Skip to main content

Whole-Egg Molasses Buttercream

2.1

(3)

Image may contain Food Egg Cooking Batter Cream Dessert Ice Cream and Creme
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Katherine Sacks

This rich, spiced buttercream is perfect for chocolate or gingerbread cake. The recipe yields enough buttercream to ice a 3-layer 9-inch round cake. For cupcakes, halve the recipe.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    25 minutes

  • Yield

    Makes 6 cups

Ingredients

6 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and very soft
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon molasses

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring 1 cup water to just below a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Using a handheld whisk, combine eggs, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place bowl on top of saucepan (it should not touch water) and cook egg mixture, whisking constantly, until lightened in color, thickened slightly, and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F. Remove from heat and beat with stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium speed until completely cooled and tripled in volume, about 10 minutes. Add butter, 1–2 Tbsp. at a time, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and molasses and beat on medium-low speed until just combined.

  2. Do Ahead

    Step 2

    Buttercream can be made and refrigerated up to 5 days in advance or frozen up to 1 month. To use refrigerated buttercream, let sit at room temperature until soft, at least 2 hours. Beat with stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth. If texture is not smooth, beat in a little water, 1 tsp. at a time. To defrost, transfer buttercream from freezer to refrigerator to thaw overnight. Then follow the instructions for using refrigerated buttercream.

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

Read More
These soft butter cookies are made with mooncake molds, reminiscent of block print stamps from Jaipur.
Make this versatile caramel at home with our slow-simmered method using milk and sugar—or take one of two sweetened condensed milk shortcuts.
You can enjoy these madeleines with just powdered sugar—or decorate them with a colorful white chocolate shell.
Need an elegant dinner party dessert? A quick tea cake? A vacation birthday bake? This chocolaty wonder fits every bill.
With the sweet and nutty flavor of ube, these cookies taste like they’ve been dunked into a glass of milk.
Yes, it's a shortcut in a microwave. It's also a gooey, fudgy, wildly good chocolate cake.
Tangy and sunny, this curd can be made with either fresh or frozen pulp.
Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.