A buttercream is a form of sweet dairy. Delicious with a melt in your mouth feel, silky with strong notes of milky aftertaste. Vanilla swiss meringue buttercream is a rich, silky and delicious frosting that will transform your frosting game to the next level. It is stiff, delicious, and pipes beautifully. The most outstanding property about swiss meringue is that it is not overly sweet, paired with its creamy and silky texture. Of course, we do not include shortening in this case. This echoes one of the common questions about frosting. ‘ No, you cannot use margarine to make swiss meringue buttercream!’ Find out why here.

I love cake alright, but I pay equal attention to the complementing frosting used. Honestly, no one wants to serve cake, only for people to dig around for the sponge, leaving plates with all the frosting. A good buttercream frosting should complement a cake or cupcake that it is served with. Transforming it from a simple dessert to a well balanced, outstanding, delicacy.

Classic American buttercream and fondant are easy to make and decorate on a cake. Easy to paint on and make outstanding decorations. Convenient in hot environments. But one thing with these two is they are too sweet, too much to have more than one-two bite. However, the powdered sugar in American buttercream can be substituted with other sweeteners such as chocolate, honey, sweetened condensed milk or maple syrup, which I have found makes it less sweet and tastier but not as much as swiss meringue buttercream.

Fondant icing is mostly made for special occasions, like weddings, however, lately, people prefer naked cakes frosted with swiss meringue buttercream or classic American.

What is Swiss Meringue ButterCream?

Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a meringue-based frosting whereby egg whites and sugar are cooked over a double boiler, whipped to a meringue, then butter is added.

It is silky and smooth, colours very well, and it is not overly sweet. Compared to American buttercream, it needs more skill, but the outcome is always worth it. The good thing about Swiss Meringue buttercream is that it is so easy to flavour. Examples of Swiss Meringue flavour variations are ;

Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter
Strawberry
Lemon
White Chocolate
Coffee
Macha
Cinnamon
Coconut

Why you cannot use shortening/ Margarine to make swiss meringue buttercream.

Butter is made from dairy fat. On the other hand, most kinds of margarine are mostly made from vegetable or animal oils, flavourings, emulsifiers, preservatives, vitamins, yellow food pigments, milk products and salt. Most lack fat and has a lot of water. This makes it a lot harder for margarine to homogenize into the meringue while making swiss meringue buttercream.

Mostly, you might think you are successful, but the buttercream will lack flavour, taste more like sweetened margarine and will miss the creaminess and silkiness of swiss meringue buttercream.

Tips and Tricks.

Use Fresh Eggs. A stable sugar meringue defines success when making swiss meringue buttercream. Fresh eggs guarantee a stable meringue, which is the backbone structure for a successful swiss meringue buttercream. In addition, separate eggs separately and carefully to avoid egg yolks from getting into the mixture.

Stick to the Recipe. Note that Swiss Meringue Buttercream relies heavily on a balanced ratio of 1:2:3, egg whites, sugar, and butter. Too much or too little of one of the three ingredients will affect the outcome of the buttercream.

Use Butter not Shortening. Although it is possible to make swiss meringue with shortening, the final texture and taste of the buttercream will be dominated by the shortening used. As explained above.

Cool the Meringue before adding in the Butter. Adding butter when the meringue is hot will melt the butter making the buttercream soupy. However, to fix this, refrigeration for a couple of minutes usually works.

Use a glass or metal bowl. This is because they are easy to clean and do not retain any grease residue. Grease residue can get into the meringue mixture, hindering a stable meringue from forming. For a successful buttercream, the meringue should be stable before adding butter. Regularly, wipe these tools with lemon juice or vinegar to get rid of retained residue completely.

Do not Forget the Salt. Salt balances out the Sweetness.

Is it your first time? do not give up. Swiss meringue skill level is a bit advanced than American Buttercream, and if it is your first time, you might call it quits at some point. Stick to a recipe, and pay attention to the ingredient measurements, follow the procedure carefully, noting the tips and tricks, you’ll be good to go. Honestly, you will only get better with time

How to make swiss meringue butterccream.

Step one; Place a medium-sized pot half-filled with water over low heat and let it come to a gentle boil.

Step two; In a mixing bowl( preferably glass or metal), mix the egg whites, castor sugar, and place it over the simmering water. Whisk the mixture continuously to avoid cooking the egg whites and dissolve the sugar.

Once the egg whites-sugar mixture reaches 150F, remove from heat. If you do not have a thermometer on hand, test with your fingers by scooping a bit of the meringue and rubbing it between your forefinger and thumb. If it feels grainy, keep cooking until it’s smooth to the touch.

Step three; Remove the mixing bowl from the simmering water, and move it to a stand mixer. Start whisking on medium, then gradually increase to high speed, until a stiff meringue peak is formed. Normally, by the time a stiff meringue is formed the mixture will have cooled, but if not, chill until cool before adding in the butter. A good meringue translates into a good buttercream. It should be stiff and not grainy.

Step four; Continue whisking on medium, adding in the butter cube by cube. Note that at some point, the mixture will curdle. Curdling is completely normal, continue whisking on medium speed until light, fluffy buttercream is formed.

Step four. Add in the vanilla extract and salt, whisk for a few minutes until fully incorporated. You can use it immediately or keep it refrigerated until when ready to use.

Do not make or use swiss meringue buttercream if;

You plan on substituting butter with shortening
Do not have an electric or hand mixer. It can be quite problematic to whip a stiff meringue with a whisk.
You plan on using it as a frosting for an event on a hot day.
As a base coat for fondant.
No proper ingedient ratios. Unlike american buttercream, you need to use measured ingredient ratios when making swiss meringue. Skimping on the amount of butter will, too little sugar, too much egg wjhites will hinder a successful swiss meringuebuttercream. You will definately need a recipe!
You are vegan.

Notes on Storage.

Refrigeration of swiss meringue buttercream takes 4-5 days. For longer storage, seal it completely and freeze for up to 2 months.

When whipped immediately, refrigerated buttercream will split. Let it sit until it’s room temperature or place it over a warm water bath to quicken the process, then re-whip.

How to use swiss meringue buttercream

As a combining sweetener for cake pops, truffles and cakesicles.
For filling and frosting cakes.
Piped on cupcakes using various piping tips. It is stiff, silky and pipes beautifully.
To sandwich cookies.
For topping bars or brownies
To cream sheet cakes

Frequently Asked Questions.

Why is my Swiss Meringue Buttercream runny?

This could be due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, Swiss Meringue Buttercream will split if butter is added before completely cooling the meringue. Secondly, overwhipping will also make the buttercream runny. To fix a runny buttercream, chill it for 30-40 minutes, then re-whip it until light and fluffy.

Can I Use shortenning in my swiss meringue buttercream?

Not really. As explained above, shortening/margarine will be problematic to get it to fully combine with meringue, as would butter. You will end up with cream the mostly tastes like the shortening itself, is hard to flavour, and is less creamy than swiss meringue buttercream.

Why did my Swiss Meringue Buttercream Curdle?

If you notice curdling immediately after adding the butter, don’t panic, this is completely normal. Just continue whipping it for a few more minutes on medium-high speed it will come back together. Another way of avoiding this is by adding the butter a cube at a time and whipping for a few minutes before adding the next cube.

How do you Flavor Swiss Meringue Buttercream?

Simply add a few tablespoons of the flavouring you desire at the last step. For example, for peanut butter flavour, add a few tablespoons of preferred peanut butter spread at the last step.

Conclusion.

Swiss meringue buttercream is popular for its silky and creamy properties with a well-balanced sugar amount. Although a bit procedural, it runs down to a few simple but requisite observations.

Use egg white, sugar and butter in the ratio 1:2:3
You need a stable meringue thus use fresh egg whites, avoid yolks complteley, grese proof your instruments and add salt at the last step.
Use good quality butter.