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Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Published: Updated:

1 Reviews

Prep Time
10m
1 portion to cover an 8" cake
1 portion to cover an 8" cake
intermediate
A little effort

About the bake

A swiss buttercream holds really well, especially if you want to pipe it. The difference between Swiss meringue buttercream and regular buttercream is that you need to make meringue from the egg whites and then work in the other ingredients. This makes Swiss meringue buttercream lighter and less sweet than regular buttercream. Fun fact, did you know that Swiss buttercream was the buttercream of choice for Harry and Meghan's Royal Wedding Cake? Write that down and keep it in your pocket ready for your next pub quiz. 

5 ingredients4 steps

    Method

    1. Step 1

      To make the buttercream, tip the egg whites into a bowl and add the sugar and salt. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water) and stir until the sugar dissolves completely, when you put your fingers in the mixture you should not feel any grains of sugar.

    2. Step 2

      Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk with an electric whisk until it becomes a thick meringue that forms stiff peaks and the sides of the bowl no longer feels warm and whisk in the vanilla extract.

    3. Step 3

      Add the butter, it must be really soft, if too hard it will curdle, if melted the icing will not set, the butter should be the consistency of soft margarine.

    4. Step 4

      Whisk it in a tablespoon at a time at full speed and it will combine together to give a fluffy buttercream which can be piped easily. Add food colourings as desired.

    Ingredients

      • 3Large egg whites (free range) 
      • 250gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar 
      • PinchSalt 
      • 1 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract 
      • 300gUnsalted butter (softened) 

    Utensils

    • Bowl
    • Saucepan
    • Electric whisk

    Nutritional information per 54g serving

    • Energy 275cal
    • Fat 21g
    • of which Saturates 13g
    • Carbohydrates 21g
    • of which Sugars 21g
    • Protein 1.3g
    • Salt 0.22g

    1 Baker Ratings

    Brilliant!! I was really nervous about trying this but it came together beautifully. So light and smooth. What's more, my kitchen wasn't horribly sticky afterwards as it is when I have used icing sugar. This will definitely be my buttercream of choice in future!

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