Caramelized White Chocolate Buttercream
 
Makes about 1½ cups
Ingredients
  • 6 ounces (175 grams) high-quality white chocolate baking chips*
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (120 grams) confectioners’ sugar
  • ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
  • ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 250°F (130°C).
  2. In a completely dry 9-inch round cake pan, combine chocolate and salt.
  3. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. (At times, the chocolate will look very dry and chalky, but keep stirring until smooth.) Pour chocolate into a medium bowl; let stand, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, until cool.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add cooled white chocolate, beating well. Reduce mixer to low speed. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla extract, beating until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Use immediately.
Notes
White chocolate needs to be over 30% cocoa butter. We used Valrhona Ivoire 35% White Chocolate.
Recipe by Bake from Scratch at https://staging.bakefromscratch.com/vanilla-bean-macarons/