How To Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
For years I have been trying to discover the best buttercream frosting. There are dozens of varieties out there, but I find most too sweet or un-pipeable. I did a general Pinterest search for easy frostings and something popped up I had never heard of before, Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Such a fancy title for frosting, but I was intrigued.
Upon further reading, I learned that it has a basic meringue foundation with a ton of butter thrown in. Now, you might be asking yourself “what is a meringue?”
Meringue is a sweet food made from mixing well-beaten egg whites and sugar. I still think this is the easiest part of Swiss Meringue Buttercream. In fact, I made meringue for s’more cupcakes years ago and thought ‘huh, that wasn’t hard”. And truthfully, it’s not.
The one thing about Swiss Meringue Buttercream is that you need time and patience to make it. If you’re in a rush, it’s best to make it another day when you have time.
To start you’ll need to simmer water, about 2” in a pot. Then beat the egg whites and white sugar together in a glass bowl. (A lot of recipes say to use your stand mixer bowl, I’ll explain why I don’t later.) Place the glass bowl over the simmering water, make sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl. Then continue to beat the egg whites and sugar for about two to three minutes. I have found you don’t need to beat rapidly, but it works best if you beat continuously. After about three minutes, touch the mixture, if you can still feel granules of sugar, it has cooked through. We are dealing with raw eggs, so you need to make sure it is cooked properly.
Once the sugar has absorbed into the egg whites, you can take it off the double-boiler. It should be a white, but frothy texture. Now is when I pour the mixture into my stand mixer bowl, use a spatula to get all the mixture. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg-whites and sugar mixture. It will start to become smooth and glossy. This is your meringue!
You can use meringue as its own frosting topping, or you can continue to make the buttercream.
For the buttercream, you need to let the meringue mixture cool down. This is why I pour the meringue into my stand mixer bowl. I feel that it helps it cool down faster then waiting for the bowl to cool down with the meringue. This is also when patience is required. It takes about ten to fifteen minutes for the meringue to cool down completely. I usually set the mixer on low and focus on the butter.
If you’re making enough frosting to cover 24 cupcakes, you’ll need almost a pound of butter. Make sure it is softened! DO NOT MICROWAVE! I’ll unwrap all four bars of butter and cut them into tablespoon pieces, this will make it easier to add to the meringue.
Once the meringue is cooled down, switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter in piece by piece, letting each tablespoon piece get incorporated before adding the next. This takes time, don’t rush the process or you’ll end up with a soupy mess. If the buttercream DOES become soupy, pop it in the fridge for twenty minutes or so and then re-mix.
And that’s it. The greatest part of Swiss Meringue Buttercream is the richness without the overwhelming sugar of American Buttercream. I also think Swiss Meringue Buttercream pipes and look better!
