The ultimate buttercream comparison (I tested 8 kinds)

For german buttercream I use instant pudding mix, learned this working in a german bakery. It's really quick and easy because you don't need eggs, no cooking nor waiting for the custard to cool and it still tastes great! Tip: use less milk than what's stated in the instructions to get a more stable buttercream. I usually reduce a quarter, sometimes by half when it has to stay out for a long time or in hot weather Recipe if your pudding mix calls for 500ml milk: 2 packages of instant vanilla pudding about 90 - 120g (already sweetened), 1L milk, 300g - 500g butter (the amount is really up to you how buttery you like it)

Only ppl who truly love baking would understand & appreciate the GENIUS creation that is your buttercream chart. So brilliant and helpful 🤗

I do my ermine a bit differently than how you did it, and it's my go-to! Super stable, fluffy and light. (And smooths on cakes great!) Mix the milk (120g), flour (20g), and sugar (75g — can be adjusted for sweetness) in the saucepan, heat on med-hi, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken. Turn the heat to med-low and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute. Mix in vanilla or flavoring. Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely. Whip 2 sticks (226g) butter until light and fluffy, then add in paste a spoonful at a time. Whip to heart's content. If you get any big air bubbles (I usually get minimal), take a spatula and run it through to mix, pressing the spatula down to get out any bubbles.

Oh how i love you. This is way more info than I picked up in food science college classes. I have been contemplating doing a weeks worth of frosting testing that you just did for me, and more. THANK YOU. I am providing 200 cupcakes & a cake for a friend’s wedding next year. The problem is, i’ve only ever made American BC & a “mock” SMBC (whip up a box of pasteurized egg whites — see Bake My Day Mimo). I have used the Italian meringue method for macarons before & loved it, so I’ve been wanting to try that method for frosting. Speaking of which, have you ever tried Italian vs French macarons? Do you have a preference? 😊

Would you consider doing a similar study with margarine or other non-dairy fats? I'm guessing margarines vary in water content which could be a real challenge. I especially enjoyed the stability/cake sauna test. That seems to be the cake-iest season for me.

FYI you absolutely can do a cream cheese ermine. I did it for a 10in tall wedding cake and it was incredibly stable and survived a summer wedding (at least 1-2hrs in the sun). It does have the issue of smoothing due to the gel like texture like you mentioned in your video but if you do a rustic cake you can get away with the texture not being perfectly smooth. Because of the stability, I was able to add more lemon juice and cream cheese to the recipe than your Cream Cheese Buttercream recipe and it had a much more satisfying cream cheese flavor (similar to American Cream Cheese frosting) while maintaining stability.

This is the comparison I've been looking for everywhere thank you so much!!! As a side note from a German gal: We usually make our Buttercreme with vanilla pudding mix that we cook with half the amount of milk as stated on the package :) Makes the process a whole lot easier, though I admit it could be tastier to do it from scratch

You can use Richmann's law to work out the final temp of the meringue. Assuming 4 egg whites of 40g each, 260g sugar, and room temp of 20C, the final temp will be around 54C or 129F.

That the starch based emulsion resisted temp and humidity longer makes sense - even if the butter begins to break, the starch holds the separating fat and water in emulsion, and the ermine's low sugar makes it the least hydroscopic. Wonderful video!

As a casual home baker and prior to this video, I was not aware of all these different buttercreams! This was so informative and fun to watch, thank you!

Italian meringue buttercream is my go to for cakes when I’m in Florida. That southern humidity and heat hasn’t melted a cake yet!

You are the first person on YT I’ve seen who uses whole eggs for French! I learned this from a pastry chef local to my area, but every time I suggest doing this to others, I always get “that’s not French buttercream” lol. My question is: how much can you push the lower boundary for sugar in these buttercreams? Would love a video on this, since you seem to also prefer not-so-sweet ones :)

Please do a comparison of cake fillings: custard, mouse, pastry cream, cremeaux, etc. comparing taste and when to use each in layer cakes. Thanks for the informative videos

In my country (in Latin America tropical climate) lots of cakes are frosted in Italian meringue as a standard, I believe the resistance to humidity and heat are a factor.

Thanks for the video. It’s always helpful to have an overview over all possible options. :) One amazing thing I want to mention about German buttercream is that you can make ones with amaaaazing punchy flavours by just swapping the pastry cream for a pudding of any flavour you like. I once made a raspberry pudding using raspberry purée instead of milk and used that instead and it was incredible. So full of real fruit flavour. Since it’s cooked/stabilised it doesn’t change the texture whatsoever and you can also adjust the amount of sugar you use because it’s structural integrity doesn’t rely on it. ☺️

I love the lateral thinking of "I could use a terrarium as a controlled test environment!"... Also: informative and accessible video that's quite helpful. Thank you.

Here in Germany we don't make custard cream, because in our supermarkets their are instant "Pudding by dr. Oetker" - packets. So it's really ezy :)

So what about mouth texture? Sometimes I eat a cake with a buttercream and it feels like there’s a film coating my tongue and roof of my mouth. I tend to prefer whipped cream frosting since they are less sweet, but your ermine buttercream sounds like something I’ll definitely attempt. 🎉😊

german buttercream is so underrated, especially the home hack ver. with instant pudding mix. it's subtle, creamy, and holds very well due to the modified starches

You have no idea how happy this makes me. Especially the family tree and the diagram.