Not your average buttercream frosting – this Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting can be a bit difficult, but it’s worth it in the end!
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… š Ā 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.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Don't give up on Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Once you get it, it's a beautiful frosting.
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
- 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 and add in the extract and return the mixing bowl to the stand up mixer.
- Whip with the whisk attachment until the meringue is no longer hot and the mixing bowl is at room temperature.
- 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.
- 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.
- The frosting should be smooth and fluffy.
Gotta Sweet Tooth? Share your recipe with me on Instagram using the hashtag #PintSizedBaker so I can see what you've been craving! So I then googled it to search for some help from some blog friends and I came across this post fromĀ 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. Ā 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 foundĀ Cath’s Cookery Creations. Ā 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!
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.
This recipe is part two in the three part series including Strawberry CurdĀ and a Strawberry Birthday Cake.
Diella says
What candy thermometer do you recommend?
Karyn Granrud says
Diella, I’ve got one like this. It’s several years old and hasn’t let me down.
GALI says
how is it for piping ?
Karyn Granrud says
It’ll work great. Most bakeries use this as their frosting.
GALI says
thank you , cant wait to try it ; )
Talia says
How does this type of frosting need to be stored? Room temp, fridge etc? (Both before using and once the cake is iced)
Karyn Granrud says
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?
Gloria Phillips (@simplygloria1) says
It’s funny how you mentioned Sweetapolia’s recipe. … bcz I used it last week for my very first time making meringue buttercream. It totally worked for me! It turned out better than I even expected. I wonder why it work for you?
Gloria Phillips (@simplygloria1) says
Why it *didn’t* for you?
Karyn Granrud says
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 š
Cath @ Cath's Cookery Creations! says
I am glad you found my tip useful Karyn. Certainly has saved me some grief since I discovered it myself. Love your blog!
Karyn Granrud says
Oh yes!! I found your post to be very helpful! It saved the day! Thanks so much š
Jenni Ray says
What is a stick? Can you convert this to some other measurement?
Karyn Granrud says
So sorry Jennni. 1/2 cup of butter or 1/4 pound. Hope that helps.
Hala says
Hello. Does the stick of butter weigh 113grs? Because we only have 100grs/ stick.
Thanks
Karyn Granrud says
A stick of butter is 1/2 Cup. When I did a google search, it shows that a US cup of better is 113 grams.