German Buttercream

5 from 5 votes

Makes 4-5 cups of custard-based buttercream.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Cooling2

Total Time20

Course: Dessert, Frosting

Cuisine: American, Slovak

Keyword: buttercream, custard, frosting

Servings: 5 cups

Author: Hani Bacova

In a saucepan, whisk together milk (2 cups, 500 grams), egg yolks (4), granulated sugar (3/4cup, 150 grams), and salt (1/8tsp).
Pour about 1/2 of this mixture into a dish. Into it, then add starch (3tbsp, 25 grams) and flour (3tbsp, 27 grams). Whisk well so there are no lumps.
Pour the flour/starch mixture into the remaining milk mixture in a saucepan and combine.
Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. Custard will gradually thicken. I find it's best to use a whisk.
Bring it to a boil. The mixture will be thick, so look for a bubble that pops, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Cover tightly with a plastic wrap and let cool to room temperature.
To speed up the cooling process, you can place the custard into a cold water bath. Or, if you plan to make the buttercream the next day, cover the surface directly with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate it overnight.
If you refrigerate the custard, let it come back to room temperature before mixing it with the butter. To speed things up, I microwave the cold custard in 5-second intervals, stirring gently after each heating until it’s smooth and room temperature, but not warm.

Using a wire beater, beat room-temperature unsalted butter (2 cups, 4 sticks, 452 grams) for 15-30 seconds.
Then add powdered sugar (1 cup, 125 grams) and beat on low until fully incorporated into the butter. Increase the speed to medium and beat for a couple of minutes.
Gradually add room-temperature custard to butter, creaming well after each addition.
Once fully blended, beat in Vanilla Extract and/or Vanilla Bean Paste.
Beat on high for 10 seconds. German buttercream is ready.
To eliminate air bubbles, switch to a paddle attachment and let it run on low speed for 5 minutes.

Storage - It's okay to leave it at room temperature. It's a fully cooked buttercream. You can leave it at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Fridge - Store in the fridge for up to 10 days. Let it come to room temperature, then remix till smooth.
Freezer - Freeze for up to 3 months. Let defrost, and remix before using.
Separated buttercream - This usually happens when there is too much of a temperature difference between the butter and the custard. The quickest way to fix separated buttercream is to melt about ½ cup of the broken buttercream until smooth and fluid. With the mixer running on low to medium speed, slowly pour the melted mixture back into the remaining buttercream. Then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 1–2 minutes, until the buttercream becomes smooth and fully emulsified again. Separation can also surface after freezing and thawing the buttercream.
German Buttercream Uses
Filling for cream puff, cakes.
Piped swirls on cupcakes and cakes.
It pipes beautifully on cakes and cupcakes.
You can frost the cake with it. I've done this in the past, though I find it a bit more elastic than Swiss or American Buttercream.
Can I color German Buttercream? - Yes, you can color this buttercream. I use gel food colors.