Espresso Buttercream Frosting

Last week we celebrated D's mom's Birthday. We ( D and me ) were rounding up on what cake to make and we were sure about two things: it had to be a chocolate cake with  lots of nuts ( mentioned earlier, as a family we like dry fruits). After going through various frosting recipes, I remembered the Espresso Buttercream recipe by the browneyedbaker that I had bookmarked a while back. The frosting recipe was simple and was a sure shot winner. I followed the recipe step by step, and everyone loved everything about it: the smooth velvety texture of the butter cream, ganache, the filling between the layers of the chocolate cake, in tandem with the occasional bite into a nut! 

Photo courtesy D

Unfortunately I wasn't able to take the pictures of the cake cut into layers (filled with espresso butter cream). I used Cadburys nutties on the top ( for the dry fruits touch) and piped in some chocolate ganache over the espresso buttercream frosting.

Ingredients 

For the Espresso Buttercream Frosting

Source : brown eyed baker

Butter - 1 cup, 250 ml ( at room temeperature )

Icing sugar - 2 and 1/2 cups

Vanilla essence - 1 and 1/2 tsp

Espresso powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp

                  

Procedure :

For the Espresso buttercream frosting :

Mix the vanilla essence and espresso powder till it dissolves completely.

In a big mixing bowl, start by whisking the butter ( at room temperature ) with a hand mixer for five minutes at medium speed ( Stop in between to scrape the sides ) . Reduce the speed to low and add 1 tbsp of icing sugar and whisk till it gets incorporated into the butter completely. Stop in between to scrape the sides. Repeat the step by adding more sugar and whisking till the sugar gets incorporated and mixed homogeneously . After this stage add the vanilla - espresso mix and again whisk till its gets incorporated into the buttercream fully. The resulting smooth espresso buttercream can be used to spread on cakes/ cupcakes. 

Spread the buttercream on the cake only when its at room temperature . I started by spreading the frosting from the sides to the top and in the end I dipped my spatula in cold water to give the frosting a smooth finish. 

Once you have completed all the decoration on the cake, chill in refrigerator until you plan to serve the same.