Strawberry Swiss Style Meringue Buttercream

By carvalhohm2

Ingredients

• 6 Lg Fresh Large Egg Whites
• 1 1/2 cups White Sugar
• 2 cups Confectioners Sugar
• 3/4 cup Shortening
• 2 c ups Butter
• 1 T Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 c Strawberry Puree (recipe follows)
• Pink food coloring optional to enhance color

Details

Adapted from woodlandbakeryblog.com

Preparation

Step 1

Over a double boiler, in a large metal bowl whisk together the granulated sugar and the egg whites stirring constantly until the mixture reaches approximately 115 degrees F and the sugar grains have dissolved and are not longer gritty to the touch.

Pour this mixture into the metal bowl of your Kitchen Aid Mixer with the WHISK attachment and whip on high speed until it is thick, glossy and white in color. The peaks should be as firm as firm can be.

In the meantime you can sift your confectioners sugar, and once you have achieved STIFF peaks meringue, add the confectioners sugar all at once with the mixer on very low speed to avoid having a snow shower of sugar all over your kitchen!

Once all of the sugar has been incorporated you can turn the mixer speed to med-high until it is all nicely mixed in.

Be sure your butter and shortening are at room temperature and they are the same consistency. Add it in about 2-3 additions, but FAST Additions. 1-2-3 fast fast!

Turn the speed up to high and let it mix smooth. Add the vanilla extract and COLD strawberry puree at the end, and you are DONE!

***THIS RECIPE CAN BE STORED 4 days room temp, 2 weeks fridge, 2 months freezer

**its fine to store it in the fridge/freeze, but just know that you will now have to bring it back to room temperature. Take it out HOURS before you need it, and let it get to room temp, then you will put it back on the mixer and with the PADDLE attachment on low- medium and let it mix, it will look as if it is BROKEN, and curdled, don’t be alarmed this is NATURAL, it will come back together eventually, you can turn the speed up to med-high and it will mix out smooth

Yield: 2 1/2 Qts = 5lbs (enough to ice 36 cupcakes, or fill and ice 1-8″cake)

Strawberry Puree:
Fresh or Frozen Strawberries (see note below) 1 U.S Dry Pint (1 Lb)
Water as needed (see note below)
Juice from 1 lemon (optional)
2 Tablespoons Sugar

In a large heavy bottomed sauce pot, add the fresh or frozen strawberries.
**Frozen strawberries tend to be sweeter than fresh strawberries, especially during off season months. You can buy strawberries already frozen in the supermarket, or you can freeze fresh berries yourself during their peak. Either way, in my opinion you are getting the best “tasting” strawberry because they are frozen during their peak, which when it comes to any type of produce PEAK SEASON is the KEY.

Over a medium flame let them cook down slowly to defrost and eventually they will start to break down and boil slightly.

If you are using FRESH Strawberries, you may need to add about 2 Tablespoons to 1/4 cup of water to the pot to avoid burning of the strawberry fibers to the bottom of the pot, but the same thing applies to the cooking methods.

Add the sugar and continue to cook over medium flame for about 30 minutes. Maybe more time (or less!) depending on the strawberries you are using. And also the quantities you used, perhaps you are doubling or halving this recipe? In which case all of these things play into times and temperatures.

So there is NO TIME HERE GUYS!
Just pay attention to the liquid evaporating out of your compote, and continue cooking until you think there is not much more liquids that can be extracted out. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice to brighten the flavor and cool slightly.

At this point you can add it all to the blender and puree the mixture for using in the Strawberry Sponge Cake recipe, or simply store in a container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups