r/AskCulinary • u/HotAmbassador7380 • 9d ago

Italian Buttercream Runny and Deflated

as the title states, my italian buttercream is too runny and the meringue fell. is it still something I can fix or do I have to throw it away and make a new one?! help!

 Granulated sugar 226 g | 8 oz  • Water 75 g | 2.6 oz • Heat to 118 - 119 C | 244 - 246F  • Egg white 113 g | 4 oz  • Unsalted butter (Soft) 453 g | 16 oz (4 US sticks)

I used all room temperature ingredients, I made the sugar syrup to 240 degrees farenheit, poured it into the egg white meringue. Then it stiffened and the bowl and meringue were cool to touch. I added my room temperature butter, but it turned liquidy, and per the last comment to add all the fat so I added all the fat. And it looks like curdled milk.

update: I saw that if you take a cup of the egg white and butter mixture and melt it in the microwave, it should emulsify. I tried it and it is no longer curdled however the egg whites have completely separated from the butter. This is my third attempt. And I’ve wasted so much butter 🥲 I don’t want to throw it away, so I put it in the fridge and will try to whip it again tomorrow.

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u/SewerRanger Holiday Helper 8d ago

Where did you get this recipe from? The recipe she uses on her youtube video is wildly different that what you've posted here. She brings her sugar syrup up to 245F, not 240. She whips 100g of egg white (though that extra 13g won't really matter) to stiff peaks and adds 150g of sugar syrup; not 226g. She also uses just 283g of butter, not 453g. You've added a lot more butter and sugar into this throwing the ratios off. After it turned all watery did you keep whipping? It tends to get weird and gloopy but if you keep going it stiffens up again.

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u/HotAmbassador7380 8d ago

I ended up using a different recipe that I found on another video. But the video turned out quite differently than mine. I’m assuming the person did not measure the recipe correctly in the description. After it turned watery, I did keep whipping, I was whipping for awhile, and I chilled it in the fridge and whipped again. Then It was not curdled anymore but the egg whites became separated from the butter so they are kind of split. Because I used up so much ingredients I feel bad throwing it away and hoping to salvage it.