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.
The first part of the frosting was great…adding the butter just made it deflate and separate! Didn’t not like at all. What was wrong
Hi! I’ve mad a full batch before and it was amazing! Today I just need a small batch. I want to halve it so I changed the serving size to 12. It calls for 3.5 egg whites. What would you do? 3 or round it up to 4? Thanks!
Hey Kerrie! For the last egg, to get half of it, you can crack the egg into a small bowl, mix it a bit and then use have of that even mixture. I hope that helps!
WOW! WOW! WOW! I started off thinking I was messing the recipe up. I think the egg whites should be at room temp. It took six minutes to reach 160 degrees. Since it is summertime, it also took longer to whip up to the right consistency. I had to put the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, then whip, then 20 more minutes and whipped again with the paddle attachment. Oh my goodness though, this is the BEST frosting EVER! Was it worth all the trouble? YES! YES! and YES! I’ve been making buttercream for my whole life (over 50 years baking experience) and I will NEVER make regular buttercream again! I made this for my aunt’s 100 birthday today. I can’t wait for the celebration. Thank you, Natasha!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Teresa!
Hello Natasha,
I love all your recipes and enjoy making them. Can you help me, I’m trying to make a double batch of your meringue buttercream frosting but I’m not sure the quantities for a double batch. Thank you
Hi, if you go to the serving size in the recipe card and click on that, you will get a bar that you can adjust the servings and double it to see how it changes the list of ingredients. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha!
Can I lessen the sugar to 1.5 cups and still have a stable frosting? I have made this several times and LOVE it, but my nephew asked me to make a cake with less sweet frosting. If I can’t add less sugar, do you think a half teaspoon of vinegar would harm the frosting? Thank you!
Hi Rachel, I’m so happy to hear it worked for you! 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.
HI there,
I was wondering if you can use liquid egg whites (like from the carton) or if it is imperative that I use regular egg whites.
Thank so much
Hi Amanda, I haven’t tried to advise but it would be good to know. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
I used liquid egg whites today and was surprised at how well it whipped up. I haven’t had or made swiss meringue buttercream often but it is thick, creamy and smooth!
Nice to know that it turned out well, Charlene! Thanks so much for sharing that with us.
I made this a second time and it went soupy on me. No amount of chilling revived it. Can’t figure out what I did wrong. Did I over whip the eggs in the first place or use too high heat to cook them?
Hi Carmen. It is very important to use a thermometer to make sure you are getting the mixture to the right temperature and not overheating or underheating. The butter may have been too warm or the egg white/sugar mixture may have been too warm when adding the butter. I would look over the recipe and watch my process again to see where your process was different.
Hi! Tried making it once and it turned out great! I liked that it wasn’t super sweet. My husband really liked it too. I was wondering, Can you double this recipe?
Hi Carmen, thank you for your good feedback and review. I have not tried that and I think it would overwhelm a normal mixer to double it. If you try that as an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
hi love this receipe but for some reason it came out grainy for me I left the egg white and sugar mixture over pan for 20ish minutes and it dissolved as I felt no graininess between my fingers. what did i do wrong?
Hi Callie. 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. I can’t think of why else it would have been grainy except for if the sugar was not fully disolved.
If you cooked the egg white mixture for 20 minutes it was cooked eggs you felt. It only takes a few minutes to dissolve sugar. You cooked it too long.
How does it take to using food coloring? I was hoping to do rainbow cupcakes.
Hi Lisa! You can add food coloring just fine. Gel or powder food color works best.
I made this frosting and at first it came out really soupy. I stuck it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Whipped it up and it became thicker and perfect. Delicious frosting. I will use this recipe for future cakes. I used this buttercream on my sister’s wedding cake. She loved it. THANKS
Hello Heather, that is nice! I’m glad the recipe is a hit for you and for your sister’s wedding. That’s just awesome!
Hi
I love all of the recipes that I have tried but the Swiss meringue buttercream was an epic fail
It was perfect until the butter part and even though the mixture was cool to the touch the entire mixture became unpipeable
I left it in the refrigerator overnight and am going to try again now
Hi Pranisha, watch the video tutorial which may help and also check the common questions section in the post which goes over common troubleshooting issues.
Hi Natasha, l’m making a 2 tiered semi naked choc mud wedding cake. Would the Swiss Merangue frosting be suitable to fill and use on the outside of the cake? Also is it white?. I will have to freeze the whole decorated cake for approx 1 week would this be suitable for this?
Thank you, love all of your recipes and your lovely family.
Rosina 💋💋
Hi Rosina! Thank you. Yes- I believe this would work well for what you are trying to do, it freezes well. The frosting will have a tint of yellow more or less depending on the butter you use, some butter is more yellow than others. Whipping it up good helps decrease the yellow tint and looks more ivory when done. If it is not white enough, a tiny drop of blue or purple food color mellows out the yellow tint.
Hi Natasha. Wondering, does this frosting hold up to being colored? I’ve only seen it piped white. I wanted to do rainbow cupcakes for me daughter.
Also, can I pipe it and store it in the fridge over night?
Thanks
Hi Lisa! Yes, you can color it. Gel and powder food colors work best. You can pipe it and it can be refrigerated overnight. Just take it out a couple of hours before serving so it has time to come to room temperature. This frosting is so much better when it’s soft and not hard/cold like butter.
Oh My Goodness this is good. I made a small batch and used salted butter because that I how I like my frosting. So good!
Good to know that you loved it, Kathleen!
Hi Natasha
I have used your Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe for years and it’s never failed me. But I always used the gram measures in your recipe and now I’m lost. How disappointing 😏
Regards
Carol
Hi Carol, you can go to the recipe and click Metric to convert it to gramws.
I went to the recipe and tried to convert to grams and it did not work. Nothing changes.
Hi Vera, I tried it by clicking Metric and it converted the ingredients. However, it does not automatically convert the recipe instructions. Unfortunately, we don’t have that feature in our recipes to do that yet.
If I recall correctly, the measurement for the egg whites was 210g and the sugar was 400g. I don’t weigh out butter so that’s not one I memorized.
Hi Natasha, just wanted to let you know that I love this recipe. I have made it several times and I have even doubled and tripled the recipe and it works so well. I have just one question, do you have have ant tips on the buttercream coming out whiter? Mine always comes out like a cream colour. Have no problem if I colour it in a colour, it’s just when I try to keep it natural. Any ideas? Thank you so much.
Hi Kathy, a small drop of purple food color will fix this problem for you. It will color-correct the yellow tint.
Alternatively, you could add a bit of white food colouring. I have a Wilton brand one that works well.
Looking forward to trying this! Do you think I could use ghee instead of butter?
I have not tested this to advise what the outcome would be.
Hi Natasha, I love your recipes! Trying the vanilla cupcakes with the buttercream frosting. The cupcakes came out great – the frosting is loose so I added some cold butter pats, beat it more and now it’s in the fridge. I hope it stiffens so the cupcakes can be frosted tomorrow ( ?)
Hi Romay! I hope it works out for you.
Hi Natasha. Thankss for all the nice receipts. I would like to know how I can flavor this merengue. Chocolate or dry rasberry, lemon ? Is it possible?
Hi, I have not tested this yet with my Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but I know it is possible to flavor. I’m sure with a quick search on google you’ll be able to find the best way to do this.
Hi Natasha, if I use the 4.8L kitchenaid mixer, what’s the speed number for medium and medium high?
Hi Yulia! There should be a speed reference on the side of your mixer with the speed level. Medium speed would be the middle setting, and medium-high would be between medium and high.