Pistachio Cream Filling (French Buttercream)
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This pistachio cream filling is silky smooth and luxurious! It’s subtly sweet and ultra-creamy. It’s a perfect filling for French macarons but pipes beautifully on cupcakes and cakes too.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe:
French buttercream is American buttercream’s custardy, ultra-creamy cousin!
It’s light and silky yet rich with a subtle sweetness. Pistachio paste gives it a nutty flavor that’s downright addicting.
Pistachio cream filling tastes fabulous in French macarons, but it’s sturdy enough to pipe onto vanilla cupcakes or frost a layer cake.
It’s a bit trickier than traditional buttercream because it requires a hot sugar syrup. Don’t let this intimidate you! It’s easy once you get the hang of it and totally worth it in the end.
What is the difference between French buttercream and Swiss buttercream?
Swiss (and Italian) meringue buttercream recipes are both made with whipped egg whites, while French buttercream is made with whipped egg yolks.
In Swiss meringue buttercream, the whites are cooked with the sugar, then whipped until light and fluffy.
In French buttercream, the hot sugar syrup is cooked separately and then drizzled into the whipped egg yolks.
French buttercream is slightly richer with a custardy flavor and light yellow color from the egg yolks.
Key Ingredient Notes:
- Sugar – French buttercream isn’t excessively sweet like American buttercream. It’s subtle, which is what makes it so delicious! One third cup of regular sugar is not a typo! It doesn’t need powdered sugar.
- Water – First, we need to make a hot sugar syrup which is why we need water. It hydrates the sugar so it doesn’t just turn into caramel.
- Egg yolks – The base of French buttercream is beaten egg yolks. This is what makes it so luxurious and creamy.
- Unsalted butter – It’s crucial to use softened butter. Melted butter will create frosting soup, and cold butter will curdle.
- Pistachio paste – I highly recommend homemade pistachio paste, but you can also find it on Amazon or at specialty food stores.
How to make this recipe:
Pistachio cream is rich, luxuriously creamy, and worth the added effort! Here’s what you need to do:
- Make sugar syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Use a candy thermometer to temp the sugar syrup and continue to cook until it reaches 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Beat egg yolks: Simultaneously, beat the egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment until doubled in size and pale in color. You want to beat the yolks while the sugar syrup cooks!
- Add sugar syrup: With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the beating egg yolks. Pour the syrup towards the edge of the bowl so it doesn’t hit the whisk and splatter.
- Beat the frosting: Increase the speed to medium high and beat until the mixture cools down to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. It should look silky smooth and white.
- Stir in butter: Stir in the soft butter, one tablespoon at a time. Don’t add it all at once.
- Add pistachio paste: Add the pistachio paste and beat until smooth. Add food coloring now, if desired.
Tips for Success:
- This is a small batch recipe for macaron filling. It only makes one cup total so if you plan to use it for cupcakes, double the recipe.
- You must temp the sugar syrup! If you don’t cook it long enough, the pistachio buttercream won’t set properly. Cook it too long, and you’ll get rock sugar instead of frosting! The sugar syrup should reach the firm ball stage, 245-250 degrees F, and no higher.
- Position your stand mixer near the stove. It makes things easier since you’ll cook the sugar syrup and whip the egg yolks simultaneously.
- Avoid a hand mixer this time. It’s easier to work with a stand mixer because we need to pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg yolks very slowly while the mixer is running!
- It’s important to pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream. If poured generously, the sugar syrup hardens as it hits the bowl and turns into rock candy.
- Make sure the butter is room temperature, not so soft it’s melting. If it’s too soft, the frosting won’t set up properly.
- Let the whipped yolks cool down before you add the butter, otherwise, the butter will melt and you won’t have frosting, but soup!
Storing Tips:
- To store – Store pistachio buttercream at room temperature for up to 2 hours, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Transfer the frosting to an airtight container first.
- To freeze – Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Rewhip to a soft and pipeable consistency if needed.
FAQs:
French buttercream is a meringue-style frosting made of whipped egg yolks, butter, and sugar. The egg yolks are whipped with a hot sugar syrup until light and fluffy, then butter is added to create a silky smooth texture.
Pistachio paste has a naturally sweet and nutty flavor. It’s smooth and creamy with a light green hue. It’s made of just ground pistachios, while pistachio cream has sugar added to it.
Pistachio paste adds a nutty flavor to cakes, fillings, frostings, and treats. Try it in ice cream, macarons, chocolate cake, cookies, and tarts. It can also be used as a spread for toast, crepes, or pancakes.
More Pistachio Recipes
Pistachio Cream Filling
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (65g) granuated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) water
- 2 egg yolks at room tempeature
- 2 oz (55g) unsalted butter softened, Note 1
- 3 teaspoons (20g) pure pistachio paste (I used my homemade version)
Equipment
- stand mixer with the paddle attachment
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring it constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then continue to cook until the syrup reaches 250°F (120°C), about 5 minutes.
- Simultaneously, start beating the egg yolks in a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment until it's doubled in size and becomes pale in color, about 2 minutes.
- While the mixer is running on low speed, slowly pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks. Pour the syrup into the side of the bowl, instead of the whisk, so that it doesn't splatter.
- Increase the speed to medium high, and beat the mixture until it cools down to 104°F (40°C). The mixture will become smooth and white.
- Stir in butter one tablespoon at a time.
- Then add the pistachio paste and food coloring, if desired. Continue to beat the cream until nice and smooth.
Tips & Notes
– To store – Store pistachio buttercream at room temperature for up to 2 hours, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Transfer the frosting to an airtight container first.
– To freeze – Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Rewhip to a soft and pipeable consistency if needed.
Nutrition
This is the best buttercream I’ve ever had! I used it to fill the pistachio macarons I made using your recipe. It was my first time making macarons and they turned out to be the best I’ve ever had as well! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes and for making them so easy to follow!!!
Now I want to try this buttercream for a cake. I’ll probably end up trying it on just about everything eventually.
This was my first time making french buttercream and I was wondering: Does it freeze well like Swiss and Italian meringue buttercreams? Just in case I accidentally or intentionally make more than I need for the cake.
Thank you, in advance, for any assistance you can offer me.
Fantastic buttercream! Love the richness and smoothness of it….and of course the taste. But since I live in Australia where is hot and humid, I noticed that the buttercream does not mantain its firmness when I use it to fill macarons. Could I add some cornstarch to it to stabilise it a bit more in the scorching Aussie summer?