Hello All,

I’m new to this site.  I am making cupcakes for a child’s birthday.  They have requested chocolate icing.  The only one I’ve ever made are the classic and neo-classic buttercream and variations. 

For one day I want to make chocolate.  For another, I plan to possibly made vanilla and tint it orange, and maybe some other colors for decorating a Halloween theme. 

My first question is, will the neo-classic hold it’s shape at room temperature?  We will be in a swimming pool and I wouldn’t want it to drip over the sides.

Next question is, can the neo-classic be tinted colors and will the icing bleed out or separate?  Most recipes I see for this kind of thing involve a bag of icing sugar and butter - too sweet.  Or they involve shortening, which is a path I won’t go down.

If the neo-classic won’t work, which buttercream would you recommend for this application?

Thanks so much.

Welcome! The neoclassic should hold up reasonably well, if it is just an hour or two at normal room temperature (around 70). 

However, the buttercream with the best temperature resistance is the mousseline.  You could make a double batch, then flavor half with vanilla and orange paste food coloring for your halloween cupcakes, and flavor the other half with chocolate for your birthday cupcakes. 

With the mousseline, you will have to consider whether to use the liqueur called for in the recipe.  It doesn’t result in a boozy taste and gives a supercreamy texture with complex flavor, but if you don’t want to put any in kids’ frosting, I believe there are a number on this site who leave it out and it still works.

As for tinting, I think it depends on how much color you will add.  If you’re considering a pale orange, there shouldn’t be any problem.  For intense orange, something like paste probably works better than drops/liquid. 

Good Luck!

you might need to break a leg and try the mousseline which would hold at near 90oF weather.  Or any other Italian meringue based buttercream, like the silk meringue.

the neoclassic will to about 70oF, If you need to display the cupcakes for a few hours, I would refrigerate them overnight but allow about 1 hour at room temp prior anyone eating them, you don’t want them solid butter stick.

Happy Hallowen, glad you are using the real stuff!

I’ve been reading this site a bit.  Should I go the route of the powdered egg whites or are most people ok with their kids eating icing made with the real thing?  I’m ok with it, but I wonder about other people.  And I wonder if it’s going to make the recipe more complicated?

the recipe IS by all means more complicated, but I wouldn’t trade it off for any reason:  it is superb frosting.

I use the real thing for everyone, just don’t cross contaminate.

Hi,  I didn’t mean the recipe was more complicated.  I was thinking that substituing egg white powder for egg whites might be more complicated!  So I’ll do it only if it’s absolutely necessary.

HI BAL

When I make frosting I always make my chocolate with classic buttercream. The yolks make it richer AND you don’t have to worry about the yellow color of the yolks. Then i use my whites for mousseline and use that for colored frostings.

The sugar should bring the eggs up to temp for killing bacteria, but if you are really concerned, gently heat the yolks over a water bath, stirring constantly until it reaches 165. Then make your classic as usual.
If the eggs clump, it means they have cooked and you’ll have to start again.

jen

Welcome breakaleg! I am a mousseline fan and I always use the pasteurized egg whites. Good luck!!!!

My next question is, can the Mousseline be made without the liqueur?  Of is there something non-alcoholic I could substitute?  This is for a party for 10 year olds and I suspect that they’ll hate the taste of anything with alcohol regardless of the obvious desire not to serve it to kids.

Actually the alcohol dissipates after awhile as it evaporates. However, if you still don’t feel comfortable using it by all means use vanilla. Two tsp of vanilla should suffice. Hope this helps.

I never put any alcohol in my mousseline and it always holds up very well (even in temps into the 90’s) so it can be done. But the alcohol dissipates anyway (if you make it in advance) and if you don’t put the full amount maybe the kids won’t be able to detect it. Its supposed to help get a super creamy and smooth texture

It’s done.  I made the Mousseline version adding 1 TB of vanilla and semi-sweet chocolate (that’s what I had and I figured kids would prefer it anyway).  It’s delicious!  And the color is a pale chocolate, which will work well for what I want.

thanks everyone.

I omit the alcohol and add vanilla to taste all the time - everyone comments on how delicious it is.

I know this is an old thread, but the vanilla extract bottle I looked at was 35% alcohol, or 70 proof.

Fran