Tomorrow is my brother-in-law and nephew’s birthday. Since he LOVES coffee (my brother-in-law, not my 5-year old nephew), I figured it was a great time to break out some french coffee buttercream!
True buttercream. Like, this recipe is what the big-wig pastry chefs in France would make. The REAL DEAL. Loaded with butter and egg yolks, the way God intended. I haven’t met much icing that I did not like, but if someone says icing is often “too sweet,” then try a french buttercream. It’s more creamy than sweet!
Then, I crushed some dark chocolate coffee beans to sprinkle over each cupcake. AND, added a whole chocolate coffee bean on top! YUM!
This recipe works best with a cooking thermometer…sorry. You can try without, but the end result may be a bit different.
For the cupcakes I used the same recipe as my GF Texas Sheet Cake (minus the peanut butter powder.) I baked the cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 14-16 minutes. Oh and most party-goers said they had no idea the cupcakes were gluten free- the BEST compliment!
20-25 minutes
French Coffee Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 sticks + 3 Tbsp. butter, cubed
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 5 1/2 Tbsp. water
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 tsp. coffee syrup
Instructions
- First, measure all ingredients. Place butter in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the egg yolks into a second medium mixing bowl. Also, prepare a large bowl filled about 1/2 way with water and ice. In a small bowl, heat 1 1/2 Tbsp. of water for 20-30 seconds, until boiling. Then, stir in 3 Tbsp. of instant coffee powder. Set aside.
- Bring a medium saucepan, filled 1/4 with water to a boil. Place the bowl with the butter over the saucepan. Once about 1/4 of the butter is melted, remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until temperature reaches 117 degrees Celsius. or 242 degrees Fahrenheit. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks vigorously for 15-20 seconds. Once sugar/water reaches 117, remove from heat and place in a large bowl filled with water and ice for 10-15 seconds. .
- Whisk the egg yolks, continuously, while streaming in the sugar/water mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously until mixture becomes a thin pancake batter and the temperature reaches 25-28 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit. (This took about 8-10 minutes of mostly whisking by hand.) Bowl should be cool to the touch.
- Now, whisk the butter until smooth and creamy. Then, pour the egg yolk mixture in with the butter and whisk vigorously until smooth. Fold in 1 1/2 tsp. of the coffee syrup. Then, whisk lightly until combined. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes.
We also created a vanilla icing for the kids…
My niece helping to decorate…
5 minutes
Vanilla Icing
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1/2 c. organic shortening
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 c. powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp. light cream or milk
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and shortening until smooth, Then, beat in the vanilla and powdered sugar (mixture will appear dry.) Add cream slowly until desired consistency is reached. Store any leftovers in the fridge.