Skip to content

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    Not your average buttercream frosting – this Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting can be a bit difficult, but it’s worth it in the end!Make this beautiful Swiss Meringue Buttercream for your next birthday cake celebration.

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

    I wanted to try a new frosting. One that I had heard was challenging and delicious. I’ve seen many bloggers make Swiss Meringue so I figured I’d give it a try.

    I tried twice and almost cried!

    This frosting was finicky.

    I used a recipe from “The Joy of Cooking” and it took me nearly an hour! Seriously! After 45 minutes I just couldn’t walk away from it to go pick up my daughter from school. I had to get through this frosting. I thought I had, so I put it into the fridge as I ran out the door. When I got back home I let it sit out for an hour and then went to re-beat it… and it totally separated… 🙁  The egg whites turned to liquid and I had a gross butter lump that would not smooth out. I was so bummed.

    I was also out 4 egg whites and 3 sticks of butter. All of it went down the drain.

    Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe. Perfect for a Birthday cake.

    So I then googled it to search for some help from some blog friends and I came across this post from Sweetapolita. So I remade my Swiss Meringue Buttercream and watched my frosting turn into a curdled mess! I was beyond bummed – I was devastated. I was out of butter and had 8 egg yolks in the freezer.  But, she said to just keep beating and beating and I did! For like 20 minutes and it still didn’t turn into frosting.

    So I searched some more and found Cath’s Cookery Creations. So I followed her advice to melt some of it and beat in the melted goo. And you know what?? It totally worked!

    Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

    Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe. Perfect for a Birthday cake.

    I don’t want to scare you off from making Swiss Meringue Buttercream, just read up on a few sites and search around if you think you’re at a complete loss. I most likely could have saved my first batch if searched online sooner rather than just throwing it all away.

    Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe. Perfect for a Birthday cake.

    This recipe is part two in the three part series including Strawberry Curd and a Strawberry Birthday Cake.

    Homemade Strawberry Curd, Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream and a Six Layer Strawberry Birthday Cake!

    Yield: 16 servings

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    Make this beautiful Swiss Meringue Buttercream for your next birthday cake celebration.

    Don’t give up on Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Once you get it, it’s a beautiful frosting.

    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes
    Total Time 25 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 4 egg whites
    • 3/4 cup sugar
    • 2 tablespoons water
    • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
    • 1 teaspoon strawberry extract
    • 3 sticks butter
    • pink food gel

    Instructions

      1. Combine egg, sugar, water, and cream of tartar into your mixing bowl (from your stand up mixer). Place the mixing bowl into a wide saucepan of simmering water. The water should come up as high as the ingredients inside the bowl. Attach a candy thermometer to the mixing bowl and beat with a hand held beater until the mixture reaches 160 deg F. Remove the mixing bowl from the water, add in the extract, and return the mixing bowl to the stand up mixer.
      2. Whip with the whisk attachment until the meringue is no longer hot and the mixing bowl is at room temperature.
      3. Change out the whisk for the paddle attachment and slowly add in one tablespoon of butter at a time. The meringue will deflate and hopefully the butter will cream.
      4. If the frosting turns into a curdled mess, melt a cup of the “frosting” in the microwave and then beat back in. Add in one drop of food coloring (if desired) until color is achieved. Remember that the colors darken over time.
      5. The frosting should be smooth and fluffy.

    Notes

    Recipe adapted from The Joy of Cooking and Sweetapolita.

    Recommended Products

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Did you make this recipe?

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram


    Images, text and all other content Copyrighted©Karyn Granrud, Susanne Queck and Wunderlander Verlag LLC, or ©Pro Stock Media via Canva.com. Unlicensed republishing permitted. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn on qualified purchases.

    Karyn Granrud

    Karyn Granrud

    I'm Karyn, a mom and wife, and I founded this little baking blog. Baking and making desserts have been my passion since I was a kid. I love experimenting with different flavors and sharing delicious recipes with all of you. Read more.

    18 thoughts on “Swiss Meringue Buttercream”

      1. Store it in the fridge. Since it’s butter based, leave it on your counter for an hour before trying the smooth it again. It may separate like mind did, but it came back together very nicely once I melted a bit of it. Once the cake is frosted I put in the fridge uncovered. I left it in there overnight and then sat it out for 30 minutes before slicing it. After that, I covered the cake with plastic wrap to keep the cake from drying out. Does that help?

      1. I don’t know… I didn’t start with her recipe. Maybe that was my problem. The recipe I was following said to cream the butter in the mixer with a beater and slowly add in the meringue. It worked, then I HAD to run so I put it in the fridge for an hour or so. When I tried to “re-fluff” it it seperated and I thought it was ruined. That’s when I started looking for help and came across the other blogs and the suggestions. Thank goodness for bloggers, right?? lol 🙂

    Leave a Reply to Gloria Phillips (@simplygloria1) Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Skip to Recipe