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 there anyway I could make this into a chocolate buttercream?
I love love this recipe.
I haven’t tried making this chocolate, but From my research, chocolate is always added at the end. I would probably start with 8-9 semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled and whip it in at the end.
Ok great !! Thank you !! Thank you so much for posting your recipe. I just for my whoopi pies and they taste amazing!
You’re very welcome!
I just made this, and am wondering if I can use this as the layer under fondant?
Hi Shirin. I don’t have any experience with fondant to be honest but I think it would work since it is a pretty stable buttercream.
Yes. This is my go-to Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe and I make fondant cakes all the time. In fact, after chilling and setting up the buttercream, it’s more stable than American buttercream under fondant. It sets up beautifully.
That’s so great!
Hey, this looks like a great recipe. Will it frost a 6 inch cake, crumb coat included? And does it hold well?
Hi Rosie, Yes this will be enough for a 6″ cake!
Hello Natasha! Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
I’ve tried to follow this as closely as I can, however, mine does not come out as smooth as yours. I am planning to use this to cover a wedding cake but my SMBC seems like there are a lot of air bubbles when spread and so the end result is not smooth looking.
Is this a result of too high of a speed when mixing? Or the amount of time of mixing is too long/short?
Hi Marianne, it could be either too high of speed or using the whisk attachment rather than the paddle attachment. Either the whisk or high speed will incorporate more air bubbles. I hope that is helpful in troubleshooting SMBC 🙂
Hello:) I’ve been looking for a proper SMBC recipe for a long time, and I’ve seen that this one has a whole lot of amazing reviews, so I was about to go for this one, but then I notied that it is the only SMBC recipe (among the ones I’ve read so far) that uses more sugar than butter, and this got me wondering why. How does the amount of butter affect the end result?
thank you for answering, have a beautiful day!
Hi Elena, I like this balance (it also has more whites than most of the recipes out there). If you put it on a cake that is very sweet, the frosting will just taste like butter if it doesn’t have enough sugar in it. I hope you love it! 🙂
Hi. Is this enough go cover a 6 inch cake (including crumb coat)
Thanks
Hi Tas, yes this will be enough SMBC frosting for a 6″ cake.
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?!
If your frosting was at room temperature I would try beating it few minutes longer until frosting is whipped and formed. If it breaks when you rewhip the cream, just keep beating.
I made this for 24 cupcakes for my son’s outdoor birthday party. I am not a fan of buttercream usually but this was really delicious! I had some left over but not a huge amount. I was able to pipe with it also to make a lightening bolt on the cupcakes. This is a great alternative to whipped cream frosting and it won’t melt all over. I will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you for sharing!
You are very welcome Sally and thank you for sharing that with us 😀
Hi there, I’m going to attempt to make my own wedding cake so I don’t have to spend $800 on a 2 tier cake… (I’m doing practise runs before the big day). Will this SMBC last if I ice my wedding cake the day before the wedding, and leave it out in room temperature to be taken to the reception. Or is it recommended to put the iced wedding cake in the fridge, and take it out the day of?
Hi Bianca, from what I have read, there are mixed thoughts about leaving it out vs refrigerating. The majority of sources I have found said it can be left overnight at room temperature. If you can refrigerate, that is probably the safest route and then let it come to room temperature before serving. I bet it would be easier to transport if it is chilled since the frosting firms up and is more stable for transport.
Hey there 🙂
Exactly what I wanted to make.
Have question about storing it for the next day in the fridge.
Planning on using the swiss meringue as icing for a sponge cake.
My issue is I will be making the cake on a Monday to be served on a Tuesday night.
My plan is to store it in the fridge from Monday at home until served on Tuesday night at another place, so it will be transferred.
This is my first time making a swiss meringue. And do not know how it holds in the fridge, or how long it lasts outside. Or if it has to be brought to room temperature before serving.
Will it melt if left outside for too long. Or the fridge might ruin it?
How do you advise to store it and serve it?
How do I approach this?
I will be decorating the top of the cake with fruits, strawberries and berries.
As well on the sides with strawberries too.
If that affects it.
Would appreciate your help very much. 🙂
Hi Paul, Swiss Meringue refrigerates very well on a cake. I like to bring it to room temperature so it’s softer for serving. It won’t melt unless it’s in a hot room or in sunlight. It’s a fairly stable frosting. As with any cake, I would suggest covering it before refrigerating so it doesn’t absorb any refrigerator smells. Decorating with fruit is best the day it’s served when the fruit looks its best but even a day ahead will work.
im happy with your recipe! thank you!
My pleasure! 🙂
How many regular sized cupcakes would this make? I am making about 48 mini cupcakes so I am wondering if I should double the recipe. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, if they are mini cupcakes, I think this recipe would be sufficient, but if you wanted to double it, I would suggest making a double batch since it would take a really long time to cool to room temp and would overwhelm most mixers.
What happen if I put less than 2 cups of sugar? I just like mild sweet but not too much sweet. Thanks.
Hi Thea, we are the same way – we don’t like desserts that are overly sweet. If you put less than 2 cups, it might taste too much like butter.
Hi Natasha
Do you think I can use this Swiss meringue buttercream to make a rainbow color frosting?
Thanks
Candace
Hi Candace, I think you could, but add a little color at a time until you reach your desired color while maintaining the consistency. I would recommend using a gel food coloring over a liquid one.
I really like this recipe, I did get to a point where it was really thin so I added another stick of butter. Now I have an after taste of butter but the consistency is absolutely perfect. Anything I can do to dilute the butter after taste?
Hi Kyle, it sounds like maybe the mixture needed to cool more. Once it is at the right temp (room temp and not any warmer), it does form even when it looks like it wont 🙂
Can you tell me what brand is your kitchen mixer?Thanks!
Its Kitchen Aid
Can I use organic cane sugar for this frosting?
Hi Ausra, I haven’t tested that so I’m not sure. If the granules are larger, it would take longer to dissolve and if they are cream or brown in color, the final result may be an off white. You might do some google research to see if anyone has tried making this kind of buttercream with organic sugar.
Is there a chocolate version for this buttercream? Maybe using cocoa powder while incorporating the butter?
Hi Kadensis, I haven’t tried making this chocolate, but From my research, chocolate is always added at the end. I would probably start with 8-9 semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled and whip it in at the end.
Can you use Meringue powder?
Hi Andrea, I don’t think that would work in this recipe. That kind of substitution would need more modifications and without testing it, I won’t be able to provide specific advice.
If I wanted to make a white chocolate frosting with this frosting would I add my chocolate mix with the vanilla?
Hi Caroline, I haven’t experimented with this one and white chocolate but generally, you would add the flavorings to SMBC frosting at the end.
Hello !
I’ve just tried your recipe, it tastes amazing. The Meringue stage turned out really well, lovely smooth and big peaks – but after adding butter (it was not too soft or cold) mine wasn’t as thick as yours, I couldn’t pipe it – can you tell me how to thicken this up if this happens again, or where I might be going wrong? Many thanks!!
Hi Susie, it usually helps to give it a few more minutes in the mixer to thicken up. I hope that helps for next time!
Hi, if I want to double the recipe should I make it twice or can I just make one batch?
Hi Nancy, I would make it twice if doubling or it would overwhelm most mixers and take probably twice as long to whip anyways to cool the mixture to room temperature. It’s safer to make 2 batches.