Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe – Homemade Buttercream Frosting for Cake

19. August 2022
Swiss-Meringue-Buttercream-Recipe-Homemade-Buttercream-Frosting-For-Cake-coucoucake

Prep time: 30 minutes

The best Swiss meringue buttercream recipe which is my absolute favorite as this professional buttercream frosting recipe is soft and the best to cover cakes with because it is perfectly smooth for a perfect flawless look. I’ll show you my best tips for an easy Swiss buttercream recipe here.

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The best frosting to decorate cake is definitely Swiss buttercream. I’ll show you how to make this easy buttercream frosting for cake yourself.

There are different types of buttercream and I’m going to talk we about two buttercreams which are the best buttercream frosting recipes in my opinion and from my experience. Namely the meringue buttercream and the German buttercream or Ermine frosting or custard buttercream.

Easy Buttercream Recipe

Which frosting is best? It’s a matter of taste and consistency. The frosting buttercream recipe is usually too sweet. Which frosting is less sweet? I only like the German buttercream, which is a vanilla buttercream recipe easy to make that doesn’t taste like butter, and I love to use it as a crumb coat. If the frosting recipe is too sweet, then simply reduce the amount of sugar in the Ermine frosting recipe. 

Simply the best homemade buttercream vanilla frosting that is out there in my opinion in terms of taste. When it comes to the consistency question the frosting recipe of the Swiss buttercream is the best for covering cakes it is the only buttercream which is super smooth, is a bit less sweet than American buttercream and with this one you can achieve a flawless. 

Frosting Homemade

When it comes to frosting buttercream recipe it is important to keep the right temperature for the frosting. Some of you may wonder or it happened to you: Why frosting separated? Why frosting runny? Why frosting is too grainy? Why is frosting too runny? It may happen that the buttercream curdled when the temperature of the ingredients are off, therefore always important to keep the ingredients at the same room temperature. This can also happen after refrigerating or after thawing. I recommend to have the frosting on room temperature, then take out a quarter, warm it up until it slightly melts and then add it back to the batch and whip it again.

I’ve made these cakes with this buttercream recipe, click on the image to get to the recipes:

Best Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

What does Swiss meringue buttercream taste like? If the Swiss meringue buttercream tastes like butter you definitely have the wrong ratio. The Swiss meringue buttercream ratio should be egg white as the smallest portion, then sugar is a quarter more than egg whites and butter is the double of the sugar amount. I have adjusted my recipe throughout the years to reduce sugar and butter as much as possible to have a less sweet taste and the same perfect consistency. Swiss meringue buttercream too buttery is not the case for this recipe.

How to color Swiss meringue buttercream? This is very simple, after the buttercream is ready and done, the food coloring can be added and then stirred in very well.

Why does Swiss Meringue buttercream curdle? Many know it, the buttercream doesn’t set and the Swiss meringue buttercream curdled or the Swiss meringue buttercream runny, the cake cream is too runny, the buttercream is too soft. This can sometimes happen at high outside temperatures or thunderstorms, because buttercream in the heat or during a thunderstorm can react differently, but this is rarely the case.

Will Swiss meringue buttercream melt? If it is too runny either the quantities and preparation have not been followed correctly or high temperature could disrupt the frosting. Add more butter to the frosting then put it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes and then whip it up again. 

When to use Swiss meringue buttercream? Best put on a chilled cake. My top tip is to remove 1/4 of the buttercream, slightly heat it up and add back in, then whip on low speed with a stirring hook for 5-10 minutes. I love to use Swiss meringue buttercream for wedding cake as is gives the perfect flawless look.

How long does Swiss Meringue Buttercream last? How long can Swiss meringue buttercream sit out? Can Swiss meringue buttercream be left out? I always recommend to make cakes as fresh as possible and it can definitely be left out for a day at room temperature, after that better to refrigerate or to freeze. Freezing works great, after thawing it can happen that the buttercream is too runny or curdles. It is best to follow the steps as described above. The frosting also has a very long shelf life in the refrigerator. 

Print Recipe

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe – Homemade Buttercream Frosting For Cake

  • Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

  • 230g or 7 (1 cup) egg whites
  • 350g (1 3/4 cup) sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 650g (2 1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
  • 1 pinch violet food coloring

Method

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

  • This amount covers a tall 16cm / 6 inch diameter cake + piping decorations.

    In a fat-free bowl (wipe out the bowl and whisk with vinegar) add the egg whites, sugar and salt. Place over a saucepan, which is half filled with boiling water. Let the bowl be warmed by it and continuously whisk the egg whites until all the sugar dissolves and you cannot feel any sugar crystals between your fingers, it should have a frothy texture. Whip the egg whites on high speed with a standing mixer until it is room temperature and perfectly whipped meringue. This can take up to 10 minutes, I’m sometimes putting cool packs on the sides of the bowl to shorten the cool down time. Once it is at room temperature add the butter spoon by spoon. Add a pinch of violet food coloring to take away the yellowish color and make it completely white. To obtain a perfectly smooth buttercream, take out a quarter of the buttercream and heat it up until it slighlty melts, add back to the batch and whip with a stirring hook 5-10 minutes on low speed. Before using it, let it come down to room temperature. Stir it with a whisk and it’s ready to use.

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