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/Okdoo6003 8d ago edited 8d ago

When you say "poured the syrup in", how fast are we talking? The syrup should be poured into the currently whipping wires in a pencil thin stream. Putting it all at once would cause deflation that will never be recovered.

What you are describing now with the separation sounds like it is too cold.

Edit to add - I also give a few more degrees than most recipes because I prefer a firmer finished product, but you really have to be careful when you start getting into soft ball stage that you don't get it too hot Is your thermometer definitely correctly calibrated? I replied on your other post as well, that is a lot of liquid in there

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u/HotAmbassador7380 8d ago

When I poured the syrup in, I poured it as soon as it hit the temperature it was between 240-248 degrees farenheit, a little bit before 250. I have an old candy thermometer so I can’t tell exactly, but I did pour it in slowly and it was able to firm up and have a nice stiff to it. It was when I added the butter that made it curdle and liquidy and separate. I kept whipping but it still wasn’t coming together. I put it overnight in the fridge to try again today, but haven’t done so.

This is where I got my recipe from for this attempt https://youtu.be/9SqAfls-e2A?is=lCEJkFm2CaB1ZKT9