1 day Ago By Ellen Jenne
Baking expert Jane Dunn, more commonly known to those on social media as the brains behind the baking blog Jane's Patisserie, has shared an innovative way to make sure your buttercream stands out. While many enjoy dyeing their buttercream in all sorts of bright colours, getting rich, deep and dark colours can be a challenge. Black buttercream, for instance, if not done correctly can come out a lacklustre shade of grey.
So to help put your buttercream woes to bed, Jane explained just how you can whip up striking black buttercream recipe that will ‘deepen’ over time. In a recent YouTube tutorial, Jane recommended using your trusty microwave to achieve jet black buttercream. She explained that the ‘ microwave method’ is used to help deepen the colours of buttercream, which can be used for a wide variety of colours, not just black.
Jane explained that using a chocolate base for black buttercream will make it easier to achieve, but that it can be achieved for a vanilla frosting, too. She said: “The theory behind this is heating the part of the frosting, all of the frosting, helps fuel the colour processing time.” The idea is that when the colour is heated, the darker it will go as time goes on.
Although the buttercream may appear grey at first, heating a smaller part of the frosting will turn it jet black. Jane advised making this type of buttercream a day or two in advance, so it’s as jet black as possible when it comes to decorating. She said: “The longer you leave it, the better the colour will be.
” It’s always worth noting how much food colouring to use per weight of buttercream. For Jane’s recipe , she uses three grams. She explained that you need to be careful when beating the buttercream, as the more you mix, the lighter the colour will be.
Don’t be alarmed if the frosting splits in the microwave - trust the process. By heating the frosting in short intervals, the colour will begin to darken. It may become split, but Jane advised stirring it with a spatula to achieve a glossy finish.
You can repeat this process until you’ve achieved the desired shade. Jane explained one of her top tips, saying: “The longer you leave something like this, the warmer, the deeper everything will get, like I said at the beginning.” The baker recommended leaving the buttercream in the fridge overnight to achieve the desired texture.
Don’t worry if the texture isn’t exactly as you’d expect, it should appear smooth once decorated. Ingredients 250g unsalted block butter, cubed at room temperature 500g icing sugar 1-2 tsp vanilla extract Strong black food colouring Method Beat the butter in a stand mixer until light and smooth. Add in a tablespoon at a time of the icing sugar, before following with the vanilla extract.
The buttercream should be pale and smooth. Using a teaspoon, measure out around three grams of black food colouring, before adding to the bowl and mixing. Beat the mixture and scrape down the sides until the colour is incorporated fully.
The buttercream will look slightly grey at this point. Place around a third of the frosting into a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 20 second bursts.
Give the heated buttercream a stir - you’ll notice the colour becoming darker already. Add the heated buttercream back into the bowl and mix as little as possible until combined. Repeat the previous two steps if needed to achieve the desired shade of black.
Leave in the fridge to firm up overnight. You will need to mix it once firm, but be careful not to over mix. If the texture is slightly off, Jane advised adding a splash of boiling water to even it out.
Once the buttercream is prepared, get ready to decorate your cake..
