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Swiss meringue buttercream

Swiss meringue buttercream in a cake

Swiss meringue buttercream

Name: Swiss meringue buttercream
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Makes enough to fill and ice a three-tier cake
Ingredients: 300g egg whites; 600g caster sugar; 800g unsalted butter softened; 1 tsp vanilla extract

Helena Busiakiewicz

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Makes enough to fill and ice a three-tier cake

More effort

Prep: 45 mins

A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.11 ratingsRate

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Fill your cakes with a silky smooth meringue buttercream. This recipe makes enough to fill and ice a three-tier cake, and it's easily halved for smaller bakes

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

300g egg whites
600g caster sugar
800g unsalted butter

softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

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Nutrition: Per serving (18)

kcal472
fat36g
saturates23g
carbs34g
sugars34g
fibre0g
protein2g
salt0.09g

Method

step 1

Put the egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Gently stir for a few minutes until you can no longer feel any grains of sugar between your fingers when you touch it. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
step 2

Whisk on medium speed until the mixture becomes meringue-like and has reached stiff peaks, about 3 mins. (You could use an electric whisk, but it will take considerably longer, around 35 mins.) Add the butter 1 tbsp at a time, whisking to combine before the next addition. It may look curdled and soupy but be patient and keep whisking until you have a smooth, fluffy buttercream. Whisk in the vanilla. If using this buttercream to ice a cake, change to the paddle attachment and set it on a low speed for a few minutes – this helps remove air bubbles from the icing and makes for a smoother finish to your cake. If you like, you can also add melted chocolate, freeze-dried fruit powder, malt extract or other flavourings.

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A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.11 ratings

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