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, this recipes sounds great but I was hoping you could help me with some thing I need to make a gluten free, sugar free chocolate cake, I’m going to use your chocolate cake recipe, just subbing the flour and I would like to try your Swiss meringue frosting but I don’t know if I can add cocoa and sub the sugar and if you can suggest a good sugar free option? Thank you!
Hello Wendy, I honestly haven’t tried making that version yet. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
I made this recipe tonight. I beat the meringue until I had stiff peaks. The meringue wasn’t warm and the bowl was at pretty close to room temperature. I added the butter. Love the flavor but the consistency of the frosting is pretty runny. Not sure what I did wrong but will be trying to fix it in the morning.
Hi Kathy, continue beating for a few minutes – it may be that the mixture was too warm when butter was added. You might also refrigerate for 5-10 minutes and then continue mixing again for a few minutes until it turns fluffy.
I have made this frosting several times and every time after I add the butter it gets thinner and thinner as it beats. I always have to put it in the refrigerator and re beat.
Hi Natasha!
Ive got your website from another person when I was looking for a perfect buttercream recipe. I was sooo happy seeing how nice, silky and fluffy my buttercream is turning:) at the end Ive added a pinch of salt and …organic vanilla extract. Ive added literally a few drops (no more than 1/2 teaspoon) and my perfect buttercream changed almost instantly started to change its consistency to very butter!!! I dont understand! Why this happed? It looks like net time I cannot add a drop of vanilla extract to keep this perfect silky consistency…Anyway thanks for this recipe, its the best one for me so far:)
Hi Eva, it may just need a few extra minutes of mixing. I added 2 tsp of real vanilla extract without any issues so that should not be the culprit.
It turned out great my first try, my son lived it. I halfed recipe and had no problems made plenty for what I needed.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Angel!
Hi! I’m making cupcakes with this icing 2 days in advance. How should I store them?
Hi Chloe, if stored properly and refrigerated, this frosting will last a couple days.
Hi Natasha! Thank you for the recipe. May I ask what the yield is? I am planning to make this for a wedding cake that’s using 10″ bottom tier (4 layers) and a 6″ top tier with 4 layers as well.
Hi Angela, This recipe makes maybe 5 or 6 cups? It 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 hope that helps
I added black cocoa and black gel to my SMBC but maybe over did it on the gel. It’s now too runny, it was perfect before the coloring. Any recommendations on fixing this? Thanks!
Hi Tracy, I haven’t tried that to advise. Maybe others here have some tips that they can share?
My family calls it MAGIC and I must agree! This buttercream also converted two formerly “I hate frosting” people into Swiss buttercream aficiandos! Beautiful recipe and results. Thank you, Natasha!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Hi Natasha!🤗I made my swiss meringue now,but It was all liquidy now,I try to freeze it now for 10 to 20 mins,is it possible to freeze it inable to get it stiff peak?
It can look soupy before it comes together and that is normal. If it stays soupy after a few extra minutes of mixing, it is likely due to adding butter before the meringue fully reached room temperature, or due to adding oversoftened or partially melted butter. I would suggest refrigerating 10-15 minutes at a time and continuing to mix and it should come together.
Hi natasha another question before i try to make the swiss merengue buttercream.If i cut sugar alittle bit still work?
Hi Ji, it would start to taste buttery if you cut the sugar.
Hi natasha i try to male the buttercream but somehow fail it was good until i put the butter in. The butter wasny smooth not is because i pit alot of butter at once or because the butter was too cold? The merengue was at room temperature i bit it for 20mins and it felt cold
It is important that the butter be added one piece at a time. That may be the issue. Overly cold butter won’t blend as well either. You want to keep the butter at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours before using.
Thank you ill try one more time also can i reduce some sugar i dont like really sweet
Reducing the sugar will affect the texture and make it seem more buttery.
Thank you for this recipe. I’ve always hated American buttercream because it’s always nauseatingly sweet and too thick for my liking, even when trying different recipes. This is perfect!
Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi! The puppies are adorable! My daughter is wanting a rainbow puppy cake. Is it possible to color this frosting? And how would you do so? Thanks!
Hi Melissa, adding food coloring should work. Add a little color at a time until you reach your desired color while maintaining consistency. I would recommend using gel food coloring over a liquid one. I would add that at the very end.
Hello Natasha.
I’m making my sons 1st birthday cake for his cake smash and Im going to give SMBC a go it’s something I have never made before and intend on having a couple practice runs before hand 🤞 I absolutely love the taste compared to American buttercream and really want it to work. My question is I’m wanting to decorate/pipe with different shades of blue roses. How do I go about adding colour without changing consistency? Also confused about how to add the butter is it just 1 tbsp then mix then add another and mix ect untill it’s all incorporated?
Absolutely adore you thank you for inspiring myself and many others in the world of cooking/baking. Your recepies are to die for xx
Hi Emma, that is correct, you want to add a Tablespoon at a time, giving it a chance to incorporate before adding more. Also, I would add gel food coloring at the end and mix until it’s well incorporated.
Hi! I’m about to make a 3 layer 8 inch cake – will this make enough frosting to fill and frost/coat it? Thanks!
Hi Emma, that should work. This chocolate cake is an example of a 2-layer 9″ cake that we frosted with this.
I like to make my cakes and ice them in advance, them freeze them. Will this icing freeze and thaw ok?
Hi Kay, SMBC freezes well normally so I think that should work if it is already frosted on a cake, although I haven’t tested that myself. If you try it out, please let us kmnow how it goes.
Can I decorate the smbc using an airbrush? I’d like to use a stencil to decorate a cake and would like to try smbc
Hi Tammy, I haven’t tried that and don’t have any experience with airbrushing.
I’m needing to make a black swiss meringue buttercream. Can I add 1/4 cup of black cocoa powder to this recipe and maybe a couple drops of black gel coloring to achieve this? Or will it totally destroy the buttercream? Thank you.
Hi Kelly, I haven’t tested this with chocolate to advise but here is what one of our readers wrote “I ended up adding 3oz of melted semisweet chocolate and 3 oz of bitter 100%cocoa chocolate after adding the vanilla. I didn’t want the sweetness to go up because of the chocolate. And I also sifted about 1/4 cup of cocoa powder at the end and hand mix that in. Tastes amazing! I’ll re-whip on Friday for the cupcakes I’m making” I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for replying! And yes, that helps tremendously. You’re recipe has been my go-to after failed attempts at other recipes. Thank you again!
I have yet to fail at a recipe on your site—everything is perfectly detailed and so easy to follow. This frosting came out perfectly with your vanilla cupcakes and I’ll never go back to American buttercream. The saltiness and sweetness are perfectly balanced and the texture is so silky and pipes easily. I used real vanilla bean (1/3 of a bean for 1 tsp extract) and it was such a luxurious treat. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi,
I made your recipe and I can’t seem to get it to come together. It wont hold any shape. The butter was at room temperature for several hours and still has several small lumps in it. It has wonderful flavour, but it’s a complete mess.
Hi Judy, I do recommend reading through all the recipe tips to be sure nothing was missed. If it is runny/ not stiff 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 a longer beating. I hope this helps.
The meringue was the perfect temperature. I read through and followed all instructions precisely. It was after I made the recipe that I read reviews, and the several that stated they had the exact same problem. No matter how much I beat it, it wouldn’t come together, I cooled it, I warmed it with a towel, nothing worked. I realize there are fails in life, but I’m 54 with enough experience and thought I would try something a little different, as I always make the Italian buttercream, and never have I failed so hard. I just wish I knew what I did wrong that made it not come together as it should have.
Having even the smallest amount of fat/oil on your tools will make your egg/sugar mixture not whip up. If it fell apart after that then try colder butter or putting the meringue in the fridge for a bit before adding the butter.