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This is the Easiest Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe you’ll ever make! Once you try it, you’ll want to use it to cover all of your cakes and cupcakes.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream is my FAVORITE type of frosting—it tastes delicious, is a dream to work with, doesn’t crust, and isn’t overly sweet or greasy. In short, it’s almost perfect!
The only problem? It can be a big pain to make. I won’t go into all the steps—for that, you’ll want to read my post on how to make traditional Swiss Meringue Buttercream. But the point is, the whole Swiss Meringue shebang has been a necessary evil…until now. Introducing your new favorite recipe, The EASIEST Swiss Meringue Buttercream!
First things first: this is based on a frosting recipe by the amazing cake decorator Lauren Kitchens. If you want to see some real talent, check out her site! The frosting is not technically a Swiss Meringue, because the technique is different, but the ingredients and final product are so close, I have no problem calling this a lazy version of SMBC! I did a lot of tweaking and ended up with some very different ingredient quantities than the original recipe, to find the right balance of sugar + butter for my personal taste buds.
Now let’s get down to the business of buttercream.
This frosting will seriously change your decorating life. I used it as a base for almost all of my cakes. It’s easy to work with, tastes great, and doesn’t crust over. That is gold, people.
FAQ About the Easiest Swiss Meringue Buttercream
What piping tip do you use for these cupcakes?
It’s a closed star tip, Ateco #849. You can get the closed star tip here.
Is it safe to eat raw egg whites? / Do I have to use egg whites in a carton?
I recommend using pasteurized egg whites for food safety reasons. Pasteurizing means the whites have been heated to kill the bad bacteria, so you can safely consume raw whites. If you cannot find pasteurized whites in a carton, look for pasteurized whole eggs, and separate out the whites yourself. If you cannot find either, and you personally feel comfortable eating raw egg whites, then you can use regular whites. OR just use this recipe for traditional Swiss Meringue! The whites are cooked in that recipe, so it is safe to use regular eggs.
The EASIEST Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 6 fl oz pasteurized liquid egg whites, (3/4 cup)
- 24 oz powdered sugar, (6 cups)
- ½ tsp salt
- 24 oz unsalted butter, (3 cups) , at room temperature
- 2 TBSP vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine the whites, powdered sugar, and salt in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix everything together on low speed, until the sugar is moistened and no dry patches remain. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, then turn the mixer to medium speed. Beat on medium for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, turn the mixer to medium-low and start adding the softened room temperature butter, 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Once all of the butter is incorporated, add the vanilla extract and mix it in. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bottom and sides once more. Turn the speed to medium and beat the buttercream for 10 minutes. At the end, you’ll have a frosting with a wonderfully light and creamy texture. It can be used right away, or stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or the freezer for up to two months. If you have chilled the frosting, let it come to room temperature and then beat it for several minutes to smooth it out and restore its texture before using it.
- To make chocolate buttercream, chop 12 oz unsweetened chocolate, and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Once the chocolate is melted, let it cool until it is completely room temperature. Make the frosting as described, and after it is finished, add the melted and cooled chocolate. Mix on low speed until the chocolate is completely incorporated.
Video
Recipe Notes
MEASURING TIPS
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Click here to learn more about baking measurements and conversion.Nutrition
Want to learn to make traditional Swiss Meringue buttercream? I have a Swiss Meringue Buttercream photo tutorial and recipe right here!
This recipe is delicious! I need to make and color it for cupcakes. Red, yellow and orange. Does it color easily and do you use the liquid or more pasty gel food coloring?
YUMMY!!!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe! I’ve heard about your blog a couple of times and will now spend my afternoon reading 🙂
The receipe looks very simple and yummy
Made this twice and loving it. Only question is how long can the frosted cake be left in room temperature? On the day I’m planning to make my girl’s birthday cake, a warm day of 31C is predicted. I’m going to make a geode cake so don’t think the rock sugar is suitable to be chilled. TIA
I loved this! Not too sweet, buttery and smooth… Easy to follow recipe and it turned out great! New fave 🙂
I followed your recipe to the dot. But in the end it remained very yellowish. Never turned out white like yours. What could be the reason? Also it was very soft
I made the recipe exactly as posted, no changes. It was delicious. It will be my go to frosting recipe. So very easy. And delicious. Not sweet.
Tried this recipe and sorry to say, I won’t be using it again. The finished product wasn’t as white as shown here and I guess that’s because of the OBSCENE amount of butter you need. Although it looked rich and creamy it has a slimy texture like eating plain butter. It also had, even though I sifted it, a bit of a gritty texture where the sugar hadn’t dissolved..
Same here I made this today and it was gritty and too sweet I’ll stick to my other recipe I found
Hopefully this isn’t a stupid question, do you have to use the buttercream before the use by date on the egg whites?
I love this recipe! I was wondering if you’ve experimented with adding honey to this frosting? I’m worried it might ruin the consistency/structure. Thank you!
Hi Karlissa! I haven’t added honey but I have added thick caramel sauce and it works well. Definitely start with a small amount and gradually add more if the BC seems okay. I would say I’ve added over a 1/2 cup and it’s been okay, but again, start very small! The other concern is that it would make the BC very sweet, so you might want to tweak the salt levels as well. Please let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
I love this frosting and all my family are now hooked too! My mum wants a coffee cake for her birthday using this frosting, do I add straight coffee powder or coffee essence? Thanks x
Hi Candice! So thrilled to hear that you love this frosting! If you have coffee extract or coffee liqueur, you can add that. I would start with 1 tsp extract or 1 TBSP liqueur and add more to taste. If you don’t have those, you can also use instant espresso powder–dissolve a few tsp in a tablespoon of warm water, let it cool completely to room temperature, then add it bit by bit to the frosting, until it’s as strong as you’d like. Hope this helps, and please let me know how it goes!
Hi there! Does this recipe require refrigeration?
Hi Erika, I leave the frosting out up to overnight, but any longer than that I would recommend refrigerating it.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. The taste and texture were wonderful and the method much easier than traditional SMBC.
Thanks Leesha, I’m so glad to hear that you liked it!
I am back again to make this delicious and easy frosting for my son’s birthday! This is my family’s favorite since I started using it for their birthday cakes a couple years ago. They prefer my cakes to store bought cakes now, which says a lot for this simple baker! I use a cheap hand mixer, and it doesn’t look quite as silky as your photos, but it pipes well and takes the color well and is DELICIOUS! Thank you so much! I have no plans to use any other frosting recipe!
Kathryn, I’m so happy to hear that this recipe has become a family favorite! Happy birthday to your son. 🙂
The flavor is great and it’s very easy to make so I love all of that. The amount of butter in this seems like too much and, if I make it again, I’ll reduce it to just 16 ounces to get a lighter result with less butter texture.
Thanks June! I’d love to hear an update on how it goes after you make the adjustments–I know some folks would prefer a version with less butter as well.
Absolutely amazing! It was creamy and light- not too sweet. I used it to make a birthday cake and it turned out delicious and was extremely simple! Definitely would make this again.
So glad to hear it was a hit for you!
Hi! Ok…first time trying this and it came out thick and hard to pipe. Taste was there but consistency was not! What did I do and is there a way to fix it? Thanks!
Hi Karla! You have a couple options: one, beat the heck out of it. Beat it on med-high with a paddle attachment for at least 5 minutes, then run it on low for about 10 to get some of the air bubbles out. The other thing to try is to add a bit of liquid, a little at a time. You can use a flavoring like clear vanilla or a liqueur, or just milk works well too. Add it bit by bit till you get a consistency you’re happy with.
Apparently Swiss meringue hates me. Mine came out looking like cottage cheese I’m gonna stick to my regular flour frosting
Oh no! How long did you beat it for? It is VERY common to have the gross cottage cheese phase, and 99.5% of the time if you keep mixing, it will come together. Mixers are different and the times given are guidelines, but it sounds like yours definitely needed a little extra time. I hope you didn’t toss it, because it can be saved!
This recipe is the easiest and best recipe I’ve ever made for Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
It’s changed my cake products into something people beg for me to make. Plus, it’s very easy to decorate with.
No muss, no fuss, and a great tasting Buttercream!
This recipe looks amazing! I have a question.. if I went to add cream cheese to this buttercream would it still work? Thank you!
Yes, but I actually recommend adding the buttercream to cream cheese! What I do is make the buttercream as normal, following the recipe completely. THEN beat room temperature cream cheese in a mixer until no lumps remain. Add buttercream a few spoonfuls at a time to the cream cheese until it’s all mixed in. For one batch, I’d say ~8 oz cream cheese is probably a good ratio. For some reason it often breaks when I add cream cheese to the frosting, but adding frosting to cream cheese works much better. Let me know how it goes!
This recipe makes delicious frosting. However, it seems a bit soft for piping – my leaves all seem to melt together and don’t stay defined enough. Should I add more powdered sugar or what might the solution be? I may try using less butter next time but need a fix for the batch I just made if possible.
Thanks!
Hi Heather! Sorry to hear the frosting is giving you trouble. It definitely shouldn’t be that soft! What brand of butter did you use? I get this comment sometimes and I was never able to replicate it until I tried using a particular brand of butter (Walmart store brand) and my buttercream was SO soft, almost watery! As you might know, butter is fat solids + water, and different brands behave very differently. So it is possible that you did everything right, but were using a butter with a higher water percentage and that was the culprit. FWIW I most often make this with either Costco brand butter (Kirkland Signature) or Land O’ Lakes, and those both work well for me.
As far as how to save this, I do think you can! Add more powdered sugar and some shortening if you have it. If your shortening is very stiff, mix it a bit first so it won’t add lumps to the frosting. But I’d start with adding another cup of powdered sugar, and maybe 1/2 cup shortening? (Hard to know without seeing the BC). Mix well and check the texture. You might also want to increase the flavoring a bit to compensate for the extra sweetness + fat, but don’t add too much liquid flavoring or you’ll be back where you started! 🙂 Please let me know how it turns out for you!
Does this crust over or stay soft? Thanks
Hi Susan! It stays soft at room temperature, similar to Swiss meringue or Italian meringue. It does get quite hard when refrigerated, but never forms a crust like American buttercream.
Can I mix cream cheese into this icing? I’ve made this several times without any problems. I do not want to waste all of it by adding cream cheese unless possible.
Yes! But I actually recommend mixing the frosting into cream cheese. Make the frosting as usual, then mix some room temperature cream cheese for a minute, just to get any lumps out. Gradually add the frosting a cup at a time while it mixes. For some reason, it often breaks when adding cream cheese into frosting, but doing the reverse seems to keep it stable. I’d start with ~8 oz cc for a batch of frosting and see how you like that taste and texture.
This was just basically American buttercream with eggwhites instead of milk. The consistency wasn’t like swiss meringue, it was thicker and tasted very buttery. I followed the recipe exactly but in the end it wasn’t as good as I was expecting. It was quick and easy so I can see using it for those purposes but if you want a less sweet and lighter buttercream definitely go with the traditional way of swiss meringue.
It came out very light and fluffy. It was PERFECT for piping. Thank you.
Thanks Cynthia! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Hi! I’m making an almond cake and would like to flavor this frosting with amaretto. Would that work? And would I reduce vanilla? Also, will this frosting hold up for flowers? Thanks!
Hi Laura, yes you can definitely add amaretto! I would start with 1 TBSP amaretto, no vanilla. Give it a taste and check the texture, and if you want more amaretto flavor, add a bit at a time. You can add in a bit of vanilla as well, although I’d keep it to maybe a tsp or so so the frosting doesn’t get too soft–and honestly I don’t know if you’ll even miss it.
This frosting can do most flowers but if you’re looking to get really detailed you’d probably want something stiffer. But I’ve used it with Russian piping tips and to do roses and daisies etc and it works fine. You can also swap in some shortening for the butter (up to 1/2 the amount) and that makes a stiffer, more stable frosting.
I’m your #1 fan at the moment! This SMBC is amazing! I did need to refrigerate it for it to stiffen up but that’s what you get when you work over a heating duct.
Can this icing be used if you want to develop color using the microwave method?
Terry I am soooooo glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing!
And YES you can do the microwave trick for the color!
I am dairy free and I substituted Country Crock plant based butter (olive oil) for the butter. It turned out great! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Rae! I’m so glad to hear it worked out, and appreciate the product recommendation!
Thank you for posting this! I use this as a filling for my macarons but have a friend who is allergic to dairy so was wondering if it will work with vegan butter! Now I can proceed safely!
Thank you, and please let us know how the macarons turn out, Olga!
Fantastic! Just the creamy not too sweet icing I’ve been searching for. Thanks
Thank you Annette! So glad to hear that you loved it!
Gracias
Love ~~~~ Love !!!!! Love ****
This recipe. i have been using it for several years and it is the easiest and best recipe to use. I own a Sweet Shop and my customers love this buttercream. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much Kathy Jo! That is a huge compliment coming from a bakery owner!
I love this recipe. It is my go to buttercream. It turns out the same whether you are making the full batch or a third. It is easy to make and the results are oh so yummy.
Thank you, Jackie!
do we use the egg whites cold, or do we need to room temp them first?
Hi, I typically try to bring the egg whites to room temperature, but have also used them cold from the fridge and the recipe still works. The 5-minute beating time before the butter is added does a good job of warming up the egg whites. 🙂
made it and it will be my go to frosting from now on
Yayyyy, so happy to hear it!
Hi hun
Quick question, will this recipe work well with tiered Cakes? And
Yes, definitely! If your cakes are going to be sitting out for awhile in warm/hot weather, you can swap in shortening for some of the butter to give them more stability. I recommend using max 1/3 shortening : 2/3 butter for the best taste and texture. 🙂
Thanks for this recipe…I’d like to make this a chocolate SMBC…how would you suggest making it? Thanks
Hi Susan! To make chocolate buttercream, chop 12 oz unsweetened chocolate, and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Once the chocolate is melted, let it cool until it is completely room temperature. Make the frosting as described, and after it is finished, add the melted and cooled chocolate. Mix on low speed until the chocolate is completely incorporated. It’s a little soft right after mixing, so if possible I recommend making this a few hours in advance and let it sit at room temp so the chocolate can firm up a bit. Then briefly re-whip (or just vigorously stir) to get out air bubbles, and you’re good to go!
Can Meringue Powder be used in place of the Egg Whites? If so, how much Meringue Powder to Water Ratio?
Thank you
Yes! Here is my recommendation:
1/2 cup warm water
3 TBSP meringue powder
1 lb powdered sugar
Salt & vanilla
1 lb butter
Whisk together the water and meringue powder until there are no lumps. Then proceed with the recipe as usual! I will say that I’ve found that meringue powder can give the buttercream a slight “tang.” I think it’s the citric acid in the powder–it’s subtle but I usually notice it. I think meringue powder buttercream works best if you’re going to add other flavors to it–fruity flavors are GREAT, and even chocolate works well! If you’re making plain vanilla, you might not love the tangy undertaste from the meringue powder. Maybe try a half batch and see!
Your other option is to use powdered egg whites if those are available to you. Same ratio and preparation as the meringue powder (but it will take the whites longer to absorb the water/get lumps out.) This makes a GREAT frosting with none of the tanginess of the meringue powder!
Can you add caramel instead of chocolate? Or will is ruin the texture?
Hi Natalie! Caramel is a great addition. I recommend using a thick jarred caramel (instead of the thinner kind in a squeeze bottle) and start with 1/2 cup for one batch of buttercream. Add it at the end, mix well, and see how the taste and texture is, then add a little more at a time if desired.