Old Fashioned Butter Cream

Butter Cream has changed quite a bit over the years. Traditionally it was an egg syrup and butter mixture, which we will talk about another time. This is a simple, classic, not too sweet, butter cream. Don't get out the powdered sugar and butter though, oh no we are going to do this right, and from scratch! I promise it will be amazing and there are a few things you can do the day before you need it.

The first thing you need is butter. When making a butter cream, I prefer to make it fresh.
Butter
1 pint heavy whipping cream
electric mixer
strainer
bowl of cold water
mason jar

Pour the whipping cream in to your mixer. Using the whisk attachment beat on high for a few minutes, until you have a thick whipped cream.
Next put the splash guard on your mixer and change to the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer back on high until butter milk starts to splash out the sides, then turn the speed down and continue to mix.
Place the strainer over your mason jar (or any air tight container)
Once you get a sloppy mess going, strain the butter milk out of the bowl. Return bowl to mixer and continue to beat until you get one lump of butter. It should be about 2 cups.

Rinse and squeeze butter in cold water until water runs clear. Wrap butter in wax paper if you are not using it promptly and leave it out until you are ready to use it for your frosting. (butter doesn't need to be refrigerated, but if you do, let it return to room temperature before using it for frosting.)






Simple Syrup
2 1/2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup white corn syrup
1 1/4 cups water

Place all ingredients in a large sauce pan. On low heat, stir until the sugar is combined. Once the syrup is clear, place lid on the pan for 5 minutes. The steam will dissolve the sugar on the sides. Remove lid, raise heat and boil without stirring for 5 minutes. Let cool completely and pour in to jars to store. This can be stored for quite some time. If crystals appear on the bottom of the jar (rock candy) it simply means the sugar was not fully dissolved. If this happens, enjoy your rock candy and pretend you meant to do it.














Now comes the easy part. Simply beat your butter in your mixer with the whisk attachment until soft and fluffy. Gradually add in 2/3 cups of your syrup and continue to beat until it's cohesive and creamy.
This should yield about 2 cups of very light, not too sweet butter cream.

If you really want to skip a step you can use 2 cups of already made, store bought butter. This is now my go to butter cream and I plan to always have a jar of simple syrup on hand.
Enjoy.