stick of butter, but will be soft enough to easily squish with your finger.  The butter can also melt if you add it to the bc mixture before it’s had a chance to cool completely.  If either of those scenarios were the cause of your pudding like results, you should be able to rewhip to the proper consistancy once the mixture is at room temperature.  If that doesn’t help, you must not have let the sugar/corn syrup come to a full boil, or you measured your ingredients incorrectly.  Don’t give up - it’s a very tasty bc.  Definitely worth trying again. 

Hector recently mentioned something about melting Mousseline BC down to use as a dessert sauce - maybe you could use your failed batch of Neoclassic that way too.

if chilling the buttercream doesn’t bring it together then the only other conclusion i can make is that you didn’t use enough butter? is that possible? adding enough powdered sugar to make it firm will probably result in a too sweet too stiff grainy frosting.

at this point you’ve probably beaten it a lot, but did you beat it on the highest speed? when it’s warm in my kitchen i need to beat at very high speed to get the frosting solidified. perhaps you can take a small amount a really hit it with the mixer.

i wouldn’t add any more ingredients if you are sure you followed the recipe exactly. i would make another batch and this time start with a single batch of the classic buttercream using a candy thermometer.

good luck, jen

Heat some egg yolks to 160. Let cool then add them to the cooled buttercream and beat it like mad!

My experience with the Neoclassic buttercream is that if the yolks are not beaten enough, the resulting buttercream is thin.  I start beating the yolks as soon as I put the sugar and corn syrup on the stove.

I use pasteurized yolks.