This tutorial shows you how to make Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, which uses egg whites to make a silky smooth frosting with a light touch of sweetness. This frosting recipe is perfect for decorating cakes, cupcakes, and for filling macarons and other desserts!
Swiss Meringue Buttercream 101
Swiss meringue buttercream is a smooth frosting that uses sugar dissolved in egg whites to give it a silky smooth texture. Plus, unlike American buttercream frosting which is just butter and powdered sugar, this frosting is much less sweet and if piping frosting on a cake or cupcake, it pipes beautifully. Main characteristics:
- Not overly sweet
- Perfectly smooth
- Pipes beautifully
- Does not crust over
This is the frosting that your local patisserie or wedding cake shop is probably using on their cakes.
Ingredients
- Sugar: Granulated sugar or extra fine granulated sugar is the way to go for this recipe.
- Egg Whites: Heating the sugar in the egg whites, and then whipping the eggs allows for the the smooth texture of this frosting.
- Butter: Unsalted butter is preferred, but you can use salted and omit the pinch of salt.
- Vanilla Extract: You can flavor with any extracts you want – coconut, lemon, raspberry, etc.
- Salt: This helps cut the sweetness. Omit if using salted butter.
Making Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Add the egg whites and sugar in a double broiler.
- Mix it until it is combined and then heat the egg whites until they reach 160 °F.
- Add the heated egg whites to a bowl or standing mixer and beat the until they are cool, about 10-15 minutes.
- Once they’re cooled you change to a paddle attachment. Then and add the softened butter, one tablespoon at a time.
- It might start to look curdled, that’s fine! Just keep mixing.
- Once its comes together to a smooth frosting, add vanilla, pinch of salt and any additional flavors and remix. Thats it!
Using a double broiler
Using a double broiler or bain-marie is a lot easier than it sounds and you don’t need any special equipment. As long as you have a small or medium sized cooking pot and a medium or large metal or heatproof bowl, you’re all set. To use a double broiler, heat about an inch of water in the pot, put the metal bowl over it as shown above, and place over medium-low heat to simmer the water.
The water in the bottom of the pan creates steam to slowly and gently heat what is in the metal bowl. This method is very common for melting chocolate in addition to heating egg whites. If you tried to heat either egg whites or chocolate directly on the stovetop, without the double broiler, you’d have scrambled egg whites and scorched chocolate because it gets too hot.
Flavor Combination Ideas
The flavor combinations for this buttercream are pretty much endless! Here are two easy additions to change up the flavor of this vanilla frosting.
LEMON SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
Mix 1/2 cup lemon curd into finished buttercream. Viola, easy lemon buttercream!
CHOCOLATE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
Add 6 oz of melted and cooled chocolate bars or chips into the finished frosting. Chocolate should be cooled to the touch (about 85-100°F) before adding it to the buttercream so it doesn’t melt the butter.
Tips for making this recipe
- Make sure when working with egg whites that all of your tools are very clean. Any oil or butter on them can hinder the eggs white being whipped into stiff peaks.
- Heat until the sugar in the egg whites until it is 160 ℉ and the sugar is completely dissolved. The mix never gets too hot, so you can rub a bit between your fingers to tell if the sugar is dissolved. If it still feels a little grainy, keep heating.
- When using a double boiler, keep the water line far below the bottom of the bowl you’re using to whip the egg whites. And, make sure it is on a light simmer rather than roiling boil. If the water line is too high and it touches the bottom of the bowl it can make your egg whites grainy and you’ll possibly have a grainy frosting.
- Make sure the egg whites have completely cooled before you add the butter, otherwise they can melt the butter and you won’t be able to achieve optimal frosting.
- If the buttercream curdles when adding the butter while you’re mixing it, don’t worry! This is totally normal and you just keep on mixing. It will eventually come together into a beautiful and silky final frosting.
- If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, no problem! You can use boxed pasteurized egg whites in this recipe. You’ll still need to heat up to incorporate the sugar.
Troubleshooting
No Candy Thermometer
You can use boxed, pasteurized egg whites. You still need to heat them up to dissolve the sugar, but you don’t worry about getting it to a particular temperature.
Egg Whites Won’t Whip Up
Make sure the bowl is perfectly clean. Any oil in the bowl or on the utensils can cause the egg whites to not whip up properly. If using boxed egg whites, note some brands whip up more than others.
Curdled and Soupy Buttercream
It’s very common for at some point when you’re mixing the buttercream for it to separate and look very soupy. This is common and does not mean you messed up!
Just keep mixing and eventually it will come together unto a soft silky buttercream. If it’s not coming together, put it back in the fridge for about 15 minutes to firm it up and then re-whip. This can help accelerate the frosting coming together until a beautiful silky frosting.
Grainy Egg Whites or Frosting
Make sure the sugar has completely dissolved in the egg whites before whipping them up. Also, if the water in the double broiler touches the bottom of the bowl it can overheat the egg whites and cause the egg whites to get grainy, so make sure the water isn’t too high.
LOOKING FOR MORE Frosting RECIPES? CHECK THESE OUT!
- Marshmallow Frosting
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Cookies and Cream Frosting
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Swiss Meringue Buttercream
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 pound unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1 inch pieces see notes for salted butter
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- ½ cup lemon curd
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 oz chocolate melted and cooled
Instructions
Instructions
- Set up a standing mixer with a whisk attachment
- Mix 1 cup sugar and 5 egg whites in a metal bowl. Set on top of a pot with about an inch of simmering water.
- Cook the egg whites until they reach about 160 degrees, about 3-5 minutes.
- Transfer the sugar egg mixture to the standing mixer and whip on medium high until the mixture is completely cool. This should take about 10-15 minutes. If after 15 minutes it’s still warm, keep mixing until the egg whites are cool to the touch.
- Switch the mixer to a paddle attachment and mix on low. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, making sure it is fully incorporated before adding the next piece.
- Once all the butter is added, return to medium high speed and whip until it is silky smooth. At some point after adding the butter the buttercream might separate. This is not a problem! Continue whipping the mixture and it will eventually come together to a silky smooth buttercream.
- Once it’s a silky and smooth buttercream add salt, vanilla extract, or other flavors and mix until combined.
Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Make the frosting as instructed above, omitting the vanilla extract.
- After the frosting is mixed add ½ cup of lemon curd and mix until fully combined.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Before making the Swiss meringue buttercream, melt 6 oz of milk, dark, or semi-sweet chocolate over a bain-marie double broiler. You want to let it cool to about 85-100 degree F while you make the buttercream.
- Make frosting as instructed above.
- Add the melted and cooled chocolate to the buttercream.
- Mix until incorporated.
Notes
- Make sure when working with egg whites that all of your tools are very clean. Any oil or butter on them can hinder the eggs white being whipped into stiff peaks.
- Heat until the sugar in the egg whites until it is 160 degrees and the sugar is completely dissolved. The mix never gets too hot, so you can rub a bit between your fingers to tell if the sugar is dissolved. If it still feels a little grainy, keep heating.
- When using a double boiler, keep the water line far below the bottom of the bowl you're using to whip the egg whites. And, make sure it is on a light simmer rather than roiling boil. If the water line is too high and it touches the bottom of the bowl it can make your egg whites grainy and you’ll possibly have a grainy frosting.
- If using salted butter, omit extra salt.
- Make sure the egg whites have completely cooled before you add the butter, otherwise they can melt the butter and you won’t be able to achieve optimal frosting.
- If the buttercream curdles when adding the butter while you’re mixing it, don’t worry! This is totally normal and you just keep on mixing. It will eventually come together into a beautiful and silky final frosting.
- If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, no problem! You can use boxed pasteurized egg whites in this recipe. You’ll still need to heat up to incorporate the sugar.
Can you double the lemon curd recipe and it still come out good or is it too much at one time, not allowing enough air in the meringue?
Hi, if you’re talking about making the lemon curd by itself then yes, you can double the lemon curd recipe. If you’re talking about adding double the amount of lemon curd to the buttercream recipe, I haven’t tried that. If you do add more, I would recommend adding an additional tablespoon at a time and then mixing to ensure it doesn’t alter the buttercream consistency too much. Let me know how it turns out!
Salted or unsalted butter?
Either works fine, but it helps to add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter to help cut the sweetness.
Can this recipe cover a (2) layer 8in cake?
If you’re not too heavy handed with the frosting it should be fine, but you can always 1.5 the frosting to be safe. Leftover frosting freezes really well.
Does the lemon curd Swiss Meringue buttercream crust? I am planning on doing cornelli lace on my wedding cake, and need to be sure the decoration dries to the touch,
Hi, unfortunately Swiss Meringue Buttercream will not crust like an American buttercream. You can try this American lemon buttercream recipe, omitting the extra milk or cream and adding more sugar if necessary to crust. You can also sub 1/2 the butter for high quality shortening which can help with crusting and make the frosting more stable and less likely to melt (often helpful for wedding cakes!).
Hi can i make italian or Swiss buttercream with nuttlex. A dairy free butter like spread?
I don’t have a thermometer to check if the mixture comes to 160 degrees.
How long does it usually take?
Thanks.
Hi Monika, it normally takes about 5 minutes after the water starts to simmer!
This looks amazing! Swiss or American buttercream is always fabulous!
I’ve never used swiss meringue buttercream before. Thanks for sharing the difference, I had no idea. Sounds yummy!!
I have never baked with Swiss meringue buttercream frosting! It looks delightful; I can’t wait to taste it! Going to give this a go, for sure!
Ok I’m the person who always scrapes the icing off of cupcakes because it’s way to sweet. This icing sounds so much better!! I’m saving this for sure!
Great tips for bringing back a broken buttercream! Happens to me practically every time haha! It is worth the trouble though 🙂