Italian Buttercream Frosting

Photo: flickr user carabou

Ingredients

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup egg whites

pinch of salt

1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Mix sugar and water and heat until it reaches 238 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whip egg whites and salt until they hold stiff peaks.

Pour hot sugar into egg whites while beating.

Whip until cool.

Add butter in small cubes, allowing to fully incorporate before adding another cube (or two.)

Add vanilla.

Whip until frosting comes together.

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About

DO NOT OVERBEAT THE EGG WHITES! Whip until they just reach the stiff peak stage- if overbeaten, they will get dry and won't hold as much air. To save overbeaten egg whites, add another egg white and beat.
It's best to use a stand-alone electric mixer, so that the sugar syrup can be poured in between the bowl and the beater and be evenly incorporated.
The egg white and sugar mixture can continue to be beaten until cool (room temperature) without worrying about overbeating the egg whites.
If the frosting looks like cottage cheese for a while, keep beating and adding butter. It usually looks like that for a while.
If the frosting is soupy once all the butter has been added, put it in the refrigerator until cooled and whip again.
Instead of vanilla extract, other flavorings can be added. For example, orange extract and orange zest can be added to make orange buttercream.
Refrigerating the buttercream is not necessary, but recommended. It keeps for approximately four days.
Bring the buttercream to room temperature before rewhipping or it will separate. If it does separate, just continue beating, it will come back together after around five minutes.