French Buttercream Frosting

---

A very rich, light icing. Once you use this style of buttercream icing, you will never go back to the old standard.

---

Steps

---

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan.

---

Bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar.

---

Continue to boil until the syrup reaches a temperature of 240 degrees f while the syrup is boiling , beat the yolks with a wire whip or the whip attachment of a mixer until they are thick and light in color.

---

As soon as the syrup reaches 240 f , pour it very slowly into the beaten yolks while whipping constantly.

---

Continue to beat until the mixture is completely cool and the yolks are very thick and light.

---

Whip in the butter a little at a time.

---

Add it just as fast as it can be absorbed by the mixture.

---

Beat in the vanilla.

---

If the icing is too soft , refrigerate it until it is firm enough to spread.

---

Chocolate: melt 3 oz sweet chocolate and cool slightly.

---

Blend with about one quarter of the buttercream , then blend this mixture into the rest.

---

For very sweet buttercreams , use 1 1 / 2 oz unsweetened chocolate instead of the sweet chocolate.

---

Ingredients

---

sugar, water, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, sweet chocolate