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January 4, 2011 at 8:38am

Susan, Why oh why does something called "buttercream" have eggs in it? I don't get it. Any ideas on the origin?? THAT is a very good question, and I've been spending some time on researching an answer. I found this very relevant quote from Auguste Escoffier: "If it had been an Italian instead of a Frenchman who codified the world of cuisine, [cooking] would be thought of as Italian." The base of most of what we think of as classic haute cuisine came to France from Italy with Caterina de Medici. In searching for the origins of Meringue, I came up with some references in England by Lady Elinor Fettiplace (now there's a wonderful name for you) in 1604, another from Lady Rachel Fane in a cookery book manuscript from 1630, and another in a book from Francois Massialot in 1692. How the meringue got married to the butter I have yet to uncover. The 1700s were a time of astonishing invention in the world of food, where the upper echelons of society went to great lengths to outdo each other at table, with showier and more elaborate banquets all the time. My guess is that's where Italian Buttercream was born, but I've yet to track down a source to really answer your excellent question. Perhaps some of our other readers are ahead of me on this? Susan
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