Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting


The past one week was a rough week for us.  I was totally out of the tech world, no gadgets, no fb, no blogs and no entertainment.  Me and my hubby were down with flu.  Yes you heard it right, you won't expect it around this time of the year, but we were terribly sick.  It was the worst cold I had and still recouping from the cough.  I had to rely on antibiotics for my cough.  Kids were so understanding and I cannot thank them enough for taking care of the household chores by themselves and even taking care of us in their own ways.  It was a great time for us to realize and recognize the blessings granted to us.  My SIL was kind enough to drop food for us which was a great relief.  Thanks to all the friends who called and inquired about our health.  It meant a lot to us.  We felt blessed and lucky to be around the people who cares.

Ok, now I want to come to today's post.  This is something I made before I got sick, but never got a chance to post it.  As mentioned in one of the earlier posts, I am not a big fan of buttercream frosting.  It is good to pipe and decorate, but too sweet for me.  But here is a frosting that is so fluffy and light and they are perfect for piping and decorating cakes.  You can add any flavors to it and they are glossy and shiny and not too sweet either.  Once you try this frosting, you would never ever go for another frosting.  I made these frosting a year ago to decorate a mother's day cake and since then this is my favorite frosting.  I made some cupcakes for Sunday school and frosted them with Chocolate Swiss Meringue ButterCream frosting.



Patience is the key factor in making this frosting.   You need a standing or hand electric mixture to make this frosting. The butter used should be cold. 


Please follow the step by step instructions to make the frosting.

Yields - to decorate 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
3 - large egg white
1/2 cup - sugar
1 cup or  2 sticks - cold butter cut into cubes
1 cup - good quality semi sweet dark chocolate pieces

Directions
  • Microwave the dark chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl for 40 -50 seconds or till they are completely melted.  Keep them aside to cool.
  • Take a sauce pan half filled with water and place a steel bowl over it.  Place 3 egg whites and 1/2 cup of sugar into the bowl and turn on the stove to medium flame.  Using a long spoon, stir the egg sugar mixture continuously till you don't feel any sugar crystals when rubbing the mixture between your fingers.  At this point you can notice that the egg sugar mixture is clear with light pale color.  Turn off the flame. 
  • Transfer the egg white mixture into the standing mix bowl.  Make sure that the steam from the bottom of the bowl don't get into the mixture while transferring.   Use the whipping paddle and whip till the egg whites are silky white and forms soft peaks.
  • Now add the cold butter pieces one at a time and whip till the butter is mixed well with the egg white.  This needs good 10 minutes of whipping.  My stand mixture turned off automatically after 10 minutes.  At this point you will notice that the frosting looks lumpy and soupy, you will notice little wetness in the frosting too.  Don't panic, this happens.  What you have to do is just cover the bowl with a plate and stick it into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes take the frosting out and whip for another 5 - 6 minutes.  You will start seeing the difference  the frosting will come along as a smooth fluffy frosting.  Now add the cold melted chocolate and whip for 2 -3 minutes on high till chocolate is mixed well and frosting forms sharp peaks.
  • Place the frosting into piping bags with Wilton 1 M tip and make swirls to decorate the cake.  I tried the swirls on a plate first and once they looked OK, I scooped the trial swirls on the plate and put them back into the piping bag and started decorating the cake. 
Notes:
  • If you don't want your frosting to be too chocolaty, start with 1/4 cup of melted chocolate first and add according to the desired color and taste.
  • Any left over frosting can be stored in air tight container in the refrigerator for a week.
  • The decorated cake doesn't need to be refrigerated.

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