Swiss meringue buttercream sounds fancy and intimidating, but it’s actually easy - and totally worth it. Our bakery has sworn by this recipe for years, and once you try it, you’ll never go back to gritty icing sugar frosting.
Once you've had Swiss meringue buttercream you'll be thinking why you ever wasted any time or kcals on ordinary icing or frosting. Sure, it's a bit more laborious with a few extra ingredients and a double boiler BUT it's far superior in taste and texture than your bog-standard icing sugar and shortening crusty frosting.
What is Swiss Meringue Buttercream?
Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC) is the smooth, silky frosting of dreams. Made from cooked egg whites, sugar, and butter, it pipes like a dream, stays stable, and makes everything from cupcakes to eclairs taste incredible. It is also a lot less sweet than traditional American frosting and this is why everyone loves it.
Which Ingredients are Needed for SMBC?
You only need 5 key ingredients. These are egg whites, sugar, butter, salt and vanilla.
- Egg Whites: Fresh is best, but cartons work (Clarence Court > Two Chicks).
- Butter: Unsalted. If using salted, skip the added salt.
- Sugar: Granulated - not icing sugar, which contains cornstarch and can make buttercream crusty.
- Vanilla: Extract works best; after that, the flavour possibilities are endless.
Find below a printable recipe for basic Swiss meringue buttercream, and further below is a step by step recipe with photos for reference. If you'd then like to purchase our more comprehensive guide to Swiss meringue buttercream, which includes flavour variations, storage and shelf-life information you can purchase our recipe here (for the cost of a slice of cake and cuppa!).
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe
The recipe below yields enough for a 6" layer cake or a dozen cupcakes. It's extremely stable and is deliciously smooth and silky. Check our our full range of Cakes to order for inspiration.
Ingredients
150g egg white at room temperature (approx. 5 eggs separated)
225g granulated sugar
300g butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Method
1) Place egg whites and sugar in a clean stand mixer bowl with no traces of fat over a simmering saucepan of water over medium heat. The water in the saucepan should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Whisk with a hand whisk until all sugar is dissolved, the mixture is frothy and has reached 60°C or is hot to touch. At 60°C, the egg whites are fully pasteurized - so this buttercream is totally safe to eat, even for raw-egg worriers.
2) Place the stand mixer bowl into the stand mixer and whisk on high speed with whisk attachment until the mixture has reached glossy stiff peaks and the bowl is cool to touch. This is now the Swiss meringue base.
3) Add in vanilla, salt and softened butter on low speed till all combined. At first, it’ll look like a chundery curdled mess. Like, ‘this has gone horribly wrong’ bad. But keep whipping - it will come together into silky perfection. Increase the speed to high and beat till it all comes together (takes about 5-8 minutes to reach this stage).
You can now colour or flavour the buttercream and use to frost layer cakes and cupcakes, sandwich macarons or even fill profiteroles. It really is a versatile buttercream and also keeps well for a few weeks!
Troubleshooting Your SMBC:
- Looks soupy? Butter was too warm. Stick the bowl in the fridge for 10 mins, then whip again.
- Too stiff? Warm a small portion of the SMBC until soft and add it back again and whip.
- Still curdled? Keep whipping - seriously, it just takes time.
Made this? Tag me @angesdesucre—I need to see! Whether it’s a masterpiece or a total disaster, I’m here for it.
Lots of love,
Reshmi xoxo
Karen McVey
July 26, 2023
Hi just wondering when adding the butter do you change the attachment from whisk to paddle, just I found the whisk got very gunked up with butter and had to keep stopping it to clear? Thanks