“Romance is the icing but love is the cake.”
– Julia Child.

Swiss meringue buttercream is my absolute favorite of all the buttercreams. It’s stable, pipes well, and tastes like a creamy, sweet cloud. I much prefer it to the overly-sweet, sugary American buttercream.

I’ve played with this recipe a bit and this is the combo of egg whites, sugar, and butter that I think works the best. Even better, it’s easy to remedy when it goes awry.

Tips

Wipe down your bowls and spatula and whisk with lemon juice or vinegar – you don’t want any fat turning those egg whites against you!
- This is why it’s also a good idea to use the three-bowl method for your egg separation, so no “goldfish” swim into your whites. Use one bowl to separate over, one bowl to put your yolks in, and one to collect the pure egg whites. Nothing worse than getting yolk in the whites on the last egg when you haven’t kept your pure whites separate.
- See my post The Excellent Egg for more tips.

The three-bowl method for separating eggs.

Be sure your granulated sugar is completely dissolved in the egg whites and not gritty. Rub a little of the mixture between your finger and thumb and be sure it’s not grainy, or let it reach 160°F.
Whip the egg whites and sugar into stiff, glossy peaks that can stand on their own before you add the butter.

stiff egg white peaks — Stiff, glossy egg white peaks that can stand on their own.

Your butter should be room temperature but not too soft. It should be cool to the touch but your finger could still make a dent in it.

Add the butter piece by piece, just as soon as each one is absorbed.
Swiss meringue is easy to rescue.
- If it curdles, your butter was probably too cold. Usually if you keep mixing it will sort itself out. If not, put it back over some hot water as you did when you were dissolving the sugar and give it a steam bath. When the edges of the buttercream start to melt then it’s ready to beat again.
- If the meringue is too soupy and just won’t stiffen, your butter was probably too soft. Stick the meringue, mixing bowl and all, in the fridge for ten minutes then mix again. If it’s really soupy, go for twenty minutes.

You can go wild with flavorings. Try this Mocha Cake with mocha Swiss meringue buttercream. Or try mint, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, raspberry, almond, coconut, lemon, Kahlua…pretty much whatever you’d like. Experiment!

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Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Prep Time 35

Ingredients

6 large egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk until combined.
Set mixer bowl over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of gently simmering water, making sure bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat, whisking constantly, until sugar is fully dissolved, or a thermometer registers 160°F. (Rub the mixture between two fingers to test for grittiness.)
Dry off bottom of the bowl and place back on the stand mixer. Whisk on high speed until the meringue is glossy and can hold stiff peaks, and the bowl is cooled, usually about 5 to 10 minutes, but could be longer.
Switch from the whisk to the paddle attachment.
Slowly add the cubed butter piece by piece, beating well on medium speed after each addition. When all the butter has been added, scrape down the sides of the bowl and raise the speed to medium-high. Beat until the buttercream is thick and fluffy.
When buttercream is fluffy and smooth, add the salt, vanilla, and any other extracts or flavorings being used, and beat on medium-high until incorporated and buttercream is smooth.
Buttercream can be made ahead of time and frozen. To use, bring back to room temperature, then beat until smooth again.

Course Dessert

Cuisine None

Keyword buttercream, Swiss meringue