The Role of Buttercream Frosting

• Frosting plays an important role in cake decorating, for both home and professional bakers. There are many ways to cover a cake, but conventional buttercream frosting is the most versatile. The fat in the icing provides a seal over the cake, keeping out the air and protecting from staling in the same way a tight plastic wrapping would. The frosting also adds flavor and richness to the cake, and also provides lubrication for the diner's mouth. Buttercream also provides an attractive surface, can be tinted a number of colors, and can be piped to provide decorative accents.

Making Buttercream Frosting

• Buttercream frosting combines sugar and butter in a number of ways, and adds vanilla or other flavorings as needed to match the cake. The simplest version creams butter together with confectioner's sugar, making a frosting that is light from the air creamed into the butter. Lighter versions whip egg whites into a foamy, sweet meringue and then whip in softened butter once the meringue is stable. In either case, the frosting must be applied when it is soft enough to spread easily and adhere to the cake, yet firm enough to hold its shape.

Unsalted Butter

• Almost every recipe calls for frosting to be made with unsalted butter. Unsalted butter has a clean, neutral creamy flavor, which is an excellent complement to most varieties of cake. Its neutrality ensures that any added flavors will be as pure as possible, putting the baker in control of the end product. Pure butter has the added advantage of melting at body temperature, which means doesn't leave a greasy-feeling film in the mouth, as shortening does.

Salted Butter

• Most Americans keep salted butter in the house for table use, and at times only salted butter might be available to make frosting with. The end result will still be very palatable, though there are a few considerations to bear in mind. If the recipe calls for salt at any stage except whipping the egg whites, leave it out. If possible, use the resulting buttercream on cakes with a distinct flavor of their own, like chocolate cake or fruitcake. This will help mask the salt. So will a small amount of lemon juice added to the icing.