Whip It Good!

A smooth and creamy blackberry buttercream is the perfect filling for these pretty purple macarons.

To quote the catchy 1980's song by New Wave band Devo, the secret to a light and creamy buttercream is to "whip it and whip it good."

Whipping a buttercream "good" is so worth the time it takes and it does take time, so using a stand mixer is ideal.

When I make simple fruit flavored buttercreams by just whipping low-sugar preserves and a pinch of sea salt into unsalted room temperature butter, it takes a good 7 to 10 minutes of whipping for the buttercream to fully come together.

As proof of the time it takes, here are the stages of my recent batch of blackberry buttercream:

After one minute of whipping,  the buttercream looks like a mess, but don't fret.

After three minutes, it's starting to come together, so don't give up.

After six minutes,  it's looking okay, but this buttercream can get even better with even more whipping.

After nine minutes, it's done. I can tell because the color has lightened and it's smooth and creamy with the preserves fully incorporated into the butter.

Filling macaron shells with the blackberry buttercream. It was definitely worth taking the time to whip it good!

Here's the blackberry buttercream recipe:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup low-sugar blackberry preserves
pinch fine sea salt

Whip the ingredients together until they are smooth and creamy. This takes a good seven to ten minutes.