Hey guys, now that I’ve shared my big baby news with you, it’s time for some more buttercream!
By the way, thanks everyone who has taken the time to congratulate me in the comments 😀
Anyway, today I’ll be discussing German buttercream, which is deeeeeeelicious! It has a luxuriously velvety mouthfeel due to a generous amount of butter and a gorgeous, silky texture. Like I said: delicious. Or, um: deeeeeeelicious.
Just to recap, I’ve so far posted new and improved recipes for American buttercream (including a to-die-for chocolate version and a crazy peanut butter ‘n cookie version), flour buttercream (also known as ermine buttercream) and French buttercream (including a coffee version). I’ve also posted about the two different buttercream preparation methods: the beaten butter method and the cubed butter method.
But today is about German buttercream. German buttercream is also known as custard buttercream, because it’s made by adding butter to a custard base. This new and improved recipe beats the old 2013 recipe in a number of ways. First of all, back in 2013 I still used the cubed butter method to make this buttercream. Which can be finicky. Which can result in separated buttercream. Which is annoying. So naturally I tried to make this buttercream using the beaten butter method, and it totally worked. Seriously guys, I’m loving the beaten butter method more and more! It hasn’t failed me yet 😉
On top of the fact that I’ve changed the preparation method, I’ve messed around with the quantity of ingredients quite a bit. If you’ve been reading my blog since December 2013 (hi mom!), you know that my old recipe for German buttercream didn’t pipe very well. It was just a bit too soft. But I’m thrilled to announce that that has been fixed!
So let’s dive right in…
So, starting with the ingredients again, what do you need to make German buttercream? Like I said, German buttercream is made by mixing a custard base into beaten butter. This means that on top of unsalted butter, you’ll need everything to make custard: egg yolks, sugar, milk and a bit of cornstarch. I also added a bit of salt, and, because this recipe is for vanilla German buttercream, I made sure to add a splash of vanilla extract.
Those of you who like to compare my new and improved buttercream recipes to the old recipes I posted in 2013 will quickly notice that this new recipe calls for a bit more cornstarch and almost twice the amount of butter than the 2013 recipe! The extra cornstarch makes for a thicker custard base, while the added butter ensures that this new and improved German buttercream – as opposed to my old recipe – pipes just as beautifully as all the other kinds of buttercream.
Moreover, in this recipe, I use regular milk, but you could also use whole milk or half-and-half if you prefer. In fact, if you have a favorite recipe for custard, you can even use that as your custard base! I have yet to try making this buttercream with store-bought custard or pudding, but I bet even that is a real option…
And once again, this recipe, like the other buttercream recipes, calls for unsalted butter that has been softened at room temperature. So don’t forget to take the butter out of the fridge! Oh, and yes, you could of course also use salted butter, but I prefer to use unsalted because it gives me maximum control over how much salt goes into the buttercream and, consequently, the flavor of the finished buttercream.
So. On with the custard-making process.
The first thing you need to do is whisk milk and sugar together in a small saucepan. If you want to, you can flavor the milk first by infusing it with an ingredient of choice, such as fresh herbs, spices, dried fruits, tea, or toasted nuts. Or add cocoa powder to the milk to first make a chocolate custard, which you can then turn into chocolate buttercream!
Because this recipe makes vanilla buttercream, for which I used vanilla extract, there was no need for me to infuse the milk.
Anyway, once you’ve whisked the milk and sugar together in the saucepan, set the pan aside and combine egg yolks, cornstarch and a splash of the milk mixture in a medium-sized, heatproof bowl. Whisk together until foamy, like so…
In the meantime, gently heat the milk mixture over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then crank up the heat and scald the milk. Once the milk mixture has reached scalding point, carefully drizzle it into the yolk mixture in a thin stream, whisking continuously to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once you’ve combined the two, pour the resulting mixture back into the saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring or whisking continuously with a heatproof rubber spatula or a whisk, until the custard thickens and the first bubbles start to appear on the surface.
By the way, don’t worry too much about overcooking the custard. While custards that are made without cornstarch tend to separate if they’re brought to a temperature that exceeds 85°C/185°F, the cornstarch in this recipe prevents the custard from curdling.
And no, sorry. No pictures of the custard-cooking process, because I needed one hand to hold the pan, and the other to stir the custard…
Once the custard has thickened, remove the pan from the heat. Whisk or stir the custard for another minute or so to knock some of the heat out, then transfer it to a shallow dish or a plate to cool. Using your hands (be careful, the custard is hot!) press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming, then allow the custard to cool to room temperature. If you want to, you can even make the custard a day ahead and chill it in the fridge overnight.
Whatever you do, make sure the custard has cooled completely before you start adding it to softened beaten butter by the spoonful.
We all remember the beaten butter method, right? Beat softened butter, add a base (such as custard, pâte à bombe or pudding) one spoonful at a time, mixing well after each addition, until the buttercream comes together. It’s laughably easy, but it works every time!
This recipe makes about 560g of buttercream, which is about 3 cups. In my world, this means that this recipe makes enough buttercream to generously frost about 12-15 cupcakes. But that’s not all, of course. Let’s look at some more characteristics of this buttercream:
Color: pale yellow.
Texture: silky, smooth and perfect.
Piping: pipes beautifully now that I’ve adjusted the custard to butter ratio!
Level of difficulty: pretty easy. If you can make a basic custard, you can make German buttercream.
Fat content*: 46,4%
Sugar content*: 17,6%
Does it form a crust: no.
* based on nutritional information.
And just so you can all see exactly how gorgeously this German buttercream pipes…
So, where does that leave us? How does the flavor of the German buttercream compare to the American, flour, and French buttercreams? Well, to be honest, it’s getting harder and harder to say! I love all the new buttercream recipes, including this one. Having said that, this particular buttercream is a bit more buttery than the others, because there’s relatively more butter in it, which is great if you want your buttercream to have a buttery flavor. So to all the butter lovers out there, this is the buttercream for you!
Next up, a delicious caramel version of this German buttercream! So stay tuned 😉
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- 150ml (or ½ cup + 2 tablespoons) milk
- 100g (or ½ cup) granulated sugar
- 3 large egg yolks (55g, or a little over 3 tablespoons)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 350g (or 1½ cups + 2 teaspoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- table salt to taste, optional
- Combine the milk and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the yolks, cornstarch and two tablespoons of the milk mixture until the yolk mixture looks foamy and smooth.
- Place the saucepan over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, crank the heat up to medium-high and scald the milk mixture. Once the first bubbles appear, remove the pan from the heat and carefully pour the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking continuously to keep the eggs from scrambling.
- Once combined, pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Heat over low heat, whisking continuously, until the first bubbles appear and the mixture thickens considerably.
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk for another minute to knock some of the heat out. Pour the custard onto a clean plate and immediately cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly onto the custard. This keeps a skin from forming. Allow the custard to cool completely.
- Once the custard has cooled, beat the butter in a medium-sized bowl until smooth and fluffy and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Add the cooled custard, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the custard has been added, mix for another few minutes, until the buttercream looks thick, smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla (and salt to taste) and mix to incorporate.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container or a zipper bag in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to two months. To use buttercream that has either been refrigerated or frozen, first allow to come to room temperature then beat until smooth and spreadable again.
- Cakes or cupcakes decorated with buttercream generally keep up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Allow buttercream to come to room temperature before serving (for a big cake, this may take up to four hours!).
New favorite food quote:
I want to use this for a lemon Buttercream. But since I want a nice noticeable lemony flavor, can’t decide whether to treat the custard like lemon pudding where fresh lemon juice is added at the end. Or just add lemon extract with the vanilla. Or simply folding in lemon curd. Any ideas on the best approach?
Hi Tammi, sorry for the late response. You comment got a bit lost 🙂 If I were you, I’d mix in a few tablespoons of lemon curd after you’ve whipped up the buttercream. I’ve made orange buttercream that way, and it was to die for! 😉
Hi there, would like to clarify on your recipe. You mentioned 150ml but put 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoon of milk, but 1 cup of milk equals to 240ml. Just want to know whether it’s 150ml or 1 one cup milk plus two tablespoon? Thanks!!!
Hi Tricia, thanks for pointing that out to me! You should use 150ml of milk, so 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons 🙂
Have you ever tried adding a whitening food color to this, perhaps an oil-based one such as is used for white chocolate mixtures or butter mixtures? I’d be interested to know if the yellowy color can be reduced.
Hi Charlie, personally I’ve never tried a whitening food color. To be honest, I didn’t even know they existed until now 😉 So unfortunately I can’t help you with your question.
Hey! Hope u r doing well:)
Came up to this site, was looking for a less sweet version of buttercream.
Applause for all the effort u took into testing and trying these recipes.
Way to go!
I am yet to try these buttercreams, hope to do it soon!
Thanks Rose, I’m glad you like my blog!
Hi, you had mentioned that cocoa powderpowder can be added to turn it into chocolate buttercream. How much cocoa powder should be added to balance the taste?
Really enjoy reading all your buttercream reciperecipe and tips.
Hi Sofea, sorry for the late response, but your comment got a little lost 🙁
You can turn this vanilla buttercream into a chocolate buttercream by whisking about 50 grams of cocoa powder into the milk before bringing it to a boil and using it to make custard. Also, leave out the vanilla 😉
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was looking for a less sweet (easy!) version of buttercream that could hold its shape and colors. This version was not only delicious but a life saving for my daughter’s colorful petals birthday cake. It is now my “go to” recipe. Also freezes really well. I also froze a whole decorated cake and let defrost slowly in the fridge and it turn out awesome as well! Wish I could post a picture of the birthday cake!
Hi Isabela, I’m so glad you like this recipe! I’d love to see a picture of the birthday cake. Maybe you can email it to me? 😉
Nila, I loved your series comparing the different buttercreams and am so glad that I found your blog. I am thinking about doing your suggestion of using different custards or puddings as the base for German buttercream. What is the final volume of custard that your recipe makes? I have a recipe for Speculoos (cookie butter) pudding that I would like to use, but I don’t know how much of it to add to the beaten butter. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks so much.
Hi Lindell, right now, I’m not quite sure how much custard my recipe makes exactly, so I can’t tell you that, unfortunately. If I had to guess, I’d say about 250mls, or 1 cup + 2 teaspoons. Speculoos buttercream sounds sooooo good, by the way 😀
Hi there!!
I love German Buttercream too! Any idea if I add milk to thin the mixture out after mixing the butter and custard, will it split?
Hi Sheryl, great question! The buttercream will definitely split if you add too much liquid to it. If you want a thinner buttercream, consider using a little less butter.
Have you ever added gel food color to your German buttercream? Does the yellowish color of the buttercream affect the color?
Hi Vanna, the fact that German buttercream is a bit yellow definitely affects how the colors turn out. If you add blue food coloring, the buttercream might become a bit greenish, for example. But I know that, in the hair color industry, purple coloring is used to make blond hair white, so maybe if you add a bit of purple as well, you’ll neutralize the yellow? Just an idea, though. I’m not sure whether it will actually work 😉
Perhaps I did something wrong. This turned out very light but grainy, not smooth at all, and we beat it per directions. And it was oddly tasteless except for butter. I think we will try another buttercream next time.
Hi Kirsten, I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work for you. Did the custard turn out all right? Because if the custard was slightly separated, the buttercream won’t come together…
Would love to try this for macarons this week, do you know how this buttercream freezes?
Hi Angela, sorry to get back to you only now. I’ve been busy with my baby 🙂 German buttercream freezes really well though!
Should the custard be cooled via room temp or in the fridge? If In the fridge should it be brought to room temp prior to adding to the butter?
Hi Tiffany, you may cool the custard any way you like. In winter, I usually place it ouside on my balcony to cool. Chilled custard doesn’t need to be brought to room temperature before you add it to the beaten butter.
Hello there! Just came across your blog today and I have to tell you- I absolutely LOOVE it! I love your style of writing, you seem just so down to earth and just plain darn likeable! Your enthusiasm and passion for cooking and eating just shines through it all. I can’t wait to try some of your butter creams, particularly the German and Swiss varieties, though they seem quite different from one another. Regarding the cooling of the custard for the German B.C… Do you think if I chose not to cover the custard while it cooled, (I’m really neurotic about plastic/ chemicals), that the skin that forms would impede the blending process much? Alternatively, if I covered the custard with aluminum foil do you think that this would cause some sort of chemical reaction to occur or other flavor change that would negatively affect the end buttercream?
Hi Abbey, thank you so much for commenting! And for calling me ‘likeable’. Which I totally am, of course 😉
About your question, I have never tried covering the custard with aluminum foil, because it’s a bit more difficult to press against custard in a bowl, but you could definitely try it! You could also try using baking parchment. Also, I’ve heard that, in the past, when plastic wrap didn’t exist yet, bakers used to sprinkle sugar over the top to keep a skin from forming, although that would obviously affect the taste of the custard. I’d try playing around with these methods, to find a method that works best for you.
Please let me know how the buttercreams turn out! 🙂
Hi there! Thank you for the blog and recipe – I love how clear all your steps are!! I often find, with recipes that are a touch more esoteric for Americans, that I can’t allows follow along, but this makes great sense!! 🙂
Question about flavoring – I know you said you could use cocoa powder to make a chocolate buttercream. How would you go about doing that/how much cocoa powder would you use? I want to make this for a retirement cake this weekend (I think it would appeal most to the widest variety of guests), but I was hoping to do it as a chocolate German buttercream. Any guidance you could offer would be awesome! Thank you again!!
Hey Casey, have you made the cake already? I only just got round to replying to comments 🙁 About your question: do you have a favorite chocolate pudding recipe? Because you can use that to make chocolate German buttercream. Just add spoonfuls of the chilled pudding to beaten butter. If you don’t have a favorite chocolate pudding recipe, make the custard following my recipe. Place two ounces of chopped semisweet chocolate in a bowl, and pour the hot custard over the top. Stir in the chocolate until it’s incorporated, then place plastic wrap against the surface to keep a skin from forming as it cools. Chill the pudding in the fridge before adding it to beaten butter to make buttercream. You can also add a few teaspoons of cocoa powder to the milk before making the custard! Happy baking 😉
Hi! Can you add food coloring to this buttercream for piping borders, flowers, etc? And is it stable enough to keep its shape? Thank you so much!
Hi Fabian, you can definitely add gel food coloring to this buttercream, although the color may come out a bit different, because the buttercream is naturally pale yellow. I don’t recommend this buttercream for piping flowers. Borders are fine, and it’s stable enough to hold its shape 🙂
Is it possible to over whip this? I made it once before but added the butter to soon, but I kept it and used it as a custard over berries. The second time, I used a hand mixer when I was whipping it and now it taste fine but it reminds be of sweet butter whip cream kinda thing. Did I over whip?
Hi Maria, it’s not really possible to over-whip it, it would just become fluffier. Maybe the extreme fluffiness reminded you of whipped cream?
This is similar to what I grew up with (with a German mama). She, and now I, use Dr Oetker brand vanilla pudding mix (the kind you cook) for a shortcut on the custard, and it works fantastically well. We make it with a little less milk than the recipe calls for. Other brands don’t blend as well, and tend to separate.
The other difference is that we add some sifted icing sugar to the buttercream once the butter and pudding are well mixed, a bit at a time. This gives it a bit more sweetness, but also thickens it a bit for piping. Adding cocoa powder and crushed instant coffee make it a mocha marvel, my very favorite.
Hi Cori, the mocha version sounds delicious! And I think using pudding mix is a great idea. Thank you so much for sharing your tips 😀
hello my name is rochell, I have a question that is in need of a urgent response, I think well I’m really sure I put too much milk in the sugar, I finish all the steps and decided to make more and that’s when I notice that I might have added to much milk. I need a lot for the cake that I made for sunday. so how can I fix it when I add it to the butter cream? cause I need it to be firm very firm. june 25,2016
Hi Rochell, sorry for the late response. I don’t always have time to check the comments. How did the buttercream turn out? Was it firm enough?
Please help me! I do this 3 times and always my custard smells like scrumbled eggs and there are lumps – i whisking continuously , i don’t know what i do wrong. Sorry for my english but im from other country and my english is very pour.
If the custard smells like scrambled eggs and is lumpy, the eggs have curdled. Try cooking the custard over lower heat, maybe even a water bath: place a heatproof bowl with the custard mixture over a pan of simmering water. The water shouldn’t touch the bowl. This method takes a bit longer, but the mixture is less likely to split. Hope this helps 😉
I love the texture and flavor of this buttercream, and that it isn’t too sweet. Do you have a chocolate version of this recipe? Thanks so much!
Working on it Laura! I have been experimenting with the difference between using cocoa powder and melted chocolate and haven’t decided on which method is best yet 😉
Hello! Amazing blog! You definitely have a knack for writing as well as baking! I was wondering if you have ever tried this with half butter and half vegetable shortening please? Thank you in advance. ????
Hi Tammi, thank you so much for your sweet words! ???? I’ve never tried making German buttercream with shortening. I don’t use shortening very often, but I’m pretty sure you can do it. It will affect the flavor, though, so keep that in mind!
I made the butter cream and I followed the recipe and it looked gorgeous! Then I put it in the refrigerator for 2 days. When I went to frost the cake, 2 days later, and let the buttercream warm to room temperature, it lost the silky texture and became somewhat grainy, and the butter kept melting out. What did I do wrong??? It looked perfect the day I made it–now it is a sloppy mess 🙁
I did use a mixer to try and recombine it, but it didn’t help at all.
Hi Linda, you must have felt so frustrated 🙁 I’ll see if I can come up with a fix! I think it has something to do with the temperature of the buttercream. Was the buttercream cold or at room temperature when you beat it?
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe. I have tried it and it turned out well.
I’m glad you like the recipe Annie! 🙂
Hi
Love lovw your buttercreams jut made a lemon german buttercrem i added a couple of spoonsful if my lemon curd to finished buttercream was stunning
Sounds delicious! Did you use homemade lemon curd? 🙂
Hi Nila
You are so right, this is the best buttercream. It was so delicious and sturdy and not too sweet. Actually I made your Swiss Meringue Buttercream with the egg whites and the German with the egg yolks and was going to put each on a different cupcake but my Swiss Meringue was just a bit on the runny side and it wouldn’t firm up for me enough to not be worried it would slide its way down and off the cupcakes — so what I would up doing was mixing the Swiss and the German together and that turned into something just amazing.
Thank you so much for your Buttercream Battles. Amazing work.
That’s such a great idea Shawn! I HAVE to try it! It sounds absolutely delicious. What shall I call it on the blog. though? Swerman buttercream? 😉
Hello!
My husband’s grandmother used to make a yellow cake with mixed berry preserves and what I think is THIS-type recipe. It’s his favorite. He only used to get it for super special occasions (like his HS graduation). He loves it so much he wanted it for our wedding cake (which his grandmother made for us with the help of his mother). I asked for the recipe because the cake is now our anniversary cake and all she told me jello pudding, milk, butter, sugar, cling wrap and prayers (HAHA). It took me a while to find your recipe and I am very glad I did! She is from Germany so this helps so much! It’s the only recipe I have found that follows her example (no whipping cream, butter, cling wrap). Thank you so much!
Hello! Found your post through Pinterest – any suggestions on how to flavor this frosting to be Blueberry? Do I need to make a blueberry custard? If so, any ideas on how to do that? 🙂
Thanks!
You can fold in a few tablespoons of blueberry preserves to make this a blueberry buttercream, Olga 🙂