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.
Traditional Swiss Meringue involves heating egg whites, then lots and lots of whipping. This recipe skips the heating step entirely, and still produces a rich, smooth, ultra-creamy buttercream with the characteristic texture and taste of Swiss Meringue. It’s as easy to make as American Buttercream, but it doesn’t crust over and it isn’t teeth-shatteringly sweet. You seriously NEED to try this recipe!
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.
🧁More Frosting Recipes
- Cinnamon Buttercream
- Red Velvet Fudge Frosting
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- Honey Buttercream
- Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lick-The-Knife-Clean Chocolate Spread
- Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
- Butterscotch Frosting
Cookie Dough Frosting
Strawberry Buttercream
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.
Want 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!
Hi Elizabeth, this buttercream is absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to try it out. I am wondering, in the past I have added flavored pudding mixes to different types of icing, to give it a little flavor boost (for example, White Chocolate instant pudding mix is my favorite!). I am wondering if I could add a pudding mix or two to this recipe – do you think it would work if I left out a little bit of the powdered sugar to compensate? Say 2 boxes of the powdered pudding mix = half a cup, could I add this & 5 1/2 cups of powdered sugar instead of 6?
Thanks for all of the great recipes 🙂
Yeah I think that would work just fine! And if it seems a little soft you could add more powdered sugar at the end to get a stronger consistency! Let me know how it goes! Thank you so much!
hi recipe looks really good i don’t have a kitchen aide so what paddle do i use for the bosch? thank you
I’m not super familiar with the Bosch, I would say what ever paddle you use to make a cake batter. I would be hesitant to use the whisk attachment because it can produce air bubbles
Any ideas on how to make this coffee flavored? I was thinking about dissolving some espresso in hot water, cooling it down and adding it, but would that make it too watery or maybe it wouldn’t even incorporate? I do have some Lor-Ann Coffee Emulsion – maybe I would just do a half-and-half of coffee/emulsion and vanilla extract?
I think either of those ideas would work! I think if you dissolved the espresso in warm water to make closer to a paste consistency you wouldn’t have to worry about changing the texture and it would give it a more true coffee flavor!
I apologize if this question has been asked. Can this recipe be halved and still have the same results? I feel so dumb for asking. I am a newbie to baking.
Yeah! Half-ing it is no problem! Not a dumb question at all! Good luck on your baking endeavors!
I forgot to ask something. If I want to make this even less sweet how much can I reduce the sugar by and still have the same consistency? Beyond thank you.
I wouldn’t reduce the sugar by much, its an important part of the recipe. I would however add more butter because it would have less of an effect on the recipe and help balance the sweetness!
Can you use this buttercream recipe as the base and add in cream cheese like you do in your carrot cake/buttercream recipe? Thanks!
Yes that should work fine! I’d love to hear what you think if you give it a try!
I used this a couple days ago to fill and frost a coconut cake. I used about half a teaspoon of coconut extract and it was perfect. The texture was so smooth and the level of sweetness was perfect. I have made traditional SMBC before and was put off by the “butteryness”. This is so much better!! I will be using this soon to make chocolate cakes for some friends for Thanksgiving. Thank you, Elizabeth, for this fantastic recipe!
I’m so glad it turned out well! Happy cooking!
My go-to recipe! I only make it with Salted Butter (but omit the extra salt) – perfect EVERY time. It’s seriously the most forgiving frosting. I’ve had butter that was a little too hard and butter that was a little too soft and it still turned out perfect. I added the vanilla at the beginning, middle and end. I do like more vanilla flavor so I tend to added 2.5-3 Tbsp or part vanilla extract and part almond extract.
Glad to hear it worked out for you! Thank you so much!
HELLO! I’m sorry, I wrote on another comment by accident. I was wondering for my daughters birthday I was thinking of either doing a rosette cake or making my cake completely smooth (fondant like)… does this smooth and make it look completely clean? With traditional ABC it tends to have air bubbles and it’s difficult to work with because it’s thicker… I also wanted to know when I crumb coat could I refrigerate for about an hour and then compelete my cake with this frosting? I’ve been trying to find something ! I saw that this wasn’t a crusting buttercream so does that mean if I touch it it will mess up? Just wanna know your thoughts for a clean smooth cake! Thank you so much!
As far as the texture of this buttercream I would say it is lighter and smoother than ABC and easier to work with, it also holds up well underneath fondant. As far as crumb coating I recommend refrigerating for about an hour to make sure its firm before you finish it. You’re right that this recipe does not crust, when its cold it is firm and you can touch it without leaving a mark. You would want to cover it with fondant when its cold as to not leave a mark. But when its at room temp it is soft, but that gives it a really nice texture! Happy cooking!
Hi Elizabeth, thank you for sharing this recipe… it’s a god send! I just wondered- have you tried a white chocolate version? Would I use 12oz like with the unsweetened chocolate? Thanks x
Hi! I would personally start with about half that amount of white chocolate because it can make your butter cream soft. Start with less and see if it gives you the flavor, and if that doesn’t work keep adding little by little until you get the taste you’re looking for! Let me know how it works!