Have you ever had issues with Italian meringue buttercream (A.K.A Italian buttercream)? Or do you feel intimidated to try it? ...If so, you are in the right place! - In this post, I'm sharing the step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting tips so you can make it successful at home.
Although the steps to make Italian buttercream are pretty simple, they can go wrong if you don't follow the tips.
You may have got issues, such as:
- The hot sugar syrup crystallized.
- The Italian meringue was too loose or too stiff.
- The buttercream was not stiff enough.
- The buttercream wasn't smooth.
I'll cover all of the solutions to them in this post.
What I love about this Italian meringue buttercream recipe:
- It's simple: You can make it with 4 simple ingredients. (and one of them is just water!) Once you learn how to make Italian syrup, everything feels a lot easier!
- It's light: The buttercream is slightly lighter than Swiss meringue buttercream since Italian meringue is lighter and more cloudy than Swiss meringue.
- It's stable: It can be used for heavy, oversized cakes. It works as the second best after Swiss meringue buttercream for very detailed decorations, such as piped buttercream flowers.
- The texture is so smooth: The glossy meringue makes a silky smooth buttercream.
- It's not overly sweet: Unlike traditional American buttercream, Italian meringue buttercream is not overly sweet. Just enough sugar is added to make it stable.
- There is no need to re-whip it after storing it in the fridge or freezer after following the tips.
Use this delicious buttercream for any baking project, such as macarons, frosted cakes, cupcakes, etc., and make exceptionally delicious desserts.
Let's get started! 🙌🏻
📌 What is Italian buttercream?
Italian buttercream (Italian meringue buttercream, A.K.A IMBC) is a mixture of Italian meringue and butter.
Italian meringue is made by adding hot sugar syrup to whipped egg white.
Unlike adding sugar directly to the egg white (French meringue) and whipping it, you can make a more stable and stiff meringue by heating the meringue with hot sugar syrup, which leads to more stable and stiff buttercream!
How is Italian meringue buttercream different from other types of buttercream?
Here is the list of some of the popular buttercreams and how they are made:
- Italian meringue buttercream: Italian meringue + Butter
- Swiss meringue buttercream: Swiss meringue + Butter
- French buttercream: Pate au bombe + Butter
- American buttercream: Sugar + Butter
- German buttercream: Pastry cream + Butter
- Russian buttercream: Condensed milk + Butter
- English buttercream: Anglaise sauce + Butter
You can add extracts or other ingredients to them, but they are the main components.
📌 What's In Italian buttercream?
You'll only need 4 basic ingredients to make this Italian meringue buttercream frosting: egg white, sugar, water, and butter.
- Egg white: Ensure that no yolk, liquids, or dirt is mixed in the egg whites to make a fluffy meringue.
- Granulated sugar: We are making hot sugar syrup with granulated sugar and water. Use white sugar, such as granulated sugar and caster sugar.
- Water
- Unsalted butter: It's important to use soft butter to make fluffy and smooth buttercream. Leave it at room temperature ahead to make it soften.
📌 Step-by-step instructions to make Italian buttercream
The 5 simple steps:
- Whip egg white in a bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment until it gets very fluffy. (Low to high speed. Adjust the timing with the hot sugar syrup.) *Use a hand mixer when you don't have a stand mixer.
- Meanwhile, heat sugar and water in a small to medium saucepan at medium to medium-high heat until it reaches 244 - 246°F | 118 - 119°C. Brush the side with water using a pastry brush at least once while it's heated to avoid sugar crystalization. Lower the heat toward the end to avoid overheating the syrup.
- Add the hot syrup to the fluffy meringue slowly from the side of a bowl as you continue whipping it at high speed.
- Continue whipping it at high speed while the bowl feels hot. Turn it down to medium speed when it feels warm and medium-low speed when it's gently warm. Stop it when it cools down to room temperature.
- Add the room temperature butter and whip it at medium speed until it gets smooth. Clean the bottom and sides of the bowl and a whisk on the way to make an even buttercream. As an option, whip the buttercream at low speed at the end for a minute or longer to eliminate some big air holes, especially when it's whipped at high speed for a good amount of time.
One batch of this recipe is enough to coat a simple 8" cake. (Make more if you are piping a lot on top.)
📌 11 Tips for Perfect Italian Buttercream
Now, let's go through the tips on each step, which are crucial for making Italian buttercream successfully.
Preparation
- Use soft butter. The temperature of the butter is very important to let all the ingredients blend beautifully. Leave the butter at room temperature ahead to make it soft.
- Use very clean tools and ingredients with no oil, liquids, or chemicals attached. They prevent egg whites from whipping well and also could cause sugar crystallizations in the hot sugar syrup. Separate egg whites and egg yolks carefully since yolks contain natural oil.
Hot Sugar Syrup
- Ensure the sugar is completely wet before you heat the pot. It's essential to prevent the sugar from crystallizing while heating it. Wash it off with a pastry brush when you see any sugar attached to the sides. (You can also cover a pot with a lid while heating it for the same effect instead of applying the water.)
- Don't shake a pot or touch the syrup in the beginning. It could cause sugar crystallization when the sugar cools down or touches the air too much. We'll need a little patience here!
- The temperature of the sugar syrup: Heat it to 244 - 246°F | 118 - 119°C to make a stable, stiff meringue. The lower the temperature is, the looser your meringue gets. And the higher the temperature is, the stiffer your Italian meringue gets. Avoid cooking it more than the temperature to avoid grainy meringue.
Italian Meringue
- Make a very fluffy meringue by the time the syrup reaches the temperature (244 - 246°F | 118 - 119°C). The timings are very important. The Italian meringue gets loose when the hot sugar syrup is added to the loose meringue. Also, do not over-whip the meringue until it gets separated. Pay close attention to both at the same time.
- Add the sugar syrup while it's still very hot. It starts thickening and getting stuck to the pot as it cools down.
- Add the sugar syrup to the meringue slowly, letting it slide down from the side of a bowl. That way, it gets picked up by a whisk more easily. When you add syrup on top of a whisk, for example, it can scatter to the side of the bowl. Or if you add a lot of it at once, it can sink to the bottom of your bowl.
- Continue whipping at high speed initially to make the very fluffy Italian meringue. At this point, the bowl feels very hot.
- Stop whipping it when it cools down to room temperature. It'll slowly lose the volume if you continue whipping after it's cooled down.
Buttercream
- Add soft butter immediately and start mixing it while the condition of the meringue is the best.
- How much you whip is up to you: The buttercream is fluffy without whipping a lot already thanks to the meringue, but whip more if you want a very airy buttercream.
- Clean the bowl, whisk, and a spatula at least a few times on the way to make an even buttercream.
- Once chilled, it gets firm in the fridge, just like any other buttercream. Serve it right after it's made, or leave it at room temperature for some time after chilling it in the fridge when you want to enjoy the fluffy texture.
📌 How to color Italian buttercream
You can add flavors or colorings when adding butter or at the very end of the process.
I recommend paste or gel food coloring - They color better and won’t affect the consistency much compared to liquid food coloring.
📌 How to store it
Store the buttercream in an airtight container. One batch of the buttercream fills a 1 32-oz container.
I sometimes like to wrap it with plastic wrap because I can cut the edge, insert it in a piping bag, and pipe it right away.
You can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or a few months in the freezer.
Any buttercream gets softer when the room is warm and firmer when it’s chilled due to the butter inside. I recommend using it immediately or leaving it at room temperature for some time after chilling it in the fridge to enjoy a fluffy and creamy texture.
How to thaw it:
Leave the container at room temperature to thaw it. When it is stored in the fridge, it takes a few hours on average to make it soft again. It can fluctuate, depending on the room temperature and the amount of buttercream.
Frozen buttercream usually requires about five hours (at 77°F | 25°C) to soften it at room temperature. (Or thaw it in the fridge overnight.)
There is no need to re-whip the buttercream after thawing it. It should stay nice and fluffy when it's made successfully.
📌 Other variations of Italian buttercream
Pair this smooth frosting with a different flavor and enjoy many variations, such as:
- Vanilla buttercream: Add vanilla extract or vanilla bean. The most basic frosting you can use for all kinds of cupcakes and layer cakes!
- Lemon buttercream: Add lemon curd and it'll turn into a perfectly citrusy scrumptious lemon cream! It's one of my favorite flavors of all time.
- Strawberry buttercream: Add fresh strawberry jam. The flavor of delicious strawberries spreads in your mouth! The chunks of jam also make a cute accent to the look.
- Caramel buttercream: Add caramel sauce. Make darker or lighter caramel sauce depending on how bitter you want it to be. I like to use dark caramel sauce with some sea salt!
- Chocolate buttercream: Add cocoa powder or melted chocolate (I recommend adding it as a chocolate ganache) to turn it into an amazing chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. With melted chocolate, you can make more shiny, smooth-looking frosting and control the bitterness and flavor by using different types of dark chocolate.
- Almond buttercream: Add almond extract. It is one of the most popular flavors of all time.
- Coffee buttercream: Add Instant coffee, coffee anglaise sauce, a splash of cooled and concentrated expresso coffee, etc.
- Peanut buttercream: Add peanut butter with some sea salt. It'll be a dream frosting for all the peanut butter lovers!
📌 The troubleshooting tips
Why is the Italian meringue loose?
There are some possible causes you can think of, such as:
- The meringue was warm, and the butter melted partially.
- The meringue was loose before adding the hot sugar syrup.
- It was whipped for too long.
- The butter got looser in warmer temperatures.
- There were oil, liquids, or chemicals attached to the tools or ingredients.
Why is my Italian buttercream loose?
When your finished buttercream is loose, there are a few causes I can think of:
- The temperature of the hot sugar syrup: The meringue gets looser when the temperature of the hot sugar syrup is lower than it should be, which results in more loose buttercream.
- The temperature of the butter: The buttercream gets loose when the butter is too soft or partially melted.
- The temperature of the meringue: The butter melts when it's added to the warm meringue. Always check the temperature of the meringue adding butter.
Why is my Italian buttercream not smooth?
I can also think of two possible causes: The hot sugar syrup and butter.
- The hot sugar syrup gets too thick when the temperature is much higher than it should be - It'll harden quickly and leave sugar crystals in the finished meringue.
- Or it could be because your butter was too cold. Cold butter doesn't blend well in the meringue. Ensure it is soft. (about the same consistency as the meringue.)
Why did my buttercream get hard?
Check the temperature of the room. Any buttercream gets hardened when it's chilled due to the butter inside.
📌 Frequently Asked Questions
I highly recommend using a candy thermometer for accuracy. But when you don't have it, you can also check by dropping a little bit of the hot sugar syrup in ice water, waiting for a second, and touching it - you should be able to form a ball and it should feel elastic, like a clay.
It stays fluffy at room temperature if the temperature is not too warm or cold. I always recommend moving it to the fridge when you are not using it within 8 - 12 hours to keep the freshness.
The meringue gets more unstable with less sugar, which can make the buttercream collapse later. I don't recommend reducing it a lot for this reason.
Yes! You'll need to whip the meringue while checking the hot sugar syrup and constantly whipping Italian meringue until it cools down. It requires more work, but it's certainly possible!
Yes! This stable buttercream is perfect for frosting large cakes, such as tiered cakes or wedding cakes.
You do not need to re-whip if you follow the instructions and the tips I mentioned in the post. It should stay stiff and stable.
Yes, a little bit of the liquid shouldn't affect the consistency a lot, but just note that there is a risk of making it loose when adding it too much. I recommend using thicker fillings when you have the option. For example, use lemon curd or fruit jam instead of lemon juice or fruit puree.
📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!
To learn how to make Italian buttercream visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch the video!
Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it😉
📌 Other Frostings
Discover other frosting recipes, such as:
📌 Cake recipes to pair with Italian buttercream
- Vanilla Butter Cake
- Classic Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Banana Cake
- Vanilla Sponge Cake
- Chocolate Sponge Cake
- Vanilla Roll Cake
- Baked Cheesecake
📌 Printable Recipe
💬 I would appreciate it if you could leave a review here if you tried this recipe and loved it! I always love hearing how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.
Italian Buttercream
Equipment
- Stand mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer and bowl
- Small saucepan
- Candy thermometer
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 453 g (4 US sticks) Unsalted butter (Softened)
- 113 g (3.5 eggs) Egg white
- 226 g (1 ⅛ cups) Granulated sugar
- 75 g (⅓ cup) Water
- Some Gel paste food coloring - Optional
NOTE: For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements (US customary units) are provided for your convenience.
Instructions
- Whip egg white in a bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment until it gets very fluffy. (Low to high speed. Adjust the timing with the hot sugar syrup.) *Use a hand mixer when you don't have a stand mixer.113 g Egg white
- Meanwhile, heat sugar and water in a small to medium saucepan at medium to medium-high heat until it reaches 244 - 246°F | 118 - 119°C. Brush the side with water using a pastry brush at least once while it's heated to avoid sugar crystalization. Lower the heat toward the end to avoid overheating the syrup.226 g Granulated sugar, 75 g Water
- Add the hot syrup to the fluffy meringue slowly from the side of a bowl as you continue whipping it at high speed.
- Continue whipping it at high speed while the bowl feels hot. Turn it down to medium speed when it feels warm and medium-low speed when it's gently warm. Stop it when it cools down to room temperature.
- Add the room temperature butter and whip it at medium speed until it gets smooth. Clean the bottom and sides of the bowl and a whisk on the way to make an even buttercream. As an option, whip the buttercream at low speed at the end for a minute or longer to eliminate some big air holes, especially when it's whipped at high speed for a good amount of time.453 g Unsalted butter (Softened)
Video
Notes
Tips for Perfect Italian Buttercream:
Preparation
- Use soft butter. The temperature of the butter is very important to let all the ingredients blend beautifully. Leave the butter at room temperature ahead to make it soft.
- Use very clean tools and ingredients with no oil, liquids, or chemicals attached. They prevent egg whites from whipping well and could also cause sugar crystallizations in the hot sugar syrup. Separate egg whites and egg yolks carefully since yolks contain natural oil.
Hot Sugar Syrup
- Ensure the sugar is completely wet before you heat the pot. It's essential to prevent the sugar from crystallizing while heating it. Wash it off with a pastry brush when you see any sugar attached to the sides. (You can also cover a pot with a lid while heating it for the same effect instead of applying the water.)
- Don't shake a pot or touch the syrup in the beginning. It could cause sugar crystallization when the sugar cools down or touches the air too much. We'll need a little patience here!
- The temperature of the sugar syrup: Heat it to 244 - 246°F | 118 - 119°C to make a stable, stiff meringue. The lower the temperature is, the looser your meringue gets. And the higher the temperature is, the stiffer your Italian meringue gets. Avoid cooking it more than the temperature to avoid grainy meringue.
Italian Meringue
- Make a very fluffy meringue by the time the syrup reaches the temperature (244 - 246°F | 118 - 119°C). The timings are very important. The Italian meringue gets loose when the hot sugar syrup is added to the loose meringue. Also, do not over-whip the meringue until it gets separated. Pay close attention to both at the same time.
- Add the sugar syrup while it's still very hot. It starts thickening and getting stuck to the pot as it cools down.
- Add the sugar syrup to the meringue slowly, letting it slide down from the side of a bowl. That way, it gets picked up by a whisk more easily. When you add syrup on top of a whisk, for example, it can scatter to the side of the bowl. Or if you add a lot of it at once, it can sink to the bottom of your bowl.
- Continue whipping at high speed initially to make the very fluffy Italian meringue. At this point, the bowl feels very hot.
- Stop whipping it when it cools down to room temperature. It'll slowly lose the volume if you continue whipping after it's cooled down.
Buttercream
- Add soft butter immediately and start mixing it while the condition of the meringue is the best.
- How much you whip is up to you: The buttercream is fluffy without whipping a lot already, thanks to the meringue, but whip more if you want a very airy buttercream.
- Clean the bowl, whisk, and a spatula at least a few times on the way to make an even buttercream.
- Once chilled, it gets firm in the fridge, just like any other buttercream. Serve it right after it's made, or leave it at room temperature for some time after chilling it in the fridge when you want to enjoy the fluffy texture.
How to store it:
Store it in an airtight container for up to five days in the fridge or a few months in the freezer. One batch of this recipe is enough to coat a simple 8" cake. (Make more if you plan to pipe a lot on top.)Nutrition
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Tiffany says
Thank you so much, this recipe was great the only thing is I'm a little confused about how much to make to frost the cake but otherwise it tastes amazing.
ayacaliva says
I'm so glad you liked it! And thank you for your feedback!
bailey says
I a planning on using this recipe but I have to add color to the cake. would you recommend gel, liquid or powder food coloring for this recipe?
ayacaliva says
Hi! I recommend gel food paste coloring. I added a link of the product I used for the cupcakes in the recipe for your reference!