The Sweet Occasion

  • RECIPES
  • SUMMER
  • BAKING TIPS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
menu icon
go to homepage
  • RECIPES
  • SUMMER
  • BAKING TIPS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
search icon
Homepage link
  • RECIPES
  • SUMMER
  • BAKING TIPS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
×
The Sweet Occasion » Recipes » Frostings & Fillings

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Published: Aug 28, 2018 · Modified: Apr 3, 2020 by Maria Pagiotas · 4 Comments

512 shares
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Save This Recipe! 💌

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Swiss meringue buttercream is heavenly!  Its silky texture, delicious flavor and ability to hold its shape makes it an essential recipe for any baker.  It screams cake, cupcakes, buttercream flowers!

Swiss meringue buttercream (SMB) is simple to make and requires only four ingredients: egg whites, sugar, butter and vanilla.  How simple is that?!  Of course you can play around with flavors, but this SMB is a basic go-to vanilla buttercream to keep in your back pocket for anytime you need to whip up a cake or some cupcakes.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Always begin the process with a clean stand mixer bowl.  It is essential to ensure the bowl is free of any grease or moisture as these can affect producing the perfect meringue.  Even the accidental addition of yolk to the mixture can affect creating volume in your meringue.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

After the addition of the butter to your meringue, the buttercream may curdle or become runny.  If this happens  switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle and continue to beat the mixture until it comes together again.  The first time this happened to me, I thought my buttercream was ruined and there was no turning back.  But with some patience not all is lost.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I find SMB is far superior to American buttercream which uses powdered sugar instead of a meringue base making for an overly sweet frosting that can overpower a cake.  With a less intense sweet flavor, SMB is a balance of flavors complementing a cake rather than competing with it.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Because SMB is meringue based, I find it much easier to color the buttercream in a mixer with the whisk attachment.  The color is better incorporated and requires less food coloring to achieve vivid colors as opposed to when mixed from hand.

The buttercream can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week.  When ready to use, let stand at room temperature and rewhip in a stand mixer until the buttercream is smooth and fluffy.  Alternatively, the buttercream can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.  To use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then let stand until room temperature before rewhipping.  I hope you will enjoy making this SMB to complement your sweet treats for any occasion.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Swiss Meringue Buttercream


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

3 from 1 review

  • Yield: 5 cups 1x
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 120 g (4 large) egg whites
  • 330 g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
  • 452 g (1 pound) unsalted butter, softened
  • 6.3 g (1 ½ teaspoons) pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl and whisk together. Make a double boiler by placing the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (ensuring the bowl does not touch the water). Whisk constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture feels hot to the touch, about 4-5 minutes.  You should not feel any sugar granules when rubbing the mixture between your fingertips.
  2. Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip the mixture on medium-high until the bottom of the bowl no longer feels warm and the meringue is thick and glossy.
  3. With the mixer on medium, add the softened butter half a stick at time.  Continue to whip until mixture is smooth.  Mix in vanilla until completely incorporated.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thesweetoccasion on Instagram so we can see your creation!

More Frostings & Fillings

  • Lemon cream cheese frosting in a glass mixing bowl set on a pink towel.
    5-Minute Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Brown sugar cream cheese frosting spread over banana cake cut into squares on a round wire rack.
    Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (No Grainy Texture!)
  • Close up of coconut cupcake with coconut sprinkled on the frosting set on a wood board.
    5-Minute Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 2-Minute Vanilla Glaze Recipe with 3 Ingredients
512 shares

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

  1. Addie says

    August 07, 2024 at 12:11 am

    When I add the butter it turned very liquidly and im not sure how to fix it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Maria Pagiotas says

      August 11, 2024 at 8:51 pm

      Hi Addie! This can often happen with Swiss meringue buttercream and appears to be a lost cause, but it's not! Ideally, you want to add the butter when the bowl is no longer warm to the touch. If after adding the butter, the mixture looks soupy or very soft you can just continue beating the mixture until it comes together into a smooth buttercream mixture. It will take a little while, but it's worth the wait because you will not have to throw out the mixture. To speed up the process I would suggest switching to the paddle attachment and beating on hight speed.

      Reply
  2. Cat says

    January 15, 2022 at 8:23 pm

    When in the recipe would you add the colouring? Do you do the heat some in a microwave technique?

    Reply
    • Maria says

      January 19, 2022 at 1:29 am

      Hi Cat! You can add it in as the final step after the vanilla. I highly recommend using gel food coloring and mixing it in with the mixer and not by hand (it will incorporate more consistently!). Happy Baking!

      Reply

Hello! I'm Maria, a professionally trained pastry chef, blogger, and photographer. Here at The Sweet Occasion, you'll find easy and impressive baking recipes for everyday occasions that save you time. My goal is to inspire home bakers to bake from scratch.

More about me →

Strawberry Favorites

  • Pan of baked fresh strawberry cinnamon rolls topped with whipped cream cheese frosting.
    Easy Strawberry Cheesecake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
  • Square slices of strawberry cake sheet cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting and a with two forks and a bowl of strawberries.
    Fresh Strawberry Sheet Cake
  • Two bowls of roasted strawberry ice cream.
    Roasted Strawberry Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Three strawberry crunch cupcakes with cream cheese frosting lined up on a white wood board with flowers in the background.
    Fresh Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes

Footer

↑ back to top

About | Contact | Recipes | Editorial Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Accessibility Policy

Copyright © 2025 The Sweet Occasion

Manage your privacy
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Statistics

Marketing

Features
Always active

Always active
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Manage options
{title} {title} {title}