Swiss meringue buttercream is better in flavor and texture than American Buttercream. Once you try it, you will want to use it on all of your cakes, cupcakes, cookies, everything! It is silky, pipes beautifully, and is stable. Watch the easy video tutorial and you will be a pro in no time!
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Swiss Meringue Buttercream Video
Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC) is my favorite of the meringue frostings because it is not overly sweet or difficult to make, and this method pasteurizes the egg whites in the process – Hooray!! It is simple enough to use for everyday baking but the flavor is a special occasion worthy frosting (scroll down to see the fun design I made for my niece and nephew’s puppy-themed birthday party). This frosting makes me think of wedding cakes every time I make it!
Swiss Meringue Buttercream keeps really well overnight at room temperature without drying out or forming a crust as American buttercream will. You can completely assemble your cake ahead of time without taking up space in the refrigerator and it will look and taste just as good the next day. It’s also freezer-friendly (see instructions below).
Cook’s Tip for Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Butter should be softened at room temperature for about 1 hour (more or less depending on your room temperature). You want it to be still slightly cool to the touch and not overly soft or warm. If it gets too soft, refrigerate for 10 minutes at a time.
How to Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
1. In a medium pot, add about 1-inch of water and bring to a simmer.
2. Thoroughly wash and dry the stainless steel mixing bowl from your stand mixer** (you don’t want any fat touching meringue). Add 7 egg whites and 2 cups sugar and whisk together. Place mixing bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, creating a seal over the pot (bowl should be over the steam, not touching water). Whisk constantly until sugar/egg white mixture reaches 160˚F (takes about 3 minutes). Sugar should be fully dissolved (you should not feel any sugar granules when rubbing the mixture between fingers), and the mixture will feel hot to the touch.
3. Wipe water from bottom of mixing bowl and transfer bowl to your stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form (about 15-20 minutes) and the bottom of the bowl feels completely at room temperature and not warm (important: if meringue is warm, it will melt the butter).
3. Once bowl is at room temperature, switch to the paddle attachment, reduce to medium speed and add butter 1 Tbsp at a time, adding it just as fast as it can be absorbed by meringue. Once all butter is in, scrape down the bowl and continue beating until the buttercream has reached a thick whipped consistency (3 min on med-high speed). If it looks lumpy or liquid at all, keep beating until smooth, thick and whipped.
4. Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt then mix on med-high until incorporated (about 1 min).
P.S. The tiny amount of salt at the end gives this frosting incredible depth of flavor.
Common Questions
For egg whites to become glossy and reach stiff peaks, it’s critical to make sure your mixing bowl and attachments are free of any grease, egg yolks, or water. You need to start with thoroughly clean and dry tools.
This is usually due to the mixture being too warm or adding the butter before the meringue has fully cooled down. Thankfully, it is easy to fix. Refrigerate the bowl for 15-20 minutes then continue mixing until the frosting thickens.
It is ok to use a high-speed electric hand mixer, but it may take 5-10 minutes longer of total mixing time. Also, a glass bowl will work but meringue may take longer to whip/cool down because glass retains heat longer.
Avoid using coarse sugar. Granulated sugar works best here. Also, make sure to heat your mixture over the water bath until it registers 160˚F on a thermometer.
Absolutely! See how we frosted our 9-inch, 2-layer Chocolate Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Make-Ahead
- Room Temperature – Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a stable frosting, meaning it will keep well covered at room temperature for 1 to 2 days in a low humidity environment.
- Refrigerator – cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Bring back to room temperature to re-whip before piping.
- Freezing – SMBC can be frozen for up to 3 months. Transfer to a freezer-safe zip-top bag, squeeze out any excess air, and store flat for quicker thawing. Thaw at room temperature then re-whip for a few minutes to lighten it up.
More Frosting Recipes
We haven’t found a storebought frosting even comes close to homemade. If you love homemade frosting as much as we do, you’re sure to find some new favorite frosting recipes in this list:
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Cupcake Frosting
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 oz egg whites, from 7 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened, (3 sticks)*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium pot, add at least 1-inch of water and bring to simmer.
- Thoroughly wash and dry the stainless steel mixing bowl from your stand mixer (you don't want grease touching meringue). Add 7 egg whites and 2 cups sugar and whisk together. Place mixing bowl over a large saucepan of barely simmering water, creating a seal over the pot (bowl should be over the steam, not touching water). Whisk constantly until mixture reaches 160˚F (takes about 3 min). Sugar should be fully dissolved (you should not feel any sugar granules when rubbing mixture between finger tips). Mixture will feel hot to the touch.
- Wipe water from bottom of mixing bowl and transfer bowl to stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form (about 15-20 min) and bottom of the bowl feels completely at room temp and not warm (important: warm meringue will melt the butter).
- Once bowl is at room temp, switch to paddle attachment, reduce to medium speed and add butter 1 Tbsp at a time, adding it just as fast as it is absorbed by meringue. Once all butter is in, scrape down the bowl and continue beating until it reaches a thick whipped consistency (3 min on med-high speed). If it looks lumpy or liquidy at all, keep beating until smooth, thick and whipped.
- Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt and mix on med-high until incorporated (about 1 min).
Notes
Filed Under
And here are the puppy cupcakes I made using this Swiss Buttercream for my niece and nephews birthday party! The kids LOVED them!! Here is the vanilla cupcakes base that I used for these. I used mini M&M’s on the eyes, a Hershey’s chocolate drop for the nose, then used a rolling pin and my hands to form the ears out of tootsie rolls and the tongue out of a similar shaped pink candy (similar to an airhead candy).
If you make this frosting, let me know what you think of it in a comment below.
Hi Natasha, thank you so much for the recipe of this buttercream! Today I have made it for 2nd or 3rd time and it came out super good!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Hi, I plan on making a three layer 8 inch cake. Will one batch of frosting generously cover the cake ? If not, how much do I need to make ?
Thank you!
Hi Michele, I have used it to generously frost this 2-layer 9-inch cake so I think it could work well to frost a 3-layer cake if you are less generous with every later.
I am currently making this icing. After removing from the heat and beating for 13 mintues I had the most beautiful, stiff glossy, icing, added the margarine and it’s become soup. I’m going to see after beating it what happens and will post results. The bowl is cool and the egg whites as well.
Hi Vicki! If it is runny and not pipe-able, the easiest fix is to beat the swiss meringue buttercream frosting a few minutes longer. It could be that the mixture did not cool completely to room temperature before adding butter, but it can be fixed with longer beating. I hope this helps.
I’m having this issue too. I’ve used butter and everything was going great until I changed to the paddle. 20 minutes later and still liquid… what may be the issue?
Hi Elaine, If it is runny and not pipe-able, the easiest fix is to beat the swiss meringue buttercream frosting a few minutes longer. It could be that the mixture did not cool completely to room temperature before adding butter, but it can be fixed with longer beating. I hope this helps.
I tried this today & it worked beautifully. It was a little soupy after I added the butter, but I just let it keep whipping & it was great. I do have 2 questions.
Is it possible to reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup with the same results?
And is it necessary to switch to the paddle attachment?
Maybe you should use butter per the recipe and not margarine.
Pop it in the freezer for about 20 minutes and the beat it with the whisk attachment for 5-8 minutes 🙂
I’ve made this recipe a solid 8-9 times and it’s never failed me that way
Wow! I’ve just made this today for the first time after stumbling across your blog! The icing is amazing. So thick and glossy and easy to work with – I wanted to make an ombré cake and everyone recommend this type of icing! Made a trial batch cake today with this, and now cannot wait to ice my daughters 3rd birthday cake with it next weekend! My icing was way too runny after the final step but 30 minutes in the fridge, 5 more minutes of beating and it was perfect – I think my meringue was still too warm when I added the butter! I can’t wait to try your other recipes now!
Hi Sally! Thank you so much for sharing that with me :). It sounds like you have a new favorite! I’m all smiles!
I love how simple you made this recipe sound! I was able to follow super easy. Thank you!!! I’d love to post a pic of the cake I used it for but done see an option for that here in the comments.
You’re so nice! Thank you, Paola! You are more than welcome to share that on social media and tag #natashaskitchen or join of VIP group on Facebook and share your creations there.
Hands down the best, most silky delicious frosting.( I despise American buttercream). Cannot stop licking my bowl. This may even beat my mommas frosting recipe, which has been my go-to for years! Quick question though; once I’ve decorated my cake can I freeze it and expect it to still be delicious?
Hi Anna, I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us! I have only tried refrigerating this type of buttercream but from my research, it should be ok to freeze. I haven’t tried freezing an entire cake but I think it can be done since this frosting is freezer safe. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha.
The buttercream looks delicious.
Can I make half of this recipe?
Also.. which piping tip have you used to create those beautiful swirls on the cupcake? Is it Wilton 1M tip?
Hi Sandy! We used that Wilton 1M for the frosting swirl. One of our readers wrote, ” I’ve made this recipe twice and it turned out so good. I even halved it for 12 cupcakes and it was the exact amount to pipe them beautifully (exact measurements).” Hope this helps.
Hi thanks so much fir this recipe! I had no issues at all…I think patience is key because it does talk awhile to come together. I love it, everyone I’ve made it for loves it! I would love to male a chocolate version…do you have a recipe for that?
Hi Nicole, I haven’t tried making this chocolate, but From my research, chocolate is always added at the end. I would probably start with 8-9 semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled and whip it in at the end.
I tried the recipe as written. Before adding butter to it, it turned into a shinny, sticky/gooey, white mess that couldn’t hold it’s shape no matter how long I beat it. I chilled it, nothing. I was using a hand beater yet I did beat it mercilessly. I regrouped and researched an answer. I did a small test batch out of my …frustrating results so far. I added butter to some and chilled for a good 20 minutes. It came together beautifully!!! It held up beautifully to liquid and gel coloring and piped great. I left out some for a couple days as a test and it is very stable still. Great recipe and thanks!!!
You’re so welcome! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Hi, Natasha!
I just made this, and it’s pretty runny.. I don’t know what happened. I don’t have a kitchen aid, but I mixed long enough for the egg whites to stiffen. After incorporating the butter, it ended up runny. I beat it for at least 20 minutes after incorporating all the butter, and it never got better. I put it in the fridge for a while and beat it again, and it whipped and stiffened up enough to pipe it. So I piped it onto my cupcakes, and now there’s literally liquid running down the cupcake paper. The icing is still in shape on top, but it basically looks like white water dripping down the sides. Also, if you tilt the cupcake, the icing slides off. I let the cupcakes cool over night. It’s not hot. It’s a little humid outside, but not raining. Any thoughts?
Hi Caprice, If it is runny and not pipe-able, the easiest fix is to beat the swiss meringue buttercream frosting a few minutes longer. It could be that the mixture did not cool completely to room temperature before adding butter, but it can be fixed with longer beating. I hope this helps.
Thank you! I did try that, and it helped.. but still was lacking volume. It fell a lot. I’ll try again on a dryer day, though, and see if it helps! Thanks again!
Another site said do not try to make the icing without a Kitchen Aid mixer a regular mixer’s motor is not strong enough however what I learned is to put it in the refrigerator then whip again but I have a KitchenAid mixermi Mine never comes back together no matter how long I mix I mixed it over 30 minutes it stayed soupy so I put it in the refrigfor about 20 minutes or so and then it whipped up perfectly delicious
Thank you for sharing that with us!
Laurie, I tried that as well. It didn’t work either. I can make other icings fine with it and even divinity which requires stiff egg whites. I’m not sure what the problem was..
Hi Natasha!
Can I use pasturized egg whites from a carton? 1oz per egg, I’d assume.
Thanks!
Hi Bree, it is recommended to use fresh eggs. The results haven’t been the same using carton eggs.
I just did and it worked fine.
I want to use the recipe to cover a two tier square cake (6” and 8”). How much do you think I will need for this?
That may be enough, Rachel, possibly more if you are looking to generously frost. I used this recipe to frost this two-layer nine-inch cake so I think it could work well to frost 2 short cakes if you are less generous with every later.
Thank you! If I was to double the ingredients, would it affect the outcome of the buttercream?
If you wanted to double it, I would suggest making a double batch since it would take a really long time to cool to room temp and would overwhelm most mixers.
I made the perfect vanilla cupcakes (which were amazing) and decided to try this recipe for the frosting. I’m very much a beginner and this was a little intimidating with the double boiling to 160 degrees and cooling down to the right temperature. However, I managed to get through it on the first try and just used normal food coloring to dye the frosting and this was so delicious! I feel so amazing that I accomplished it. I would just cut this recipe in half. I threw away a lot of frosting. The regular cupcake recipe made almost 50 mini cupcakes and half this recipe would have been plenty to frost them. So delicious though!
Hi Heather, I’m so glad you enjoyed the Swiss Meringue buttercream frosting and the vanilla cupcakes! Yay!! Thank you for sharing your amazing review!
Absolute perfection. Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you for the wonderful review!
will this crust?
Hi Emily, Swiss Meringue buttercream does not crust like traditional American buttercream.
Hi, we made this recipe for cupcakes last night and it came out exactly as shown. We tried a cupcake each and it tasted airy and amazing. However, we had a couple left over after taking them to work and tried them again this evening and they were, eh… They tasted like slightly sweet butter. They looked exactly as we piped the night before but they tasted like whipped butter. Any idea what could’ve happened? They were made yesterday evening, stored in a cupcake container out of the fridge in a house at 65 degrees overnight and then set out for the day at work. I thought it was okay to not refrigerate this buttercream for that length of time. Many thanks for any insight you might have on this.
Hi Julia, I imagine that may be the culprit. From what I have read, there are mixed thoughts about leaving it out vs refrigerating. The majority of sources I have found said it can be left overnight at room temperature. If you can refrigerate, that is probably the safest route and then let it come to room temperature before serving. I bet it would be easier to transport if it is chilled since the frosting firms up and is more stable for transport
Please help! This is my third try and im wasting so many ingredients and im out of them now. As soon as i add the butter the beautiful stiff peaks go to soup. I made sure it was not warm at all and ive wiped all tools with lemon first. Ive just put it in the fridge hoping for a miracle but it is marshmallow soup.
Hi Missy, is it very humid in your house? I haven’t heard of humidity being an issue, but I suppose it’s possible. I would suggest trying with the AC running to decrease humidity somewhat. Usually, if you are getting “soup”, it is due to either not allowing the egg whites to cool completely to room temperature before adding butter. If the meringue is warm at all, it will take longer to beat the frosting for it to reach the correct consistency. I would suggest beating it a few minutes longer next time before refrigerating and if refrigerating, do that for no longer than 20-30 minutes and then beat again.
I’m curios as to why you heat the sugar and egg whites to 160°? Most Swiss Meringue Buttercreams only require a temp of 115 -140… This may be why so many are struggling with the “soupy” phase.
Hi Missy, I had this issue too. A few tips. Put your mixing bowl and whisk in the fridge before use. When I add the butter if the bowl is warm I get a frozen item and then put it on the bowl to help cool it. My mixture goes soupy also but I also keep mixing until the end. It eventually comes together. Once all the butter is added and has been mixing for a few minutes, I like to stop it and scrape the sides and bottom and then continue. Honestly after doing that it starts to firm up. I’ve done that now 4xs in a row each being successful and I’m making another batch tonight.
Mine turned into soup too.
When should I add gel coloring? Before butter or after?
HI Barbara, add coloring at the very end.
How much frosting does this yield and at which step do your recommend adding food coloring? Thank you
Hi Tiff, It will ice 24 plus cupcakes. One of our readers wrote, “I put a generous amount on 24 cupcakes and still had some left.” I think you could, but add a little color at a time until you reach your desired color while maintaining the consistency. I would recommend using a gel food coloring over a liquid one.
OH MY GOD!!! I recently (in the last month), decided I want to become a PRO baker….low & behold with this recipe I have fooled friends into thinking I’ve been baking for years!
FAIL PROOF – my partner decided to show off his egg cracking skills & some pesky egg yellows went in (fished out as much as we could, but couldn’t waste the eggs & start again).
*JUST KEEP BEATING* – remembering reading this in all of the previous comments had me nice & calm when it was looking all chunky & churned!
A million thank you’s!
You’re so welcome! Thank you for that great feedback!!
I also had to fish out some yolk 🙁 I even break each egg separately to avoid this but didn’t notice until after I incorporated that egg. My egg whites didn’t completely form stiff peaks- I think due to thi, so I just continued onto the next steps. Since it’s a frosting for an inner layer I’m hoping it’ll be fine. Not perfect but fine.