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.
Is it possible to add less sugar without altering the recipe ? I have diabetic family members and would like it a bit less sweet .
Hi Cristina, the frosting is not overly sweet to taste, but I do understand where you are coming from. I think you could make it work with 1 1/2 cups sugar but I’m not sure if it would work with less than that.
Has anyone else tried using less sugar – I’d love to hear your results! thanks in advance 🙂
i used 1 1/2 c sugar on a slightly sweet hazelnut sponge, and it was perfect. Since i find most cakes too sweet i was glad to see this worked.
Also i want to second the forgiving nature of this recipe. I started with 1 c of sugar and then put it back over water to heat when I decided to add another half cup. I also used a herself mixer with whisks since I don’t have a stand mixer.It looked horrific 10 min before it came together b/c the mixer was giving off so much heat. Luckily I realized, let it cool , and then went back to mixing in short bursts, and it was great. Next time I might start on the whip setting but switch to mix after all the butter is in. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so glad it worked out for you Ann!
I made this on cupcakes and it was so lovely. I just wanted to eat all the frosting off the tops! Ha! Thank you 🙂
Hi Victoria, I’m so glad you loved it! 🙂 I have the same temptation when I make this!
Hi Natasha,
Can this be used with Russian Tips as well. i like your full instructions though
Yes this would work for Russian tips. I have that on my to-do list for tutorials this year. 🙂
Thank you…hope to see the tutorials… all the best to you for 2018
I made this per instruction, it came out exactly as pictured in the instructions. I will say I had higher hope for this recipe it started to melt while in the icing bag and it melts quickly when left at room temperature, I would probably make this for an ice cream cake rather than a regular cake. The flavor is very subtle and it wasn’t very sweet at all, almost just tasted like fluff. I won’t be making it ever again
Hi Tessa, Swiss Meringue Buttercream is normally a very stable buttercream and should not be melting easily, unless you are in a very hot and humid climate. I wonder if maybe it needed to be beaten longer or if the butter was added when the meringue was still warm? That is usually the case if it doesn’t form correctly, then I would suggest refrigerating it 10 minutes at a time and re-beating for a few minutes until it is fully at room temp and fluffy when beaten. I hope that helps!
Hi: just wondering if I can use “egg whites” from a carton instead of using eggs then throwing out the yolks. I’m in the process of starting this so would really appreciate a reply asap. Thanks.
PS: Love your recipes.
Hi Claudette, I haven’t tested with carton eggs so I can’t say for sure, but I would stay away from carton whites to err on the side of caution. It may have additives or be pasteurized. I had one reader report that hers did not form for a really long time and while troubleshooting we discovered she used carton eggs so that may have been the culprit.
Thanks Natasha. I did try with the egg whites from a carton and it didn’t work. I started again, this time using egg whites from regular eggs and it worked beautifully. Thanks again. Wonder what I can do with all those egg yolks. Any suggestions? Thanks again.
I’m so glad it worked out and thank you for reporting back with that information. I’m sure that will be super helpful for others wondering about carton whites. 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!! 🙂
Hi, thanks so much for such a well written recipe. I’m excited to try it. Can you please suggest different flavours to add to it and if so, what types and how/when to add. thanks in advance.
Hi Corrinne, 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, 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.
If I have extra icing, can I keep it in the fridge and how long
Hi Lola, it will be fine to cover and refrigerate for several days, just be sure to bring it to room temperature then re-beat it to smooth and fluff the frosting 🙂
I’ve gotten up to the part where you whip the egg whites and sugar
I’ve whipped them up on high speed but it’s not forming “stiff peaks” so I added 1 tablespoon of butter and now it’s all soupy? What should I do?
Hi Gia, did you wait until your mixture was completely at room temperature before adding the room temperature (not melted) butter? If it’s warm at all, it will take much longer for the cream to whip into the right consistency. Refrigerate the mixture for 10 minutes at a time then whip another 3 minutes or until you get a whipped consistency.
Natasha. I wont be using so much icing. Can you please give me measurements for half of this recipe. I tried to do, but i dont know to calculate with the egg whites. Please help!
Hi Shahina, if you have a kitchen scale that would be the most idea since you could weigh it out. You could just do 3 1/2 egg whites (using half of the 4th egg white) or do 3 extra large egg whites or you could do 4 medium egg whites.
Hi natasha. I love how you reply so soon. So if i could weigh , egg whites should be 105g right?
And the other measurements
1 cup sugar
3/4cup butter
1tsp vanilla
And a pinch of salt. Correct?
Yes that is correct 🙂
Natasha. It was the best.! When i made it, at the end it was runny. But u said whip it more to make it stiff. It helped. So nice and silky. Thankyou. Half the recipe was enough for me to fill 24 cupcakes.
I’m glad to hear the recipe was a success! Thanks so much for sharing Shahina!
Absolutely delicious. Made this frosting to go on my mom’s 88th birthday cake. Everyone raved about it. Will be using this in the future. It seemed like I’d never stop beating but it turned out delicious.
I’m glad everyone loves the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review Maureen!
Hi Natasha,
Please I’m about to try the recipe but I need to clarify two things.
1. Please is it the normal granulated sugar or icing sugar
2. Please is it possible to use the powdered egg white and how does that work
Gabriella, it is normal granulated sugar. I’ve never experimented with powdered egg whites. I would advise to do google search if anyone experimented with them.
Just made this for the first time. I’d avoided it for a long time because I found it intimidating, but it turned out perfectly! I halved the recipe, and after reading the reviews I added a tad less sugar, and it was delicious! I really wanted something less sweet than American buttercream but not too buttery, and this was just what I was looking for. I don’t have a candy thermometer, so I just kept rubbing the meringue between my fingers and stopped once the sugar was dissolved and it was hot. It was time consuming but well worth the effort.
I’m glad to hear the recipe was a success! Thanks for sharing your great review Amanda!
Hi Natasha, I have a question about food coloring. I am planning to make this frosting for my daughters birthday cake this weekend and they want pink frosting. Where I live I can only get the liquid food coloring, would you advise trying it? I might do a trial batch ahead of time to see how it goes first.
Hi Angela, that should still work ok but add it a little bit at a time and I would suggest adding the color in a tiny batch to see if you can get the color you want without breaking the consistency of the cream.
Ok, thanks! I’ll let you know how it goes 😊
Please do Angela!
Making this right at this moment for the first time and I have a question:
Can I add meringue to beaten butter or does it have to be always the meringue under the mixer and then adding pieces of butter?
The reason why is that I am making 3 batches (3x your recipe) and I can not mix it in one time as it will overflow. And I want to keep my metal bowl fat free for the second beating. So I split the egg/sugar syrup in two and mixing one part now while the other part is waiting. Is that OK?
Hi Gergana, that would be my main concern is that it will overwhelm the mixer which is why I do 1 batch at a time. You can divide it if your mixer is large enough to accomodate 1 1/2 times the recipe.
And another question! I am beating half of my mix now for one hour and it is not even near room temperature! Can I put the beaten meringue mix in the fridge?
Hi Gergana, It is probably taking excessively long because you are doing 1 1/2 times the recipe which will just take longer. I usually only refrigerate after adding the butter if the mixture is not setting correctly which means it was too warm when butter was added. I then place it in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes at a time then beat another 3 minutes for the cream to form.
Thanks Natasha! So my buttercream turned out beautifully, it is indeed very smooth and works best for finishing cakes without fondant (up till now I always used fondant covering). I did find it sweet though, which surprised me because everybody says this is the least sweet buttercream. About the batches: The first batch (1.5x) took forever to cool down so I put the meringue mix in the fridge to cool to room temp. and then added the butter – worked fine. In the meantime the meringue syrup of the second batch had cooled down to room temperature and that worked fine too. So I haven’t had to put the entire buttercream in the fridge. In the future I think I will be cooling my egg/sugar syrup to room temp. before I start beating it. I think that works best.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us 😬
Hi Gergana, I haven’t done it that way and I haven’t come across that in all of my research so I’m really not sure.
what’s going wrong? mine is just liquid double checked the measurements and they are fine put it in the fridge and tried to whip again but its not working?!
Hi Sharon, that is usually due to adding butter that is too soft or adding it before the mixture has fully cooled to room temperature. Refrigerate the mixture for 10 minutes at a time then whip another 3 minutes or until you get a whipped consistency.
The first time I did this was a failure, my buttercream was soupy and tasted very sweet (I guess because of the issue on the consistency of the SMB). Last night I gave it a try again, but instead of pasteurizing/cooking the egg white with the sugar over a boiling water, i heated 90 ml of water with 230 g of sugar over direct heat until it reaches 200 F. When it reached that point, I started whipping the egg whites and added the remaining sugar (170 g) to it when bubbles started to show and whip it at max speed until the water and sugar that i was heating up reaches 240 f (soft ball). Once it reached 240 f, i turned the mixer into slow speed and started slowly adding the sugar syrup. This way, the egg whites are being cooked. Once all syrup has been added, i put the mixer to top speed again until i get stiff peaks. Prior to adding the butter in, i let the meringue sit on the fridge to make it cool. Then followed the rest of the procedures. The outcome was perfect and the sweetness is just enough for my taste. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome Rhea! I’m glad to hear the recipe was a success. Thanks so much for sharing your helpful review with other readers!
That’s Italian buttercream!
I used the egg whites from a carton. Could that be why it’s still soupy after 10 hours of mixing? Followed directions to a T. Very disappointed.
Hi Cynthia, I haven’t tried egg whites from a carton so it may be that if they have any additives. With SMB it is very important to make sure you continue mixing until the meringue is no longer warm when you touch the bottom of the bowl. If it is too warm or if you add butter that is too warm (i.e. speed softened or partially melted in the microwave), it may cause it to be “soupy.” If that happens, put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes at a time to cool it to the correct temperature then continue beating a few minutes or until whipped in consistency.
Hi Natasha, I was wondering of you can please help me. I was pretty excited after the whisking of egg whites and sugar to give it a stiff peak. I made sure that the bottom of the mixer bowl is not warm. However, when I started to put in the butter, it started to be liquidy. I continued to beat it with the paddle attachment for 30mins, still no go. So I tried switching to the whisk attachment again and I have been beating it for another 30mins, but it’s still runny… 🙁
Any idea what might have gone wrong?
Hi Carmina, that is usually due to not having the meringue fully at room temperature. It is easy to fix – refrigerate for about 15 minutes at a time to get the mixture to the right temperature and continue mixing for a few minutes or until whipped.
Hi Natasha!
I am about to try this amazing recipe. What do you think about adding cooked condensed milk to it? Could I get caramel flavor or would I just ruin it?
Thank you!
PS. Tried many of your recipes and love most of them!!! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Maryna, I haven’t tried and actually had to google it. I love that idea!! There are several recipes out there that add it to the end. You can add up to 1/2 cup based on what I’ve read and comparing proportions that are in our recipe. If you test it out, pretty please let me know how it goes! I’m so curious!! 🙂
Natasha I just had to write to you after making this buttercream. Last year I made Swiss meringue buttercream for the first time, wanting to give it a go since everyone in the blog world was saying how fabulous it is. Well, I was put off by the strong butter taste and haven’t made it again since. I felt it needed to be a little sweeter and a little less butter. Today, I decided to have another go and so I searched through a few different blogs and recipes looking for a better balance between butter and sugar and came across and decided to give your recipe a go. Well, let me just say, YES! YES! YES! This is it! This is what I want it to taste like (although I would probably use just a touch less sugar)! It’s amazing! Thank you Natasha, you have successfully converted me to using Swiss meringue buttercream from now on, confidently using your recipe. It was well worth the time and effort.
Also, your Panna Cotta with berry sauce is absolutely to die for! The best vanilla pannacotta I’ve ever had. It’s so smooth and creamy and everyone just loves it and can’t get enough of it!
Keep up the fantastic recipes!
Awesome! I’m glad to hear you love the recipe! Thanks so much for following and sharing your wonderful review! 🙂
Hi, how can i make it a flavoured SMB? Like chocolate or rasberry/ coconut?? Can you please adv what brand of food flavouring do you use?
Hi Annie. With SMBC, I would suggest adding the flavor at the end to taste. Also, I suggest using a gel food coloring so you can color it without breaking consistency of your frostings.