This is the easiest and most velvety Swiss Meringue Buttercream that will work every single time. Make it plain, or flavored it with vanilla sugar, vanilla extract, or turn it into a Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream for even more decadent goodness.
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This Swiss Meringue Buttercream is amazing on cakes, cupcakes, cookies, or directly from the bowl, no one is judging! If you are not a big fan of buttercream, this recipe will convince you to hop over the fence because I was too a buttercream-hater until I tasted this velvety Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
For years, I have been avoiding buttercream frosting because I’ve always associated it with tooth-aching sweetness and artificial taste from grocery store cupcakes. Perhaps you can relate. But finally, I’ve found this amazingly delicious and not too sweet Swiss Meringue Buttercream to up my cake game.
This recipe was originally adapted from Chef Duff’s Swiss Meringue Buttercream in Duff Bakes. I’ve since made it a bazillion times and experimented with different flavors such as:
- Blueberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream in this Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Oreo Swiss Meringue Buttercream in these Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
- Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream in these Christmas Pinata Cupcakes
What is Swiss Meringue Buttercream?
Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a buttercream frosting that starts with a meringue base, which is made out of egg whites and sugar. The meringue is beaten to stiff peaks and stabilized with an acid such as vinegar or lemon juice. Then butter is added and beaten until a fluffy frosting is achieved.
Due to the stable meringue base, you can use a lot less sugar and still get a stable buttercream that won’t melt right away in slightly warmer weather.
What you’ll need
The 4 basic ingredients you’ll need to make a this amazing buttercream are:
- Egg whites – you can use fresh egg whites or carton egg whites.
- Unsalted butter – don’t substitute salted butter or you’ll end up with salty buttercream.
- Vinegar or Lemon Juice to stabilize the meringue.
- Sugar – regular granulated sugar is fine. What I have pictured is vanilla sugar which will give you a nice vanilla bean buttercream.
- A pinch of salt is optional but I’ve been adding it to enhance the flavor.
How to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Add egg white and sugar to a heatproof bowl and place it over a pot of simmering water without allowing the bottom of the bowl to touch the water.
- Whisk the mixture constantly until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 160°F. Use a thermometer to check.
- Carefully transfer the egg white mixture into your stand mixer bowl.
- Beat with the balloon attachment on medium speed. Stream in the vinegar or lemon juice, and continue beating until stiff peak forms and the meringue is shiny and smooth.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the room temperature cubed butter, one cube at a time, allowing it to incorporate into the meringue before adding another.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until the buttercream comes together. Then keep beating until it is light and fluffy.
Adding Flavors
In the middle of Step 6, after the buttercream comes together once all the butter has been added and before you beat it until light and fluffy, this is when you want to add flavoring if you wish.
- For plain Swiss Buttercream, you don’t have to add anything, just keep beating until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- For Vanilla Swiss Buttercream, if you didn’t use vanilla sugar, you’ll want to add the seed of 1 vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, or 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the buttercream and beat until light and fluffy.
- For Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, add melted & cooled dark chocolate, cocoa powder and a splash of vanilla extract at this point, and continue beating until light and fluffy.
- You can experiment with different flavor extracts like peppermint, almond, citrus.
- You could also add citrus zest like orange, lemon, lime.
- Use ground freeze dried fruit to make a fruity flavor buttercream similar to this strawberry cream cheese frosting.
The French Meringue Method
The original recipe calls for beating egg whites with sugar without heating up the mixture. This was called to my attention by a reader that this is a French Meringue and not a Swiss Meringue because the meringue is “uncooked”.
But without getting caught up on what it’s called technically, if you decide to make this meringue buttercream using the French Meringue method, I can assure you it works beautifully. I’ve made it many times using this method successfully.
However, I’ve now switched to using the Swiss Meringue method exclusively for food safety reasons. I’ve not experienced any illness from eating buttercream made with raw egg whites but it’s always better to be safe, than sorry.
I’ve also found that the meringue seems to get to stiff peaks faster once it’s been heated, and maybe a little more stable. So when you’re beating in Step 6, the buttercream comes together much faster too.
You may wonder whether you’ll end up with a gritty buttercream if you don’t heat the egg white and sugar to make the meringue. I can assure you that won’t happen. I’ve made this frosting using the French Meringue method so many times, and each time, the buttercream is always super smooth and velvety.
Making this buttercream using French Meringue method
The only difference in using the French Meringue method is you will skip Step 1 – 3 above and start beating the egg white and sugar without heating them up.
A. First beat the egg white until frothy on medium low speed (#4 on my stand mixer).
B. Then add sugar slowly, a tablespoon at a time to allow it enough time to incorporate on medium speed (#6 on my stand mixer).
C. Half way through adding the sugar, add the vinegar to help stabilize the meringue
D. Once all the sugar is added, go to town and beat until stiff peak on medium high speed (#8 on my stand mixer).
Once the meringue is formed, you can continue from Step 5 above and customize the buttercream flavor to your heart’s desire.
Baker’s Tips
- Once you’ve added all of the butter to the meringue, the mixture will look broken like cottage cheese, this is normal. Keep beating it and the buttercream will come together.
- I find that this “cottage cheese” stage is barely noticeable when using the Swiss Meringue method. It takes only a few minutes for the mixture to come together. But when using the French Meringue method, it can take a bit longer.
- Once the buttercream congeals, make sure to keep beating to get a fluffy and light frosting.
Can I use carton egg white?
Yes, I’ve tested this recipe with carton egg white and it worked perfectly fine even though there is a warning on the box that it should not be used for meringue. I did not have any issue with the meringue achieving stiff peaks with carton egg white.
I’ve also used fresh egg whites, day-old-pre-separated egg whites, cold egg whites, room temperature egg whites, all with the same results.
Storage & Making ahead
This buttercream can be kept at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, let the buttercream thaw at room temperature and re-whip until fluffy before using.
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I’m a pretty die hard cream cheese frosting fan, but this Swiss Meringue Buttercream is about to take its place as my favorite. I spent a good amount of time searching for the not-so-sweet buttercream, this recipe is quite involved but it is seriously so good. If you’re looking for a simpler buttercream recipe, try my not-too-sweet American Buttercream.
Recipes using this Swiss buttercream
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
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Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Equipment
- Thermometer
Ingredients
Plain Swiss buttercream
- 4 oz egg white (115 g, a smidge less than 4 large egg whites)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (135 g)
- ¾ teaspoon distilled vinegar or lemon juice (4 g)
- 10 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, cubed, 283 g)
- A pinch of kosher salt (optional, but recommended)
Vanilla Swiss buttercream
- 4 oz egg white (115 g, a smidge less than 4 large egg whites)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (or vanilla sugar, 135 g)
- ¾ teaspoon distilled vinegar or lemon juice (4 g)
- 10 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, cubed, 283 g)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (omit if using vanilla sugar)
- A pinch of kosher salt (optional, but recommended)
Chocolate Swiss buttercream
- 4 oz egg white (115 g, a smidge less than 4 large egg whites)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (135 g)
- ¾ teaspoon distilled vinegar or lemon juice (4 g)
- 10 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, cubed, 283 g)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 oz dark chocolate (115 g)
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (dutch-processed, 7 g)
- A pinch of kosher salt (optional, but recommended)
Instructions
For chocolate Swiss buttercream only
- Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water just until most is melted. Continue to stir as you take it off the heat until all the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
For all Swiss buttercream
- Add egg white and sugar to a heatproof glass bowl and place it over a pot of boiling water without allowing the bottom of the bowl to touch the water, reduce heat to keep the water simmering and not boiling over.
- Whisk the mixture constantly until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 160°F.
- Carefully remove the bowl from the pot and wipe the bottom and side dry. Transfer the egg white mixture into your stand mixer bowl and beat with the balloon attachment on medium speed. Stream in the vinegar or lemon juice, and continue beating until stiff peak forms and the meringue is shiny and smooth.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the room temperature cubed butter, one cube at a time, allowing it to incorporate into the meringue before adding another.
- Once all the butter has been incorporated, for plain Swiss buttercream, increase the mixer speed to medium high and keep beating until the buttercream is light and fluffy. For vanilla Swiss buttercream, add vanilla extract and a pinch of salt, beat until light and fluffy. For chocolate Swiss buttercream, add vanilla extract, cocoa powder, melted chocolate and a pinch of salt, beat until light and fluffy.
Video
Notes
- For vanilla Swiss buttercream, you can substitute vanilla sugar with the same amount of plain granulated sugar plus the seed of a vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, or 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, added to the buttercream mixture just after you finish adding all the butter.
- The chocolate Swiss buttercream yields 3 cups. The plain and vanilla Swiss buttercream yields 2.5 cups. Enough for 12 – 15 cupcakes.
- If your buttercream looks separated after 5 minutes, just continue to beat until it comes together. Depending on the mixer speed, the time could vary, but buttercream will come together when you beat it enough.
- Calories information is for plain/vanilla Swiss buttercream and based on 12 servings.
Nutrition
Originally published on 2/25/2019. Post updated and republished on 1/7/2021 with an improvement on the recipe method, extra tips, and a video.
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Hi there,
When I poured the melted cooled chocolate into the SMBC, they hardened into chocolate pieces, would you happen to know why? THanks
Hmm… was the temperature of your chocolate and meringue too cool? what kind of chocolate did you use? Melting wafers, chocolate chips, bars? I’m not sure if I can give you an exact answer to this since I have never encountered it before and I make this buttercream a lot.
How many days can this be stored in the fridge if I cannot finish using it on one cake? Can I still use it for piping after it had been in the fridge? Will it change in texture?
You can see storage instruction under “Storage” within the post, also pasted here for you convenience: This buttercream can be kept at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, let the buttercream thaw at room temperature and re-whip until fluffy before using.
The texture will harden when it is cold, it’s best if you let it thaw a bit and rewhip until fluffy.
Hi.
Does this buttercream go firm enough to put under fondant?
Thanks,
Hi Antonietta, you could allow it to firm up in the refrigerator for about half hour after frosting and before adding the fondant.
I tried this recipe and loved it! I did the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler until they reached 160 degrees, then whipped them together for 10 minutes, then gradually added the butter. I added a little powdered sugar at the end just because I prefer that sweetness, but the ratio was awesome! For me it was just enough to crumb coat and frost a three layer four inch cake generously. Thank you!
Thank you Sarah! Glad to hear you loved it 🙂
Can I replace butter with margarine?
Hi Wande, I haven’t tried this myself so I do not know for sure. But if you use a margarine with the same fat content as butter (about 80%) I don’t see why it won’t work. However, it won’t have the same buttery flavor. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
Can i less the butter? Coz after taste of buttery
I haven’t tried with less butter so I’m not sure if it will come out as stable but if you try it, do come back and less us know!
I have to agree with the other comments about the misleading title. Without heating the meringue you cannot call it a “Swiss meringue” buttercream. It’s also not just a naming distinction though, because the process of heating the whites alters the nature of the proteins and this helps to stabilize the meringue and dissolve the sugar more than you could with the French style of making meringue which is unstable and unsuited to a butter frosting meant to hold up. You may have observed no significant difference between heating or not(possibly because you used egg whites which were further pasteurized), but your viewers looking may not experience the same results and be disappointed after following instructions not to heat a “Swiss meringue”.
I appreciate your input and will add my experience with heated Swiss meringue to the post as I have responded to the other comment.
this recipe doesn’t taste good the butter cream isn’t cream it’s just butter this recipe doesn’t work
I’m sorry you didn’t like it. The only thing I can suggest is to keep beating to aerate the cream until it is fluffy and creamy.
This isn’t even Swiss Meringue Buttercream. You have to heat the egg whites and sugar first before you whip them. This is just….not right.
You can certainly heat the egg whites and sugar over a pot of simmering water if you prefer. I’ve done it both ways, with heat and without, they both work.
This is a French meringue base, not Swiss. The element that makes a meringue Swiss is the technique used, ie. the process of heating the egg whites and sugar together using a double boiler. A French meringue is when the egg whites are whisked and sugar then added gradually, and then there’s Italian meringue where the sugar is heated to a sugar syrup and then slowly poured into the egg whites whilst whisking.
The reason the Swiss and Italian methods are used specifically for buttercreams is because the egg whites will have been subject to a specific amount of heat to make them safe for consumption, this is not the case with French.
Your recipe may well work in the sense that it produces a nice tasting buttercream but the name is misleading as it suggests one method but your post showcases a different one.
Hi Ellie, I appreciate the explanation on the difference between French and Swiss meringue. I have since made this recipe both ways and plan to add both methods to the post in the future for better clarity. However, I would note that the resulting buttercream is exactly the same and I don’t have such a strong opinion as you about what to call it. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to read through the post and add your knowledge to the discussion to help others learn. Have a wonderful day!
How many cups does this make? I know Duff’s recipe makes enough for a 8-9 inch layer cake. I’m looking to experiment first and would only use a small single layer 6 inch cake (or thereabouts)
Hi Ashley, this recipe makes about 2.5 – 3 cups, refer to the serving size and the note section in the recipe card. It’s enough for a dozen cupcakes. For a two layer 6″ cake, I use 3/4 of the recipe and it is quite generous. I would say this is probably enough for a thin two layer 8″ cake.
Can meringue powder be used instead of egg white? Thank you!
Hey Chris, I’ve never used meringue powder before so I can’t answer from personal experience. But a quick search tells me that meringue powder is an egg white substitute, you combined it with water. Be sure to follow the instruction that comes with whichever brand of meringue powder you buy.
Hi.. Another baking newbie here.. The pasteurized eggs.. Do you mean egg beaters…. Thanks
Hi Michelle, Egg Beaters is a brand, you can use Egg Beaters 100% egg whites or another brand. I tested this recipe with Target store brand Market Pantry egg whites in a carton. It should give you the same result. Let me know if this answers your question.
Hi Trang, I’m planning to use your SMB recipe and I saw your strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe too. The powdered dried strawberry idea is brilliant! Have you ever tried adding the powdered strawberry goodness to the SMB?
Hey Guy, I’m actually planning on testing out the strawberry powder with this SMB soon, stay tuned!! 🙂
Late reply, but I’m so glad to have found this. I’m making a lemon version of it for a small birthday party tomorrow. Adding a little lemon zest and vanilla bean will be perfect for the cake I have. Thanks!
Lemon zest will be so refreshing! I would add the zest at the last step when the buttercream is about to form. Let me know how it turn out.
Nice tasting but took more than 1 HOUR of beating (and I have the 1.3 HP kitchen aid mixer). Not worth the effort considering a flour/cornstarch frosting tastes almost the same and it far less time and effort.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, but I made this recipe multiple times using many different flavor and it never took me more than 1 hour, and my kitchen aid mixer is almost 10 years old. Did you add enough butter? Is there anything I can help troubleshoot for you?
Such a great tutorial and so many great tips. I love meringue so incorporating it into frosting would be wonderful
Hi, could you please confirm what type of vinegar? Baking newbie here. Thanks!!!
Hi Olivia, nothing fancy just regular white vinegar, the cheap kind 🙂
Hi, could you please confirm what type of vinegar? Baking newbie here. Thanks!!!
Hi Olivia, nothing fancy just regular white vinegar, the cheap kind 🙂
Hi thankyou for the recipe. but does it mean the egg is raw?
Yes the egg is raw. Even if you heat the egg white and sugar to dissolve the sugar, you still don’t cook the egg in this recipe.
Most SMBC is cooked, the only way I would use raw is if I used pasteurized egg white. If you want to make it with fresh eggs all you have to do is add your sugar and egg whites to the bowl of your stand mixer and make a double boiler out of it with a pot on the stove. Stick a candy thermometer in it and heat it to 180 degrees F depending on your elevation. I’m at 5,000 feet so water boils here at about 206 instead of 212 so basically, 180 here is 174. By the time they reach that temp, harmful bacteria should be killed and your whites will beat up beautifully. I have been making SMBC for years and it’s my favorite out of all the meringue buttercream because it’s so easy and consistent.
Pasteurized egg whites can be safely consumed “raw”. In fact, the cartons I have in my fridge right now include a smoothie recipe on the back! Also remember that sugar serves as a preservative to keep this frosting safe for consumption by controlling moisture and slowing bacteria growth. Pretty cool stuff!
I love the chemistry of baking! Thank you!
How long does it take to come together?
Mixing time is roughly the 20min?
Yes mixing time is roughly 20 mins total, it’s been consistent for me each time I made this recipe. However, some readers have reported longer mixing time for the final mixture to turn from “cottage cheese” stage to buttercream stage, some said 10-15 mins, but some said 30 mins. Just be patient if yours don’t turn into buttercream quickly, keep the mixer going.