Swiss Meringue Buttercream
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Swiss Meringue Buttercream might seem a bit intimidating at first, but once you try it, you'll discover a whole new world of cake decorating and desserts. It's light, silky, buttery, and less sweet than traditional American buttercream, with a smooth, luxurious texture.
Swiss meringue buttercream is a frosting used to top and fill cakes, cupcakes, and macarons. It's incredibly light and airy, yet rich and buttery.
What I love most about it is its silky texture. It's made by first dissolving sugar in egg whites; it has an incredibly smooth texture that you just don't get with regular powdered sugar (aka American-style) buttercreams.
When you take a taste, you'll be struck by its subtle sweetness and how it melts on your tongue.
I tried Swiss meringue buttercream for the first time about 15 years ago, and it was a total "a-ha moment!" The light, silky texture and perfectly sweet flavor blew me away. I had never tasted anything quite so delicate before. Right away, I realized that this was the BEST way to take my cakes and cupcakes to the next level, and I have never looked back!
It also works very well under fondant! It gives you a perfectly smooth surface with no lumps or bumps, so it's ideal. When I worked as a pastry chef, it was all we used for fondant-topped cakes.
There are so many recipes here on Baking a Moment that utilize Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I'll share some examples below. But first, I'd like to take the opportunity to answer any and every question you've ever had about this unique and delicious frosting!
Here's Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Light, silky, and smooth!
- Less sweet than powdered sugar-based frostings.
- Perfect for frosting, filling, and piping.
- Easy to flavor in lots of different ways!
- Beautiful texture and glossy finish.
- Great for layer cakes, cupcakes, and celebration bakes.
Ingredients You'll Need
The recipe card at the bottom of the post contains the full list with all of the amounts. Refer to that when you're cooking.
- Egg whites: These form the base of the meringue and give the buttercream its light, airy texture.
- Granulated sugar: This dissolves into the egg whites to make a smooth, glossy base and adds sweetness.
- Unsalted butter: Softened butter turns the meringue into a rich, silky frosting with a luxurious texture.
- Kosher salt: A small pinch balances the sweetness and brings out the flavor.
In Photos: How To Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
A Few Things to Know Before You Start
Swiss meringue buttercream can look messy partway through. Sometimes it seems soupy, curdled, or separated after you add the butter. This is normal.
Usually, it just needs more mixing. Keep beating, and it will come together into a smooth, fluffy frosting. The meringue should be fully cooled before adding the butter, and the butter should be softened but not greasy or melted.
Step 1: Heat the egg whites and sugar
Put the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl over gently simmering water. Stir continuously until the sugar dissolves and the mixture feels hot and smooth when rubbed between your fingers.
Pro Tips: I usually cook my whites/sugar for around 10 minutes, whisking occasionally. You'll notice the mixture goes from thick and transparent to thinner and more opaque.
The best way to know if it's really ready is to place a drop on your finger and rub it together with your thumb. If you feel any grit at all, keep cooking. When it's smooth as can be, you're ready for the next step.
You'll also notice that the mixture feels hot to the touch. You can gauge it with a candy thermometer (it should register 140 degrees F), but I don't really find that necessary. If it feels hot and the sugar is fully dissolved, you should be good to go.
Step 2: Whip into a meringue
Take the bowl off the heat and whip the mixture on high speed until it's thick, bright white, and glossy. It should hold stiff peaks and feel cool before you continue.
Step 3: Add the butter
Add the softened butter one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. This step takes some patience, but it's what gives the buttercream its smooth, velvety texture.
Pro Tips: Your buttercream might start to look funky and curdled at this stage. Be sure to add the butter slowly (a tablespoon at a time) and let each addition fully incorporate before adding the next. Just keep on whipping, and I promise, it will come back together!
I have found that if I soften my butter in the microwave (while still wrapped in sticks) for 10 seconds at 30% power, then flip it over and do another 8 seconds at 30% power, it comes out perfect!
Just bear in mind that all microwaves are not exactly the same, so you might have to experiment a little to find that perfect sweet spot.
Step 4: Finish with salt and flavorings
Once the buttercream is smooth and cohesive, fold in the salt and any flavorings you would like to use.
Helpful Tips and Tricks
- Use a clean bowl: Even a little grease can stop the egg whites from whipping up properly.
- Dissolve the sugar fully: Rub a bit of the mixture between your fingers to check that it feels smooth, not gritty.
- Cool the meringue completely: If it's still warm, it can melt the butter, making the frosting soupy.
- Add butter slowly: Adding it one tablespoon at a time helps everything blend smoothly.
- Don't worry if it looks curdled: Just keep mixing. It usually comes together nicely.
- Re-whip before using: After storing, let it warm up to room temperature and beat it again until it's smooth and fluffy.
- If you want to serve it on a very hot day, just keep your cake or cupcakes refrigerated until ready to serve.
Add-In Options
- Fold in the seeds of a vanilla bean, 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla bean paste, or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to make Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Add melted chocolate to make Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Add melted white chocolate to make White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Place freeze-dried strawberries in the food processor, grind them to a fine powder, and stir them in to make Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Whip in the zest and juice of a lemon, lime, or orange for a citrus Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Stir a tablespoon of instant espresso powder into 3 tablespoons of hot water, then stir the cooled mixture to make Coffee Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Puree a couple of cups of raspberries, then cook them down until thickened and stir in to make Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Reduce sparkling wine to a thick syrup and add it to make Champagne Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Recipe FAQ
While there is slightly more to it than just creaming butter and powdered sugar together, the payoff is huge! You'll definitely find that it's worth that little bit of extra effort. And once you get the hang of it, it will seem like second nature!
When making Swiss meringue buttercream, the first step is to melt sugar and egg whites together over a pot of steaming water. When the sugar is completely dissolved, you get that incredibly silky-smooth texture in your final product.
But if you don't heat the mixture long enough, you might feel gritty sugar crystals between your teeth.
Believe it or not, you are doing it right! Swiss meringue buttercream almost always goes through a stage where it looks curdled, broken, or split. This often happens just before it fully comes together!
Temperature is everything when making this recipe. The whites and sugar need to get hot enough to dissolve the sugar, but then they need to cool down a lot before the butter goes in.
It's easy to get impatient at this stage! I've done it plenty of times myself and ended up with a runny mess.
But you do not have to pitch it! It's totally salvageable. Just put the entire thing (mixing bowl, whisk, and runny buttercream) into the fridge for about 20 minutes and then re-whip. It works like magic!
It's also a good idea to pay attention to your butter's temperature. You want it softened, but it should still be somewhat cool to the touch. You don't want it so slippery and nearly melted!in the fridge for about 20 minutes,
Swiss meringue buttercream will not crust, as American-style buttercream does. This makes it really easy to work with, especially if you're trying to get a perfectly smooth finish on your cakes.
Swiss meringue buttercream is super versatile! It can be colored with gel paste food coloring (aka: icing colors), and flavored in TONS of different ways.
I often make it the night before I need it, and let it sit out at room temperature. This is fine to do if you plan to use it early the following day.
If you'd like to get even more ahead of schedule, it can be refrigerated for up to a week. But you may find that it comes out a bit hard, and loses some of its airy lightness. Just scoop it out of the container and re-whip it (after it's come back to room temp). It will be just like new!
I honestly think it's one of the most stable buttercreams out there. It works really well for piping, and it holds up beautifully.
It can be frozen as well; just thaw overnight in the fridge, then follow the method above.
Recipes Using Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (454 g) unsalted butter, , softened
- ⅛ teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) kosher salt
Instructions
- In a large glass or metal bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar.
- Set the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, and stir continuously, until the sugar is completely dissolved. (Check by rubbing a small amount between your thumb and forefinger; it should be hot to the touch, and feel smooth, not gritty.)
- Remove the bowl from the simmering water and whip on high speed until the meringue is thick, white, glossy, and can hold stiff peaks. (It should be cooled completely. There should be no hint of warmth when you place your hand on the side of the bowl. Refrigerate the meringue for 15 to 20 minutes if necessary.)
- Add the butter in, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. (If the mixture begins to look curdled, continue to beat until it comes back together, before adding the remaining butter.)
- Fold in the salt and any other flavorings you may be using.
Thank you for the tips! I'm having an issue with premaking the buttercream, chilling it and then using it the next day. I let mine come to room temperature on the counter for about 1 hour while I baked the cake. When it came to room temperature, I put it back in the mixer to whip it up again and the mixture completely curdled and broke! Did I do something wrong?
FYI I used my paddle attachment to re-whip is since that's what I use to incorporate the butter after the meringue comes down to temp
Hm I've never experienced that! I'm so sorry I can't imagine what could have happened there- is there a chance it may have gotten too warm and the butter melted?
Can I make flowers with this swiss buttercream and freeze them for later use to decorate a cake?
That should work just fine.
Hi. I was wondering how do you color it light blue without it looking like aqua/teal. Since it's natural color has a yellowish tone, it makes the blue aqua/teal. Any tips?
Hi- I haven’t really had that issue. Because the buttercream whips for so long, it has a lot of air in it & therefore is not really yellow at all. It’s more of an off-White color. Not enough color there to mess with the tinting at all.
Can I use meringue powder instead of egg whites for SMBC?
Hey Kimber- I'm not sure you'd get quite the same result. But you can definitely use pasteurized egg whites from a carton if that's a concern for you!
If using pasteurized egg whites from a carton, I will have to use cream of tartar or lemon juice. Any tips on getting rid of the bitter taste both of these ingredients can add?
I don't add cream of tartar or lemon juice to Swiss meringue buttercream.
can i freeze a decorated cake with swiss meringue frosting?
You can but you might get some condensation on the surface as it thaws. I'd only recommend doing it with leftovers.
This looks so great! I do have a Question. I want to add cookie butter. First, I am afraid to make this traditional style SMBC. i tried this twice 2 years ago and I could never get it to whip properly. Heat, fridge, nothing worked. But it is hot and humid here in Orlando. I am newish to baking, but I make mine flip flopped but it always turns out perfect. MUCH easier. I microwave sugar and carton pasteurized egg whites slowly til sugar dissolved. 160 degrees on instant read. Then I put in freezer til cool room
temperature. It will not freeze. Too high of a sugar level. When The sugar and egg syrup is cool, I beat BUTTER til light and fluffy. The butter is the item better able to take the additional ingredients and create a stabile emulsion. After, I add half the syrup and beat til incorporated, then add remaining plus vanilla. It is firm at this point! I always wondered why everyone would destroy the lovely meringue by adding butter?
Being newish, I don’t know what adding cookie butter will do to it. My son loves loves cookie butter and I want to make frosting tonight. . Do you or anyone else make SMBC with the method I use? Have you added semi fluid type ingredients like cookie butter or peanut butter to final SMBC? Any suggestions would be great! Thank you!
That's an interesting method; no I've never tried it that way. And I haven't added cookie butter either, although I have done it with peanut butter and it works beautifully. I believe the recipe is linked above.
I want to do a white cake with rough edges on top that are painted gold on the edge. Is it possible with SMBC
I'm not familiar with the style of cake you're describing, but I can say that this recipe will work with just about any kind of cake decoration that doesn't require a frosting that will crust over.
I'm having trouble with decor. I cover my cake with the Swiss buttercream and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator, when I retreat, to be able to paint or spatulate the cake begins to sweat, fills with water droplets and I can not work on top of the first layer. What can I do to change this?
It sounds like you have condensation forming on the outside of your cake. Are you working in a very hot environment? Try decorating your cake in an air-conditioned space, and if you still find that the cake is dewy on the outside, gently press a paper towel on the surface to absorb it.
Hi, made for the first time recently, but found that when piped it didn't hold form enough, and when eaten on cupcakes it was like really soft cream that squidged everywhere , certainly wouldn't have worked between a layer cake or even as a crumb coating. Any idea where it may have gone wrong to be that soft?
Could your butter have maybe been too warm?
Do you have any tips on decorating your cupcakes with the swirl? How do you do that? What size tip, etc. Do you have a how-to video. Mine never come out looking so good!
Hey Jennifer! If you check out this post: https://bakingamoment.com/whipped-cream-frosting/, you'll find some good info there, including a video showing how to pipe the swirl. I think you'll find it really helpful!
I'm not sure what happened, but my final product tasted like straight whipped butter?!?! I couldn't use it.
Thanks so much for the recipe! Its AMAZING!
Last time I made it though the meringue was taking AGES to cool down and the meringue started to get really thick (turning in nougat) so I added the butter but the meringue was still too hot so it got soupy and I had to put it in the fridge to pull it back.
Would it be okay to pasteurize the eggs with the sugar and let them cool slightly before whipping up?
Thanks!
Hi Katya! How do you mean "pasteurize the eggs?"
This post was so informative and I am so happy its enough to fill and frost 3/4 layer cakes!!! Perfect. Will try this recipe very soon! Thank you so much!!?
My pleasure Jasmin! Hope you enjoy!
Im a big fan of Swiss Meringue Buttercream on cakes but I have never made it before. Im planning on making this for my mom's birthday cake and she is not a fan of super sweet frosting. Is it possible to add less sugar than the recipe says? I'm going to use a hand mixer so I've heard that it takes a long time, so should I make this a day ahead the day a I want to decorate the cake?
Hey Anna! I think this is best when it's freshly whipped, so if you do make it the day before you might just want to "re-fluff." And the recipe is already less sweet to begin with, so I'd keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to decrease the sugar. Hope this is helpful! Good luck!
Thank you for your very quick reply! I will make it as the recipe is and thank you for advice on the buttercream!
I panicked after adding first stick of butter because the icing became very runny. I put in fridge for a few minutes and whipped while adding rest. It worked!! I luv it.
So glad you were able to bring it back together!
Hi
Have you ever made Graham Cracker cake and used Swiss Meringue buttercream between the layers and Swiss Meringue Frosting on the top?
I'm trying to bake a Graham Cracker cake for my Mother's 90th birthday.
Thank you!
Hi there! I've made graham cracker cupcakes but not a whole cake. I think the cupcake recipe would probably work as cake too though. You'd just have to fiddle with the bake time. If you type "S'mores Cupcakes" into the search window at the top, it should come right up for you. Happy birthday to your Mom!