Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I'm sure most people love a good buttercream for me, something about an American buttercream is just not great! I find it way too sweet and grainy, and it's just not what I look for on the top of my cupcakes! If you're like me, you will love this!

Swiss meringue buttercream is made by first making a meringue, then adding the butter to it. The caster sugar gets heated into the egg whites, allowing it to fully dissolve, and takes away that grainy taste, and because of how long this gets whipped for, it's light and airy and not too overly sweet, making it the perfect buttercream for anything.

And there's so many variations of this recipe! You can add melted, cooled chocolate to it to make a fantastically chocolatey buttercream, or any flavouring or colour you want!

Eggs

I use large eggs in this recipe, mostly because then you don't have to go through as many eggs! This recipe calls for egg whites. You don't want to get any egg yolk in these whites as it will stop the whites from puffing up the way they should! My advice for this would be to break your egg whites into a seperate bowl and after everyone, add it to your mixing bowl. that way, if a yolk. breaks into your whites, it's only one egg wasted and not the whole batch! I can't tell you how many times i've been cracking my last egg into the bowl and the yolk has broken and gone into the whole thing, and that was 6 eggs wasted!! Don't make my mistake!

Sugar

I would recommend using caster sugar for this recipe. Caster sugar is a finer sugar than granulated so will dissolve better into the egg whites while being heated.

Butter

Real block bitter is essential for this. I mean, it is buttercream after all, so you need real butter. Real butter contains more fats and will help hold the buttercream better. Using a spread will make it go thinner and more sloppy, which you don't want, especially if you're planning on piping it!

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Equipment

Here is a list of recommended equipment I use and where to buy them!

• Kitchen Scales - https://amzn.to/40iSN3D

• Kitchenaid Stand Mixer - https://amzn.to/40h2CiA

• Electric `hand whisk - https://amzn.to/4jliwym

Ingredients

200g egg whites

400g caster sugar

500g butter

1 tsp vanilla (or other flavouring)

Method

1. Separate your egg whites doing one egg at a time in a different bowl and add each egg to your mixing bowl.

2. Add the caster sugar to the egg whites and over a bain marie, gently whisk together until all the sugar has dissolved. You can check this by rubbing some of the egg white mixture between your finger and thumb, if you can't feel any grains of sugar, it's done.

3. Remove form the heat and dry the outside of the bowl to get rid of any water residue.

4. Attach the bowl to your stand mixer with your whisk attachment, and on high speed, whisk the mixture for around 10 minutes until it's formed stiff peaks.

5. If the mixture is still warm, leave it for 15-20 to cool to room temperature before moving to the next step.

6. Chop your room temperature butter into small chunks. With the mixer on a medium-low speed, add one piece of butter at a time making sure the last has disappeared before adding the next. This step takes time, do not rush this.

7. Once all the butter has been added, turn the mixer speed back to high and whisk for a further 5 minutes.

8. Add the vanilla, or flavouring of your choosing, then whisk for a few minutes for a good smooth buttercream.

9. If the buttercream has turned a yellow colour after the butter addition, add a few drops of lilac food colouring to correct the yellow colour and make it whiter again. If you're colouring your buttercream this step isn't necessary.

10. Swap to the paddle attachment and whisk for another 10 minutes to remove any air bubbles, making it better for piping and spreading on cakes! Enjoy!

    
    

Additional Tips:

• This can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 48 hours.

• This can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

• This can be frozen in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 4 months. Allow to completely thaw before re-whisking and using. Do not refreeze.

• It's hard to overmix this. The longer it's mixed the better it is.