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!
I tried the buttercream recipe, the taste was delicious but it did not get thick as in the picture. I made a mistake when adding the butter, I forgot to switch to paddle attachment. Only when it was all in I did remember about it and did the switch and kept beating for 10 more minutes, but it was more like a creamy consistency. I then transfer to the refrigerator and it got a little better. Do you think it was because of my attachment mistake or maybe the room temperature/humidity may affect? I live in Panama and our weather is very hot and humid.
Thank you in advance!
Hi Yisel, both the attachment and the humidity or room temperature can affect the outcome. If it is very hot and humid, the mixture will take significantly longer to cool down and form into the right consistency. I would suggest refrigerator for 10 minutes and then continuing to beat with the paddle attachment which may help to get it to the right temperature faster.
After reading tons of comments, I couldn’t wait to try this recipe on my sons cupcakes. Went to my daughters house and they were my taste testers, along with my two boys. Utter fail. Nasty greasy taste from too much butter. I was told to stick with my recipe. So disappointed!
Hi Karen, I haven’t had that experience and this is one of our most popular recipes so I wonder if maybe there were substitutions or modifications made to the recipe?
I followed the recipe. Was way too greasy tasting for us. Maybe if I try half of the butter you are saying to use, it might taste better. I normally make regular buttercream but use vanilla almond milk and make it where it is not buttery feeling
Hi Natasha, my frosting ‘ran’ completely… my egg whites were perfectly beaten and thick, after I added butter (it was not warm) it became lumpy and I have been beating it for almost an hour now. The volume decreased three times in size…. Do I keep beating or is it over beaten?
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.
Hi. Can I use this recipe is smbc for cake with fondant on top?
Hi Olga, A few of our readers have reported great results using this under fondant so I think that will work great. Here is what one of our readers said: This is my go-to Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe and I make fondant cakes all the time. In fact, after chilling and setting up the buttercream, it’s more stable than American buttercream under fondant. It sets up beautifully.” I hope this helps.
I’m looking into trying this recipe. I tried a different SMBC recipe but found it to taste too buttery even after adding quite a bit of flavoring. Do you find that this recipe has an overwhelming taste of butter?
Hi Marissa! We think we found the perfect balance. I recommend looking through the recipe comments. Here is what one of our readers wrote “Finally, a swiss buttercream that is absolutely PERFECT! Not so sweet, not too buttery tasting, but exactly what I was looking for” I hope that helps!
This is a great recipe with easy to follow instructions. I frosted a cake for my cousins birthday and it was delicious and everyone loved it. I melted some chocolate and then let it cool and drizzled it in to make a chocolate Swiss meringue. Thanks so much for the recipe and tutorial!
That sounds lovely! I can picture it! Thank you for sharing that with me Marti!
Oh my, this sounds amazing! Will totally try once I recieve my Russian Piping Tips! Do you think it will work if I substitute lemon juice for vanilla?
Hi Luda, Lemon juice should work. One of our readers mentioned adding the following as experimentations, ” So far I’ve added melted chocolate (about 5-6 tablespoons), rose extract (about 1-1(1/2) tsp), lavender extract (about 2-3 tablespoons), espresso (2 shots), lemon juice (3 tablespoons), vanilla extract (1 tablespoon), and orange juice (3 tablespoons) to this recipe. It holds up really well with added ingredients and I’ve been able to add all of these a little at a time until I’m happy with the flavor.” I hope that helps
Good to know, thanks!
You’re so welcome!
Hi,
I made the frosting and cooled it in the fridge overnight. When I beat it again today, it’s turning soupy as others have also commented. We live in a cool dry environment so not that. How long do u suggest whipping it for and are you supposed to use the whip or paddle attachment? Thanks!
Hi Char! 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.
The buttercream needs to be warmed after being refrigerated. While beating either use super hot towel or a blowdryer to heat the bowl..it should fix your problem pretty quick!
Help , I food pro. My sugar and heated the whites and sugar to 169 per my therma pen and still I taste some gritty what else can I do.?
Hi Kathy, are you doing anything different in the process or maybe using a different tool (hand mixing versus using an electric stand mixer) – using the correct attachments? Not trying an substitutes such as egg whites in the carton? Was the mixing bowl completely at room temperature before adding butter? Most issues with texture are repairable with a little bit longer mixing. I hope that helps! 🙂
This recipe was amazing! I like that it uses less butter than other recipes. I did have an issue with the frosting being too soupy but read the comments and took the advice to refrigerate the icing for 15 mins and then give it another good whip with the mixer and worked like a charm.
I’m so happy that worked out for you! Thank you for sharing that with me!
Thx for the recipe, though i used 6 egg whites , the frosting was great
I’m so happy you enjoyed that! Thank you for sharing that with me!
The last time I made SMBC it became soup because I didn’t wait long enough for it to cool, so this time, I had a moment of panic when it got a bit loose as I began adding the butter. I put it in the fridge for a little while, then added the rest of the butter and whipped it on high speed, and I swear whipping it on high speed was like a magic trick! It got soooo thick and luscious! I was so happy :’)
It looks kinda like whipped cream that was whipped a little too much, but that’s okay because the texture when you bite into it is absolutely gorgeous and smooth.
Maybe it started getting soupy because I used pasteurized egg whites? Either way, it worked out well anyway, and something that’s great about this frosting (I used it for a batch of lemon poppy seed cupcakes) is that it’s so rich, you really only need to eat one cupcake to be satisfied 🙂
I’m so happy that worked out for you Nina! Thank you for sharing your tips and feedback with us!
Hello! I was wondering how well this recipe freezes? I like to freeze my cakes after they’ve been frosted but have never frozen swiss buttercream.
Hi Celeste, One of our readers wrote that it freezes well! 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!
Loved this recipe. I made two batches. Quick question, how can I make this tangy? Still vanilla but tangy?
Hi Josue! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! You may try adding lemon zest! One of our readers tried berries for a tang, here’s what they wrote “when I finished making the Swiss meringue buttercream, I gently folded in some freeze dried strawberry powder. It gave a beautiful pink fleck to it and it also had a slight strawberry tang.” Sounds like an awesome idea, I hope that helps!
Found it lol. Thank you for this response.
You’re so welcome!
Thank you Natasha! I’m making a lemon cake with a blueberry cream cheese filling and wanted my vanilla buttercream to have some tangy/sour notes without losing too much of the vanilla richness. What do you thick of adding lemon juice along with the lemon zest?
Lemon juice should work Josue. One of our readers mentioned adding the following as experimentations, ” So far I’ve added melted chocolate (about 5-6 tablespoons), rose extract (about 1-1(1/2) tsp), lavender extract (about 2-3 tablespoons), espresso (2 shots), lemon juice (3 tablespoons), vanilla extract (1 tablespoon), and orange juice (3 tablespoons) to this recipe. It holds up really well with added ingredients and I’ve been able to add all of these a little at a time until I’m happy with the flavor.”
This is so helpful! Thank you, you’re the best! 😍
Thanks Natasha! Really like your recipes. This is my first time making Swiss Meringue buttercream. The texture of mine is a bit rough. How could I make it smooth? Beat longer?
Also, can I cut down the sugar ? Will it affect the texture? Thanks
Hi Pat, the typical fix for a rough texture in SMBC frosting is to continue mixing until the texture turns fluffy. It usually looks that way before it gets good 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ve tried others, but they weren’t as sweet as I like. I was thinking of how this recipe takes a lot of egg whites, so what do you usually do with the yolks? I can never find a good use for them.
Hi Sana, I don’t really have many egg yolk only recipes. My custard cake uses alot of egg yolks. If anyone else has any great suggestions, please share and thanks in advance!! 🙂
Make custard. I like vanilla bean custard ice cream.
Thank you for that suggestion Jeff!
Hi mine is like milk what could I do to fix it
Hi Danielle, 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 buy the egg whites. Any extra egg whites I add to scrambled eggs, if I’m not going to use them all up.
I use the yolks to make a vanilla pastry cream (kind of like a cooked pudding, but so much better) and use that between the layers of my cake, or as a filling for cupcakes. Pastry cream typically uses only yolks, so it matches up nicely with a Swiss buttercream!
A great way to use up leftover egg yolks is to make homemade lemon curd! It’s scrumptious!! ☺️
Thank you for sharing that with me, Caitlin!
Hi Rachel.
I haven’t seen any comments regarding dyeing the frosting. I’m wondering if you have any tips or tricks for me as I embark on decorating a birthday cake. I’m afraid that with vanilla extract in the original recipe, the dye may cause the frosting to breakdown and it will, therefore, not pipe well.
I love reading the comments and answers. It helps immensely!
Hi Tricia, you sure can! 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.
I’ve tried it and it’s worked great. I’ve even “re-dyed” pink frosting to green for St. Pat’s! I agree with Natasha …the secret is to use gel coloring.
Hi, not sure if you decorated your birthday cake already but if not, the trick to coloring this frosting is using candy coloring, which you can buy at Michaels or online. Any other coloring I have used makes the frosting look blotchy and the color does not come out as rich.
I really love this recipe because proportionally, it has a bit more sugar and a little less butter than other Swiss buttercream recipes. I admit that I crave the intense sweetness of American buttercream, but not the nasty gritty texture. On the other hand, I enjoy the silky smooth texture of Swiss buttercream but some recipes leave me feeling like I’m eating sticks of butter. This recipe is just perfect!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for sharing that with us!
This recipe is the BEST! First time making it it went a little wrong, but by reading the reviews and suggested ways to resurrect it, it came right back to life! I used to use American buttercream and this is just soooo much smoother and lighter! Thank you for an AMAZING recipe that is easy to follow
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me 🙂
How much frosting does this recipe make? I’m making a cake with 4 layers and 24 cupcakes. I’m thinking I’ll need to double the recipe but I have no idea how much this will make.
Hi Randee, This recipe is enough to frost a 9″ two-layer cake or 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 made this a few weeks ago and it was just perfect!!! I’m wondering if you have ever made a chocolate version? I’m planning on making soft sugar cookies and want to pipe chocolate Swiss buttercream on top. I want to use your recipe because I know it works…but, am wondering how to add my chocolate. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Hi Holly, For chocolate SMBC, I have not experimented that way but from what I’m finding online is it may be possible! It is suggested to add 2/3 cup or up to 9 oz of melted, cooled chocolate, or you can add 3/4 cup of nutella. If you experiment, let me know how it goes!
Okay. Thanks!
I tried this last weekend and it worked! The chocolate flavor was so good! I just melted down chocolate chips then let them cool a bit. It kind of turned into a chocolate paste and was still a bit warm so I had to whip it a long time with the SMBC to let it cool and incorporate. Not sure if that’s the right method… It’s unclear to me how the chocolate can be melted and then cool to not become hard again…?