Perfect Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Perfect Swiss Meringue Buttercream

A complete guide for perfect Swiss meringue buttercream. I'm sharing the steps & troubleshooting tips so you can confidently make it at home!

Author ayacaliva

Total Time 30

Course Buttercream, Frosting, Meringue

Servings 32 oz container

5 from 1 vote

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Equipment

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Stand mixer or hand mixer
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Bowl
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Spatula
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Thermometer

Ingredients

▢ 5.3 oz Egg white From about 5 eggs
▢ 7.9 oz Granulated sugar 1 ⅛ US cups
▢ 16 oz Unsalted butter 4 US sticks

Instructions

Preparation
1. Separate eggs. (Save the yolks for other uses, such as French buttercream, custard cream, anglaise sauce, etc.!)
2. Prepare hot simmering water for the double boiler.
Tip💡
Oil, liquids, or chemicals, such as soaps prevent the egg white from whipping well to make stiff meringue. Egg yolks contain oil, so separate them carefully.
The loose meringue leads to loose buttercream - Ensure all the tools and ingredients are dried and clean!
Heat egg white and sugar.
1. Add egg whites and sugar in a bowl. And mix them with a whisk.
2. Heat it with a water bath while mixing constantly and evenly until it reaches 160°F | 71°C. Immediately remove it from the heat as soon as it reaches the temperature.
Tips💡
1. Use a water bath for Swiss meringue to heat egg white gradually and avoid it from getting cooked. Ensure that the bowl is not touching the hot water directly so eggs are not getting cooked with extreme heat. Simmering water is ideal even though the meringue might not get cooked with boiling water if you constantly mix while heating.
2. Mix constantly and evenly to prevent egg whites from getting cooked partially. We tend to miss the spot around the edges of a bowl - Scrape off the egg whites often before it gets cooked or dried. This is the most time-consuming part, and the rest is easy. Keep going!
3. The reason for heating the egg white and sugar to 160°F | 71°C: By heating egg white to 160°F | 71°C, you can create a very stiff and stable Swiss meringue that does not collapse easily. When you heat it less, the meringue gets looser and less stable, which leads to a looser, less stable buttercream. And when you heat it too much, egg whites can get cooked, which leads to a not-smooth, grainy buttercream. You can also kill salmonella in case it's there by heating it to the temperature.
4. I highly recommend using a candy thermometer to check the temperature for accuracy. When you don't have it, check it by hand: Touch it and rub it with your fingers - The sugar granules shouldn't feel grainy when it's heated enough.
5.3 oz Egg white, 7.9 oz Granulated sugar
Whip the heated egg white and sugar.
1. Pour it into a mixing bowl and immediately start whipping at high speed using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Don’t forget to wipe off the water under the bottom of the bowl so it does not go in the bowl to prevent the meringue from getting loose.
2. Turn down the speed as it cools down: Touch the bottom of a bowl or meringue and check. Turn it down to medium heat once it feels comfortably warm. Turn it down to low to medium-low speed when it feels slightly warm.
3. Stop whipping it when the meringue and bowl are cooled to room temperature. The finished meringue should look stiff but still elastic and smooth. The tips should curl up when lifting it with a whisk.
Tips💡
1. Egg white whips A LOT more when the temperature is high. Once it reaches 160°F | 71°C, don't wait; start whipping immediately!
2. Stop whipping the meringue when it's cooled to room temperature. The meringue slowly starts losing the volume when it's over-mixed.
3. Ensure the meringue is not warm or cold. Butter melts when it's added to warm meringue.
4. When making Swiss buttercream with a hand mixer: You can make Swiss buttercream with a hand mixer if you don't have a stand mixer. You'll need to constantly whip the meringue with your hands, which requires more work, but all the same tips apply.
5. I used a separate bowl to heat egg whites and sugar this time, but you can also use the bowl of a stand mixer. The benefit of it is that you can start whipping right away. The con is it's a bit harder to mix because of the shape of the bowl.
Add butter to the meringue and whip.
1. Add soft butter and whip at medium speed. Fast speed is needed to let them blend well.
2. Clean the bottom and sides of the bowl and whisk a few times to ensure it is incorporated evenly.
3. 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.
How much should we whip the buttercream?
It's up to you, but it is not a must to whip a lot because the buttercream is already fluffy, thanks to the meringue. Whip it longer if you want to make it a little more airy.
Tips💡
1. The temperature of the butter is the key to combining meringue and butter beautifully. When using cold and firm butter, it leaves pieces of butter in the buttercream, and the meringue can lose some volume. When using partially melted butter, the buttercream gets looser. Ensure to use soft butter at room temperature!
2. You can add all the butter at once or divide it into 2 times if you prefer. There is no need to add it little by little with this recipe!
16 oz Unsalted butter

Video

Notes

How to store it:

Store the buttercream in an airtight container. One batch of the buttercream fills a 1 32-oz container.

You can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or a few months in the freezer.

** For best results, measure ingredients with a scale. All recipes are designed with weighed ingredients using grams/ounces. Cup measurements are provided for your convenience. **

Nutrition

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