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, I am about to make this but I wanted a small portion of this to be chocolate (mainly for decorations). Can I take some of it out and add cocoa powder to it? Do you know what the amounts would be? I would like to make only 1 batch if possible.
Hi Suwanee, 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.
Hello!
i tried this recipe and it tasted great but it’s too drippy and runny. how should i fix it?
-Harriet
Hi Harriet, usually the reason for it turning soupy is adding butter while the meringue is still too warm and the remedy is usually to refrigerate the mixing bowl for 10 minutes at a time and continue mixing until it forms. It may be the humidity that is also affecting it.
I made this for a batch of strawberry crunch cupcakes I baked for a friend. At first, the consistency was runny after beating it at the indicated speed for the suggested times. But, I chilled the whole bowl of buttercream for about 20 min then beat it again using the paddle for another 4 mins and it turned out perfectly. It was so silky, smooth, and delicious! It pipes like a dream.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Rum!
Hi,
I see the comments asking about doubling the recipe, to which it would appear that you don’t suggest that. What about 1 1/2 the recipe? My previous SMBC recipe called for 9 egg whites, 2 c. Sugar, and 1lb butter, and I didnt have trouble with the bowl capacity with that one. I’d like to try your recipe with its slightly different ratios but there definitely wouldn’t be enough to frost a wedding cake. Just wondering if I could 1 1/2 it, or try to do the recipe twice. Thanks!!
Hi Jo, if you have the capacity, it may work, but again without trying it myself, I can’t comment or recommend specific measurements for that kind of adjustment! If you try it, I’d love to know how you like this recipe!
I always use this recipe and it’s amazing! I was wondering, can you replace the butter with dairy-free / vegan butter for people with a lactose intolerance?
Hi Tiana, without testing that through, I have no idea if that would work. You might see if there is a version of that online by google searching the idea. Sorry I can’t be more helpful with that.
Can you use this to crumb coat a cake prior to fondant icing it?
Hi Sharon, I haven’t tried this to crumb coat, but it does work well with a crumb coat!
Natasha, I was wondering if you can freeze a recipe of the icing rather than an iced cake.
Hi Misty, I haven’t tried freezing SMBC on its own to advise on the outcome.
Aloha Miss Misty… not to interrupt but I have and do freeze SMBC for my cakes. I seal it in a zip lock bag and try take out as much air as wen time to use, I take out day before and let it defrost icebox, then i rewhip it in mixer and whoooo.. SMBC jus as made fresh. Hope this helps 🙂
Thanks for the tips!
It does! Thanks!
Could this frosting be made a week ahead and frozen?
Hi Misty, SMBC freezes well generally, 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 know how it goes.
I want add pistachio paste to this does it get addanksed after the butter or before?Th
Hi Rose I haven’t tried that myself to advise truly. If you happen to test that, I’d love to know how you like it!
Can i double this recipe? Or would it not whip up as it should?
Hi Dana, I think it would overwhelm a normal mixer to double it.
This is my go-to SMBC recipe and I absolutely adore it! I do sometimes find myself running out of frosting to top the cake with. Provided you have a big enough mixer (I have an 8qt kitchenaid and a single recipe fills about 1/3) can this recipe be doubled successfully or would adjustments be needed?
Hi Kayley, it would take significantly longer to adequately cool the mixture. You might try wrapping a cold towel around the bottom to help that along. That would be my only reservation is each step would take significantly longer.
Thanks, Natasha, for this amazing recipe. I have tried many other swiss meringue buttercream recipes and this is by far the best. It is soft and light and pipes like a dream. I flavoured the buttercream with lemon oil and used it to decorate a blackberry cake for my husband’s 60th birthday, using your sponge cake recipe. It was such a hit. Thank you so much for always having the perfect recipe when I need it.
Marg
I’m so happy this was a hit, Marg! Thank you for sharing that with us, Marg!
Just needs the yield. How much does it make?
Hi Danielle, 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! I’m making a wedding cake for my friend’s wedding and am using a recipe that is similar to the royal wedding cake. The swimm merengue buttercream was good but required 6 egg whites, 1 cup of sugar, and 3 cups of butter which I thought was just too much butter. No salt or vanilla added. I am going to try this one!!
Sounds like a good plan, Erica. Please update us on how it turns out!
Hello! I’d like to ask how would you scale this for a 10 inch 3 layer cake?
Thanks!
Hi Ana, this frosting makes about 5 or 6 cups. It is enough to frost a 9″ two-layer cake, so I would assume you will need to make just a little extra to have enough for a 10” three-layer cake.
Hello again Natasha,
I need some help. I’m following your recipe for the SMBC and it looks good when I first make it. But once I leave it in the fridge overnight…and then whip it again to use it…after about 5 it starts to go soupy again. I live in Florida so the inside air temp is about 75 F.
I will say this. The first time I did your recipe I whipped egg whites until it became a meringue while it was over heat the whole time (because I read the directions wrong). After that I transferred it to the stand mixer and continue to beat it until it was cool. After I did that I added the butter and that Swiss meringue stayed solid in our house. It’s the other two times (in the first paragraph above) that I followed the directions to a “T“ and the Swiss meringue is turning soupy.
What can I do to strengthen the Swiss meringue buttercream. Should I add less butter? We live in a pretty hot and humid climate and this cake will be sitting outside for at least sometime (maybe 15-30 minutes). I’m just concerned that the SMBC is turning soupy after five minutes (inside the house) what’s gonna happen in the hot sun.
Any help or advice you can give me would be great. I’ve tried everything on your blog thus far. I’m making a large cake for my daughter’s 10th birthday for this Saturday.
Thank you once again for your time.
Hi Chris, usually the reason for it turning soupy is adding butter while the meringue is still too warm and the remedy is usually to refrigerate the mixing bowl for 10 minutes at a time and continue mixing until it forms. It may be the humidity that is also affecting it. Since it contains butter, it will soften at 80 degrees and will melt at around 90 degrees so it’s best to keep it out of the hot sun.
This is the frosting recipe I’ve been waiting for!! The meringue was far too warm after 20 minutes; it needs to be down to 90*F before adding the butter, and it took some time in the fridge to get there. I used organic ingredients, and it worked so beautifully! Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed it and had the patience for the cool-down process! That step is crucial!
as a beginner baker, Swiss meringue buttercream was a scary topic. I’ve found that other icings like American buttercream are very overly sweet and didn’t pair well with my cakes. They also used lots of ingredients, which bothered me because wasting food is a big no for me. This buttercream is silky smooth and so easy to work with, although it takes some effort it is definitely worth the while and leaves you with a smooth, not too sweet or buttery cream that taste absolutely delicious! Only downside I could have is the egg yolks that I am left with, still attempting to find a recipe I like that uses these!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Amy, thank you for your good comment and feedback. I totally agree, the recipe is worth it.
Hi Amy. I use the carton egg whites with this recipe every time and it works. I’m in Australia, our cartons (like the milk ones) have pure egg white, it tell you on the container how much is equivalent to an egg white.
I use 210g, equivalent to 7 egg whites. This works every time. Hope this helps you. Cheers
I am also in Australia and use the carton egg white and they work beautifully.
You can make egg nog or custard or hollandaise sauce with the yolks.
Yes to all of these!
Creme brûlée will use up the egg yolks, my recipe uses 6 yolks!
Hi Natasha,
I followed Steps 1-2, but had trouble at Step 3. My stand mixer does not have a whisk attachment (only v-groove beaters) and I could not get stiff peaks even after beating for 25 minutes. I opted to keep moving through the steps but ended with a mixture on the watery side. I’m going to chill the mixture in the fridge before trying to mix again, but was it the attachment that prevented the peaks from forming? And can the frosting be salvaged?
Hi Mel, it is very likely due to the type of beaters used. Chilling for 10-15 minutes may help or wrapping a cold towel around the bottom of the bowl as it is mixing may help it cool faster. Usually, a grainy or soupy mixture is salvageable by further mixing.
Absolutely delicious. Love this frosting so much and I’ve made it over and over. I live where it’s really hot and sometimes it can get a little runny after adding the butter. But I just pop it in the fridge for 10-20 mins, then pull it out and start whipping it again and it comes together like nothing happened 🙂 Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
That’s great, Audrey! Thanks for your review, we appreciate your good comments and feedback.
Would this frosting work on an angel food cake?
Hi Elaine, I haven’t tested this with angel food cake, but that may work. If you experiment, I’d love to know how you like this recipe!
hi I just made this and the meringue was stiff and wonderful but when I added the butter it got really runny, the mixture didn’t feel warm and butter was just soft not melted. is there some way for me to salvage? tastes wonderful just too runny 🙁
Hi Sara, if the temperatures were correct, the best thing to do is to keep mixing and it should come together. It will look that way before it comes together.