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 Jodie, I haven’t tried this recipe yet but was wondering if you can use a Keto type granular sugar such as Swerve or Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener?
Thank you!
Hi Eva, I haven’t tried a keto substitution, but here’s what one of our readers wrote: “Great recipe! I am living a Keto lifestyle, and the first time I made this recipe I substituted the sugar for the same amount using Swerve instead. I also added a 1/4 of a cup of Dutch Cocoa powder. It worked like a charm. Since we used Swerve, it did have an after taste.
This time, I used the same amount of Keto-friendly sweetner (Monkfruit sugar). No aftertaste, but with just a wee bit graininess. This time I was making a vanilla icing for my nephew. I used President Choice’s Black label Tahitian Vanilla. My nephew loved it. By far the best and easiest Swiss Meringue Buttercream icing. Thank you for the recipe.” I hope this is helpful to you!
Hi Natasha,
I have never made this before and would like to try it. If I use eggbeaters egg white will this work?(it is the real egg white kind I am thinking of using).
Thank you!
Hi, I haven’t tried that although a couple of readers have reported bad results using egg whites with any additives. I’m not sure what is in the eggbeaters whites carton besides just the egg whites.
Hi…the reason egg whites from a carton won’t work is that they’re pasteurized. You can’t use them in anything that requires egg whites to be beaten to a fairly stiff peak like this or angel food cake.
You can’t whip carton egg whites to a peak. But Sugar Geek has a recipe that’s like a faux SMBC that you can use carton egg whites and powdered sugar. https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/easy-buttercream-frosting/
I have just made this frosting, for the first time ever,and it has come out fantastic. Will be using it tomorrow for a.birthday cake,I’m also going to.try my hand at making buttercream flowers .
Hi Paula, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I hope the flowers work out great for you!
If I needed red buttercream, is this possible with this reciepe or because it is so soft would the colour not work?
Thanks
Hi Rebecca, 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.
Hi Natasha,
I was wondering how many cupcakes these would pipe on. Thanks! Ps love your recipe!
Hello Caitlin. This recipe makes maybe about 5 or 6 cups. It is enough to frost a 9″ two-layer cake, OR it will ice 24 cupcakes.
Hi Natasha
If I mix the swiss meringue buttercream with caramel, is the color will change? do you have a tips?
Hi Namia, I haven’t tried it with caramel, but it will likely slightly alter the color.
Hi Natasha, great recipe, thank you! Does overheating and/ or over beating the sugar and egg white mixture can make the meringue grainy? I’ve had a lot of success with the recipe but sometimes it comes out grainy even though I make sure it reaches at least 160 degrees F and Im thinking i might have heat up the egg whites and sugar mixture for too long? It does reach over 165 degrees sometimes and Im thinking it causes the sugar to get grainy. Or maybe if i over beat the mixture the egg whites get grainy? I’d appreciate your response :))
Hi Candice, overbeating would not make it grainy. During the stage where the egg whites and sugar are over the heat, you want to make sure that the mixture is warmed enough so it is no longer grainy. Using a course grain sugar will make that more difficult.
What a lovely recipe that mixes perfectly and tastes like treasure. Topped a Birthday Carrot Cake with it and it was smooth and buttery. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Diane! I’m so glad you enjoyed this buttercream! I imagine it looks so pretty and delicious as a carrot cake!
Has anyone had success with a thermomix?
Hi Jodie, I haven’t tried that yet to advise. Let’s see of others have and could share their experience with us here.
Hi Jodie, yes, I have actually converted this recipe for the Thermomix as well as using the KA stand mixer. Natasha’s is the best recipe ever, thank you for it.
To be truthful Jodie, I love my Thermi, but the KA stand mixer does beat the swiss meringue better than Thermi. BUT, I use it to heat the egg white and sugar. It is so precise that I have a lot of success with this recipe. Lately, I put the heated egg white and sugar straight into the KA mixer bowl, then in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Then start your whipping, follow the recipe from there.
Here is the link to my version of Natasha’s recipe
Hi Natasha! I’ve made this recipe a dozen times, it always turns out great. It’s my go-to frosting recipe.
Today I tried it with brown sugar instead of granulated white sugar. The merengue portion looked great. But after adding the butter, it ended up curdled and soupy.
Would that be because of the brown sugar or did something else go wrong?
Thanks!
Hi Amy, I haven’t tried it with brown sugar to advise on the outcome but with any substitutions that could be the case. if it looks curdled, you need to continue beating it and it will correct itself. It is pretty normal for Swiss Meringue buttercream to look that way while beating and then it corrects after a few more minutes of mixing.
Best tasting Swiss meringue buttercream I’ve ever had! I made two other SMBC recipes before trying this one and they were too buttery and not sweet enough, but this one was perfect, tasted like vanilla ice cream 😍 this will be my go to SMBC recipe from now one, thanks Natasha!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi there. I have an old stand mixer that doesn’t have whisk and paddle attachments. It only has two beaters exactly like an electric hand mixer. They stay in place while the bowl spins. Will that work? I would need to use the beaters for the whole process, both the meringue stand, and when adding the butter.
Hi Kathleen, the mixer’s power will matter here, but it would be challenging without a whisk attachment. You could use the egg beaters, but that would take considerably longer.
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for sharing the recipe! I’m planning to make this and was wondering how does this hold up at room temperature if left out overnight after piping cupcakes? I usually use a recipe which calls for 8 egg whites and almost double the amount of butter however yours is only 340g. Is this stable enough to pipe rosettes and other things on cupcakes and hold it’s shape for at least 2 days at room temperature?
Can I also put a little less sugar? Let’s say 350g off sugar? Will this affect the consistency and stability?
Thanks for your help!
Lillian
Hi Lillian, the foresting is already lightly sweet so I would not recommend using less sugar because it can affect the consistency and it will start tasting buttery. Here is a photo of how it pipes onto a cake. I have kept this overnight at room temperature with great results.
Hi Natasha. How can I make this into a lemon flavored Swiss meringue?
Hi Priscela, That may work! Normally flavorings are added at the very end. If you try something new, I would suggest trying to add it to a small batch in a ramekin to be sure it doesn’t hurt the consistency and to see if you enjoy the overall flavor. There are so many ideas! Almond extract, lemon/ lime, liqueurs, fruit puree or preserves, the list goes on. You might google to get ideas for add-ins, depending on the type of cake you’re making.
SMBC is my favorite frosting now and possibly won’t go back to any other frosting. Thank you for the amazing recipe and tips! I will give the other flavorings a try. Have a great day 😊
You’re welcome! I’m so glad our tips were helpful!
I needed to make frosting today and I realized I didn’t have powdered sugar. I came across this recipe and I have to say, it intimidated me at first. I’ve never used a double boiler. 🙂 BUT it was so easy to do. I read through all of the reviews and advice, so I wasn’t surprised when my frosting wasn’t getting thick. But I mixed that sucker for a LONG time, refrigerated in between, put an ice pack around it, etc. Since I knew that if the mixture was cold, I’d have a better chance of it working, I put it in the fridge while I went to Sunday dinner at my mother in law’s house. When I got home, I took it out, let it rest on the counter until I could easily move a spatula through it (about 20 minutes or so) and within 5 minutes, I had beautiful, fluffy, delicious white frosting! I was so excited! I just had to come on and share with everyone…don’t give up on it! If you can’t get it to work, put it in the fridge for a few hours and try again. It’s so worth it! I can’t wait to taste it with the cake. I normally hate frosting (I know…don’t kill me! My husband loves that about me because he always gets mine) but this is really, really good. No shortening greasiness. Very, very light butter taste and I didn’t find it to be too sweet, but I will be pairing it with a dark chocolate cake, so it would be good to have some sweetness there. Thank you so much for this recipe, but especially for the pictures of each stage in the process. If it hadn’t been for that, I don’t know that I would have known what consistency I was looking for as I’ve never had SMBC before (because, to be honest, it looked mighty yummy in its ooey gooey stage. I may just put that in the middle of the next cake I make LOL). This will be my go-to frosting recipe. I love that I have the ingredients right in my pantry!
Hello Alyson, great to hear from you, and thank you for sharing your experience making this recipe. Please share with us again how it turns out and I hope you and your family will love every recipe that you will try!
I love this reciepe and used it MULTIPLE time! I just have a hard time with how much each batch should yield? I made a swimming pool cupcake cake a few weeks ago for my team and used 1 batch, but it seemed like I needed 1.5? My question is how much does each batch yield for 24 cup cakes?
Hi Patricia, This recipe makes maybe about 5 or 6 cups. It is enough to frost a 9″ two-layer cake, OR it will ice 24 cupcakes.
I made this today for the first time and it came out perfectly. You just have to believe it will work and keep whipping. Then all of the sudden it was buttercream and it tastes amazing. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Krysta! I’m happy to know that the result was great!
Is there a way to turn this into chocolate frosting?
Hi Krysta, 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.
hola puedo poner color al merengue suizo?
Hi Merlis, 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.
Hi Natasha,
Can I use meringue powder instead of egg whites? If yes what’s the quantity?
Hi Silva, I haven’t tested that but I imagine it is a different process.
I followed the recipe exactly. The taste was perfect but the texture wasn’t right. After adding the butter, I whipped it for a long time still it was runny. Then put it back in the fridge for 20 min and whipped it again. Nothing worked.
Hi Gamze, please see the section above titled: “Cook’s Tip for Swiss Meringue Buttercream:” which may help.