Looking for a tried and true frosting recipe that will impress your friends and family? This Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a light and fluffy frosting that is beyond creamy and always a crowd-pleaser.
This Swiss Meringue Buttercream is different than other popular buttercreams like American buttercream, Italian buttercream, or French buttercream because of the cooking method and ingredients. This buttercream is made from egg whites, granulated sugar, and butter.
A reason why this Swiss Meringue buttercream is such a crowd-pleaser is that it’s not too sweet. Unlike American buttercream, where you use powdered sugar, this buttercream recipe is perfect for those who love whipped cream on their cakes instead of a thick frosting. Swiss Meringue buttercream is like fluffy and tastes like freshly whipped sweet cream.
The method is cooking the egg whites and sugar together over a double boiler. Then in the mixer, you’ll whip up the hot mixture into a stiff peak meringue before adding in the butter. By indirectly cooking the egg whites and sugar, this buttercream is safe to eat and makes it sturdy so it won’t collapse in a cake.
The key to making this buttercream delicious is getting the fluffy meringue from the egg whites and sugar just right, and that means you want to cook the sugar, so it’s fully dissolved and not grainy.
This silky-smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe is perfect for cakes, cupcakes, and other tasty desserts like macarons, tarts, and whoopie pies!
Tips for Success:
- Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this buttercream.
- While making this buttercream, you might see the mixture look broken and chunky. But don’t worry, once all the butter is whipped into the meringue, then it all comes together to be a silky smooth buttercream.
- To make things easier, you can make this buttercream ahead of time. Place the finished buttercream into an airtight container and refrigerate it overnight or up to one week. Then 2 hours before you are ready to use the buttercream, place it onto the counter to come back to room temperature. Next, re-whip the buttercream with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes. This step will help you get the light and fluffy buttercream once again.
- Food coloring gets darker over time, so it’s best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for lighter colors. Keep in mind that coloring this buttercream, you won’t be able to get the actual color, it’ll be less vibrant.
- To use this buttercream under fondant: fill, stack, and crumb coat your cake, then freeze your cake for 30 minutes until the buttercream is set and hard. Cover the cold cake with fondant and smooth, trim the fondant as usual.
- It is NOT recommended to place the cake in direct sunlight for longer than 20 minutes as it can melt, but inside room temperature is the best.
- Store your finished decorated cakes in the refrigerator overnight to prevent buttercream from melting or getting too soft since it’s made up of butter.
- Serve cake at room temperature.
What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Buttercream:
- 5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl & whisk attachment or Electric hand mixer with large mixing bowl (glass or metal)
- Medium saucepot
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
- Candy thermometer
For tips on how to gain confidence in the kitchen so you can make any cake creation, learn baking techniques and cake decorating skills, I suggest reading more about my Foolproof Cakes for Beginner Bakers eBook.
Here’s how to make this silky-smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream!
Let’s Get Mixing!
On the stovetop, place a medium saucepot filled ⅓ of the way with water over medium heat, bring to a simmer to use as a double boiler.
In a stand mixer bowl (or large glass or metal mixing bowl), add egg whites and sugar mix with a whisk to combine.
Lower the heat on the stove to low, then place the mixer bowl over simmering water. Whisk constantly to prevent eggs from overcooking, continue for 3-5 minutes.
Continue to whisk until the mixture has reached 160 °F on your candy thermometer, or until the sugar has dissolved between your fingertips.
Immediately remove from the heat and transfer to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Begin to mix on medium-high speed to create a light meringue for 10 minutes.
Mix until the meringue is room temperature and has a stiff peak.
Next, lower the mixer speed to low and add the butter a few cubes at a time until all the butter is incorporated into the meringue.
Then whisk on medium speed until the mixture is silky smooth and has doubled in size. It’ll look like freshly whipped butter.
With a rubber spatula, add vanilla extract and food coloring and mix by hand until incorporated.
Finally, place the buttercream into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to set the buttercream before using it.
You May Also Enjoy:
- 25 Favorite Baking Tools for Beginner Bakers
- 10 Scratch Made Frostings for Beginner Bakers
Now that you know how to make this Swiss Meringue buttercream, you’ll feel accomplished in the kitchen. This buttercream recipe is beyond delicious and will soon become your favorite go-to frosting!
Happy Decorating!
Watch The How-to Video Below:
It’s easy to feel intimidated and less confident in the kitchen when you are just starting to bake. If you’re looking for an easy way to avoid common baking mistakes, then you should check out my FREE checklist. This guide will give you the best start to feeling more confident in the kitchen.
Get this FREE checklist to learn how you can avoid these 9 common baking mistakes!How to Avoid These Common Baking Mistakes
Print Recipe
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Silky smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream perfect for cakes, cupcakes, and other tasty desserts!
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time5 minutes mins
Chilling Time15 minutes mins
Total Time50 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Buttercream, Cake Decorating, Frosting
Servings: 4 cups
Author: Katie
Ingredients
- 8 large egg whites, (or 1 ¼ cup liquid egg whites)
- 2 cups (or 15 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (or 6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small cubes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- gel food coloring, optional
Instructions
On the stovetop, place a medium saucepot filled ⅓ of the way with water over medium heat, bring to a simmer to use as a double boiler.
In a stand mixer bowl (or large glass or metal mixing bowl), add egg whites and sugar mix with a whisk to combine.
Lower the heat on the stove to low, then place the mixer bowl over simmering water. Whisk constantly to prevent eggs from overcooking, continue for 3-5 minutes.
Continue to whisk until the mixture has reached 160 °F on your candy thermometer, or until the sugar has dissolved between your fingertips.
Immediately remove from the heat and transfer to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment and add the salt. Begin to mix on medium-high speed to create a light meringue for 10 minutes.
Mix until the meringue is room temperature and has a stiff peak.
Next, lower the mixer speed to low and add the butter a few cubes at a time until all the butter is incorporated into the meringue.
Then whisk on medium speed until the mixture is silky smooth and has doubled in size. It'll look like freshly whipped butter.
With a rubber spatula, add vanilla extract and food coloring and mix by hand until incorporated.
Finally, place the buttercream into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to set the buttercream before using it.
Flavor Variations
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Add 1 ½ cups melted dark chocolate chips. Fold in the slightly cool melted chocolate with a rubber spatula to the finished buttercream.
Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Add 1 cup of strawberry preserves and fold it in with a rubber spatula at the end. If needed, add gel food coloring.
Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Add 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese that's cubed. Incorporate the cream cheese when you add the butter to the meringue.
Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Add 1 cup of lemon curd and fold it in at the end. If needed, add gel food coloring.
Irish Cream Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Add 1 ¼ cup Bailey's Irish cream to the buttercream when you have added all the butter. Since Irish cream acts the same as whipped cream, it'll help make a light and fluffy buttercream while adding a ton of flavor.
Notes
- Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this buttercream.
- To make things easier, you can make this buttercream ahead of time. Place the finished buttercream into an airtight container and refrigerate it overnight or up to one week. Then 2 hours before you are ready to use the buttercream, place it onto the counter to come back to room temperature. Next, re-whip the buttercream with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes. This step will help you get the light and fluffy buttercream once again.
- Food coloring gets darker over time, so it's best to gradually add the food coloring, which is best for lighter colors. Keep in mind that coloring this buttercream you won't be able to get the exact color, it will be less vibrant.
- It is NOT recommended to place the cake in direct sunlight for longer than 20 minutes as it can melt, but inside room temperature is the best.
- Store your finished decorated cakes in the refrigerator overnight to prevent buttercream from melting or getting too soft since it's made up of butter.
- Serve cake at room temperature.
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