Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Ina's Chocolate Buttercream Frosting



Ina Garten of Food Network's Barefoot Contessa is one of my favorite chefs.  I was watching her show where she prepared a 30th wedding anniversary meal for Jeffrey.  She made the most awesome little chocolate wedding cake, it was so cute!  The buttercream frosting she made included many ingredients that I have not used in a chocolate frosting, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't lose the recipe.

For the complete meal from this episode, click here.  It is all good!




Ingredients

  • 1 pound bittersweet chocolate
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 3/4 cup egg whites (4 to 5 extra-large eggs), at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 teaspoons instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1 1/2 teaspoons water
  • 3 tablespoons dark rum, optional

Directions

Chop the chocolates and place them in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat the egg whites until they are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Return the bowl to the electric mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the meringue is cool and holds a stiff peak.
Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl, add the melted chocolate, vanilla, espresso, and rum, if using, and mix for 1 minute or until the chocolate is completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool, and beat it again.

7 comments:

Kittie Howard said...

Thanks, Gina! I printed a copy. I've never seen a frosting recipe so fluid. Lots of vanilla, yes, gotta have that dark rum...and so little cream of tartar. This has got to be delicious!

Hezzi-D said...

I think Ina has the BEST frostings....her peanut butter icing is out of this world!

Gina Alfani said...

mmmmmm Peanut Butter Frosting :) I'm gonna have to look that up. I have visions of a chocolate layer cake with peanut butter frosting in the middle and chocolate frosting on the outside. Thank you Heather!

@Kittie . . . I like the ingredients too. I have noticed that she uses expresso in most of her chocolate creations. She says it adds a different dimension . . . I'm thinking that the rum in this recipe would give it an awesome dimension too.

Thanks for visiting and commenting!

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

I love Ina Garten too! I love to cook but hate to bake, but....I sooooooooooo loved looking at this and reading about it....made my mouth water!

Unknown said...

Gina--

The picture of that cake looks 3D real.

How about a Reese's Peanut Butter Cake?

Have a 'Floriday's' Weekend:>)
PLU

Gina Alfani said...

Hey Don . . . Reese's Peanut Butter Cake sounds awesome for a Floriday Weekend :-)

Cat Chat . . . I would love to go to one of Ina's dinner parties!

Thanks for visiting . . . Happy Friday :-)

OLLIE MCKAY'S ~ A Chic Boutique said...

OK ~ That looks amazing!! Please send me a piece ASAP!! :)

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