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.
Instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I made a 1/2 recipe using 3 egg whites and the frosting was fantastic!
I’m happy you enjoy the recipe so much! Thanks for sharing your great review Cas!
Loved this recipe! I had read other smbc recipes that made it sound really difficult to pull off, but I followed your instructions (and pictures!) and it came out great. My meringue stiffened up very quickly and I didn’t want to over beat it so I refrigerated it for a few minutes, then added the butter. The texture changed right with the last about half a half a of butter, and really started looking creamy versus shiny. Can’t wait to use it again. Also this was the perfect amount for a two layer, 9 inch cake.
Awesome, I’m glad to hear the recipe is a success! Thanks for sharing your outstanding review with other readers Alissa!
Hi such a great recipes with easy to follow instructions thank you. I am thinking of trying this to cover a layer cake I just wanted to know what size cake will the above recipe cover? My cake is 8inch layer cake (three layers)
Hi Lara, that should work. I have used this recipe for this 2-layer chocolate cake and frosted fairly generously 🙂
You totally made my Easter! I used this frosting recipe to put on a Coconut Cream Cake (instead of 2 tsp. of vanilla, I put 1 t. of vanilla & 1 t. of coconut extract). I brought it to a family dinner at my parents house. It was such a huge hit! Everyone wanted an extra piece for later. So thanks for that!
I have to admit that I almost ruined it though. I absentmindedly grabbed the salted butter and halfway in it wasn’t fluffing up as much as I thought it should, so I checked the recipe and realized my mistake. I immediately switched to the unsalted butter for the last 2 sticks and as soon as I put the first two tablespoons of unsalted butter, it started fluffing up right away. So since I added a stick of salted butter, I didn’t add the extra salt that was called for in the recipe. I’m surprised that it still turned out but it turned into this, fluffy, billowy, silky, marshmallow-y perfection. I sprinkled some toasted coconut on after frosting. Yum! So good.
Thank you for the recipe and thank you even more for the excellent instruction.
My pleasure Kristi! I’m so glad the recipe was such a success…and just reading your review made salivate. Thanks for sharing your great review with other readers!
P.S. This was my first time ever making Swiss Meringue Buttercream so your instruction made it easy!
I would like to say to others making this that it’ll be OK if the timing of the sugar dissolving over the pot of simmering water takes longer than 3 minutes; mine took much longer than that ~ maybe because it was raining and more humid than usual (?..not sure) but don’t give up and think you’ve failed, just keep going until the sugar dissolves & no longer grainy and the mixture is very warm. Dip your finger in and rub it between your fingers like Natasha shows in the pic above. My mixture only got to 140 degrees though because, geez, it was taking forever. So I did stop then, but only because the sugar dissolved and the mixture was warmed. Thankfully it still worked out [I was nervous about it but my arm was tired, locked in the down position ;D]
It turns out that this recipe is more forgiving than what I anticipated, meaning I made a few mistakes but kept following the instructions of what it should feel, look like. That helped out SO much.
Thank you again, Natasha. I’ll be using this recipe foreva!!
Thank you so much for sharing Kristi! I’m so happy you loved the recipe!!
I was very excited to try this frosting recipe. So I got started. The eggs and sugar came together wonderfully, no problems! Got them to the right temp, sugar melting into the eggs just the way they should. Started whipping the mixture. Perfection! Cooled the bowl down, started adding the butter. Looked good, then nothing. Soupy mess. Kept going. Soupy. Popped it in the fridge, beat it. Soupy. Back in the fridge, beat it. Soupy. Added a thickener, beat it. Soupy. Over an hour nothing changed. Stayed soupy. Help, don’t know what I did wrong.
Hi Nicholle, if your meringue mixture is not completely at room temperature or if your butter is too soft (such as speed softening or partially melted in the microwave), that can occur. Also, if you are using a hand held mixer to beat the meringue, it will take longer to cool the mixture down. It is critically important to use room temperature (and not warm) ingredients. I have been able to salvage a batch by refrigerating 10 minutes at a time and re-beating for 3 minutes on medium high speed using the paddle attachment of the stand mixer. I hope that helps to troubleshoot the issue.
My eggs were good, the butter was not too warm. I put it in the refrigerator twice for 15 minutes, used the paddle first time and the balloon the second time. Same outcome. It was a cool day and low humidity.
Hi Nicholle, did you possibly use pre-packaged egg whites from a carton or use a larger granule sugar? I’m not sure what else it could be.
I had the same thing happen to me with an Italian merengue buttercream. I thought it was too warm so I kept refrigerating it then whipping it some more but it still wouldn’t emulsify. I finally found a tip online on how to save curdled merengue buttercream and it worked. It needed a little heat and it came right together. I have a metal bowl on my mixer, so I got a dish rag very hot (my tap water gets really hot), then put it around the outside of the mixing bowl while it was on. I watched closely and kept it on just until the frosting emulsified, if your tap water isn’t very hot, you may need to reheat the dish rag.
So I’m just wondering? ! cup of sugar is 120 g not 200. Are you using granulated? I just want to make sure everyone uses the correct amount of sugar otherwise it may be too sweet! 2 cups should be 240 not 400
Hi Brandi, 2 cups graniulated is about 400 grams, or more exactly 396 grams. 1 cup is 198 grams so this is accurate based on multiple resources I have checked online including Cooks Illustrated, and King Arthur Flour. I hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Brandi, one cup is 250ml of liquid and 200gr of sugar. Just measured it and I have a professional postal scale at home 😉
Thank you Gerry! 🙂
This is the fourth smbc recipe I have tried and by far the best!! It is the perfect sweet, not too buttery! All I have to do is try to ice it with a cake. Can I add fondant toppers to it?
Hi Jae, I don’t have any experience with fondant to be honest but I think it would work since it is a pretty stable buttercream.
Okay awesome. I’ll give it try. I’m just added a few fondant/polka dots circle on the cake. So I think that should be okay?
That sounds like a nice idea! I’d love to see a photo when it’s all done! 🙂
Can you freeze this once you put it on cupcakes
Hi Patsy, I haven’t tried that but I think it can be done since this frosting is freezer safe.
Hi Jae, I have made cakes with SMBC and added fondant toppers. Make sure your toppers are well dried and hard. Don’t put them on too early, wait until the day you need the cake. If the cake is in the fridge overnight with the toppers on, they will go soft and sticky. Put them on as late as you can. Hope this helps
Thank you!!!
One questions. Have you made this butter cream in advance. Do you store it in the fridge and how do you bring it back to buttercream consistency.
I made it in advance but I don’t know if I left it out to thaw for too long – when I whipped it again it curdled. 🙁
Any advise?!
Hi there, I’ve tried this recipe many times and I love the flavor and how light it is but I can never smooth it out because there are so many air bubbles especially if it has sat in a bowl and I have to rewhip it. Are you able to get it smooth?
Hi Catherine, what helps the most for me is using the paddle attachment and not the whisk. I hope that helps!
Hi Catherine & Natasha, I’ve made this recipe twice and it turned out so good. I even halved it for 12 cupcakes and it was the exact amount to pipe them beautifully (exact measurements).
I whipped the egg white/sugar mixture with the whisk attachment then changed to the normal “K” beater when it came time to add the butter. It worked out perfectly following your instructions. Thank you
Hi there, I’ve made this recipe a free times using clear vanilla extract but it doesn’t seem to be as white as yours. I know the butter is what tints the color. Is there something you do to get it so close to white?
Hi Catherine, you are correct – some butters are more yellow in color so maybe try switching to a different butter. I’ve tried organic unsalted by Simple truth brand and the longer sticks from Costco by Kirkland signature unsalted butter and both were very white in color.
Hi Natasha, have you tried using 1/2 butter and 1/2 cream cheese with this recipe? I’m thinking it might give an interesting taste plus it would be a bit less fat?
Hi Mirka, I haven’t seen Swiss Meringue made that way so I’m honestly not sure if it would ruin the consistency. Maybe try googling that idea first. When making a buttercream with cream cheese, this is my go-to recipe.
Hi,Natasha. Thanks for sharing this recipe. With this cream can I make flowers and leaves out of them? Thanks for all these good recipes God bless you Natasha.
Hi Olga, It isn’t as firm as an American buttercream frosting, but I think that could work. Here is an example where I piped this cream onto a cake.
Hello Natasha, I just made this recipe and followed all instructions but my frosting came out still tasting a bit too “buttery” and too salty. I did use unsalted butter and I did 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Where could I have gone wrong? I’m going to try making another batch this time I won’t add salt? But what about the butter taste? I need help please!
Hi Oksana with just a 1/4 tsp of salt, it should have been a hint of salt in taste which is nice in a buttercream, but you can leave it out if you don’t like that bit of salt there. Are you certain all of your sticks of butter were unsalted? I haven’t had anyone else report it being salty so I’m not sure why else that would be. You might add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter frosting which will also mask any butter flavor. I hope that reply is helpful to you! 🙂
You could add the salt at the beginning and dissolve it with the egg whites and sugar if you don’t like the little tastes of salt in your buttercream. I’ve also found some salts seem a bit saltier than others, if that makes sense.
Does adding dye to the frosting change it?
Hi Amy, it is safest to add a gel food coloring at the end so it doesn’t loosen up the consistency and add a little at a time, keeping an eye on consistency until you reach the desired color.
So what do you do with all the egg yolks ? I’ll need some ideas— planning to make this frosting this weekend (double portion)..
Hi Tanya, 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!! 🙂
hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise, caesar dressing I think
Thanks
You’re welcome!
Lemon curd! YUMM
Hi Tanya, I make classical tiramisu with egg yolks. You make the sabayon with them and after they cool you mix the mascarpone and the cream. There are many other recipes requiring sabayon (egg yolks with sugar basically). You can google “sabayon” recipes. I made two tiramisu’s recently and now my frizer is full of egg whites :-). And yes, egg whites are perfect for freezing.
Thank you 🙂
The best frosting ever! I despise the traditional American buttercream frosting as it is so heavy and sweet. This Swiss meringue buttercream tastes so much lighter and very delicious. And it holds up so well, even in an extreme Alabama humidity. Thanks for such a great recipe, Natasha!
You’re welcome Liliana! I’m glad to hear how much you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your excellent review!
Pastry cream or carbonara (if you’ve got too many sweet treats around). Here’s a list I consult every time I make a Swiss meringue haha https://neighborfoodblog.com/2014/03/recipes-for-leftover-egg-yolks.html
I just buy the egg whites from the store that why i don’t waste a bunch of eggs
Lemon, Orange or Lime Curd. Freezes well and make great cake fillngs
Lemon curd! And it makes the most delicious cupcake filling
I just made this recipe for the first time now with great success. I live in south Africa and it’s currently summer and I didn’t have a problem with the buttercream curdling. It literally tastes like vanilla ice cream. Also, I used salted butter and I didn’t find it a problem as it helps balance out the high ratio of sugar. Thanks for the great recipe 😊
You’re welcome Shannon! I’m glad to hear the recipe was such a success. Thanks for sharing your wonderful review with other readers!
How do i make this recipe chocolate? is it better to use actual chocolate or cocoa powder? and if so how much of each.
Cammy
Hi Cameron, I haven’t tested but it is on my to-do list. From my research, I would probably start with 8-9 semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled and whip it in at the end.
Hi, I made this recipe and it turned out great! The only thing is mine was a bit on the ivory side as compared to yours. How can I get that white color like in the picture?
Hi Rabia, I haven’t had that experience but one of my readers reported a similar result and she suspected it had to do with the type of butter she was using. There are some sticks of butter that look more yellow than others right out of the package. It won’t affect the flavor or texture, but it might be the type of butter used.
Thank you so much for this recipe. It worked a dream for me. My husband hates regular buttercream because it’s too greasy and sweet for him. He’ll scrape it off every time. But when he tasted this recipe, he actually said, he could eat it (not piles of it though. haha)
I heated my egg whites and sugar with my Thermomix, 7minutes/70*C/speed 2. It was perfect. Then I put the egg white/sugar mixture in my mixing bowl and went on as per recipe. Absolutely perfect. THANK YOU.
🙂
My pleasure Corrinne! I’m glad to hear how much you both enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your fantastic review with other readers!
Will this buttercream get nice and stiff in the fridge if used as a crumb coat on cakes? And then fondant applied on top …
Hi Tanya, yes this one does firm up with refrigeration.
Thanks!! Will have to try it 🙂
Hi Natasha! Love all your recipes and how easy they are to follow. I was wondering what would be a good frosting recipe to use for a naked cake style? Wondering if this recipe is ok to use or if any frosting will work! Thank you so much!
Hi Irina, I think this would work, but I’m leaning more towards the cupcake frosting for a naked cake, maybe double the recipe though. It’s a little stiffer.
Hi Irina, I have just done a semi naked cake with this swiss meringue buttercream and it turned out amazing! I was so happy with it. Everybody loved the cake and commented on how the buttercream was not greasy or overly sweet. This will be my “go to” from now on. Happy baking
Hi Corinne! Thank you for letting me know 😊 what cake layers did you use for a naked cake? I used Natasha’s sponge cake recipe for the cake layers and they were too soft my cake kept sinking in different parts. I also used the cream cheese cupcake frosting.
Hi Irina, I used a white chocolate mud cake recipe from a cake decorating course I did. I’m sure there are lots out there. I split the mixture into 2 x 8″ cake pans, then I made another batch and split it again. So I had 4 cakes.
I put a thin layer of strawberry jam then dark chocolate ganache (thicker) between the cakes. Putting a buttercream dam around the circumference of each cake before the filling so it wouldn’t ooze out at the edges, the ganache glues the cake layers together beautifully.
The whole cake is quite dense then. But still moist. I piled the swiss meringue buttercream around the sides then the top. Then began to scrape off to make it semi naked.
Oh, I forgot to add that when I finished making the Swiss meringue buttercream, I gently folded in some freeze dried strawberry powder. It gave a beautiful pink fleck to it and it also had a slight strawberry tang.
everybody loved it. Hope this helps.
I made this for first time on my birthday cupcakes. It took a long time but came out great. Much less sweet than American butter cream which is exactly what I was looking for. I added 1/4 c raspberry sauce (thickened and seeds removed). It came out great. My problem was piping it. It was a lot less forgiving than American butter cream. Do you have technique that works? My main problem was when I stopped it left jagged edge. Use Wilton open star tip ( think its#1)
Hi Caye, I wonder if it was due to adding the raspberry sauce which could have thinned it out? Normally, this pipes pretty easily. Maybe try boiling down the raspberry sauce a little to thicken it. I hope that helps!
It was boiled and thickened with corn starch after removing the seeds. It piped fine until where you want to stop and lift. Just made it again today. Niece wants vanilla cupcakes and not so sweet frosting. It turned out fine but I guess I personally prefer when I added the raspberry. This tastes so buttery to me. That seems odd as I love butter. She doesn’t like chocolate and allergic to tree nuts so I can’t add almond extract. I really like cream cheese frosting but when piped on it gets too sweet. Has anyone tried adding some cream cheese and powdered sugar to this? Would it destroy the frosting?
I haven’t tried that or seen it done so I’m not sure. My favorite go-to cream cheese frosting is our cupcake frosting.