After few experiments, i have came out with this Swiss Meringue Buttercream that can withstand in our hot and humid weather, also don't need to care much of the room temperature or need a thermometer. This recipe work for me very well, and I hope it works for you too.
The important thing that i found out is beat the buttercream till curdles, when you see the buttercream turned to curdles, then you are safe !! I like this buttercream because it is light and less sweet, and also can store in the room temperature .
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
(recipe source: recipe adapted from The Batter Baker with minor changes, method from this video, ice cubes method from Wendy, method using hand mixer and with my own experiments)
100g egg white (3 large eggs)
135g sugar
227g unsalted butter, soft but still cold, cut into small equal size of cubes
Method
1. Remove butter from fridge and cut into small cubes, set aside. Lightly whisk egg whites in a mixing bowl, place over a pot of simmering water (double boiler).
2. Add in sugar in 3 batches, whisk sugar and egg whites till sugar is fully dissolved (rub some with your fingers, if it feels grainy, it hasn't dissolved yet), take about 2-3mins.
3. Remove from heat and whisk for about 5mins till peaks are stiff, thick and glossy (Hand mixer speed at 3).
4. At this point, the mixing bowl should be cool to the touch but still slight warm at the bottom.
5. Place the bowl of meringue on top of a large bowl with few ice cubes and water.
6. With the mixer at low, add in the butter cube one by one, ensuring that each addition is well incorporated before adding the next one.
7. Beat till mixture become curdles, stop the mixer, take a spatula, continue to fold and stir till the mixture become creamy and satiny. (Even the mixture not totally smooth also ok, because when you add coloring, you need to stir and this time it will turn smooth).
8. Add colouring if desired and mix till evenly distributed.
Great sharing, step by step pix!! thanks sooo much!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this Sonia! I have yet to try making Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Got to try it one day.
ReplyDeleteLove swiss meringue buttercream, i use it in all of my cake orders back in the US. After moving to singapore, was wondering how it can withstand the heat here, thanks for sharing the recipe!
ReplyDeleteAppetite Treats
Hi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteI have never try this meringue butter cream before.
Would like to try this. May I know is the cubed butter soften at room temperature or slightly cold inside?
Thanks for sharing..^^
This is a great tutorial, Sonia. I've hesitated to even try it because our weather is so ridiculously hot. Now, I want to make it tonight! Of course, a cake would require turning on the oven and I'm feeling far too lazy for that tonight. Have a blessed day!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, sonia! your pics are very helpful.
ReplyDeleteThis is so needed for our weather. Never did like the overly sweet buttercreams and worse when they're all melty. Thanks for sharing this brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the tip Sonia! I agree our humidity level tends to kill a lot of our frosting. I realised I have not share any basics in my blog, and you have just inspired me. The Pink Rosette Ombre cake is really beautiful. Then again, you're such an amazing baker and cook ;). xoxo, Jo
ReplyDeleteMui Mui, butter still slightly cold inside .
ReplyDeleteSonia,
ReplyDeleteHow long did you put the cake outside? I once did a birthday cake for my gal and it was tough..I had to do last min deco for her...start decorating around 11 am and ate the cake around 8 pm..had to turn on aircon cuz I was afraid of the frosting turning stale. Didn't wanna chuck it inside the fridge as I bake butter cake and din't want the cake to turn hard
Shereen, I keep the cake outside for 2 days in room temperature, the buttercream still look good in shape and not melting. And you know the weather here is super hot and humid, i am glad that this buttercream is so stable in this kind of weather. I dont want to put the cake inside the fridge too because i dont like it to turn hard.
ReplyDeleteHuh...you mean 2 days outside with buttercream on and still ok?? Great!!!..I was worried that on the day I cut the cake I scrape the buttercream off and throw it away cuz I was afraid it'll spoil the cake
ReplyDeleteif i cant finish this buttercream, i have to keep it the refrigerator？
ReplyDeleteSonia,
ReplyDeleteI made this but my cream turn out as 'melted' or 'runny' cream. Any idea what I did wrong?
Anyway, I put it in the fridge and keep it chill until pipeable
Simone, you have to beat egg white till stiff and cool down before adding butter.
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia, i did everything as per your instructions. Sugar melted completely, meringue to stiff peaks, butter slightly softened but still firm, metal bowl cool to the touch and also ice bath. But when I added the 1st butter cube into the meringue, the butter started to break into tiny bits and same for the rest of the butter. In the end, the whole buttercream couldn't cuddle and was like melted and wouldn't even turn pipeable even when I chill it in the freezer. It was still runny with butter bits. May I know what went wrong? ~ Dora
DeleteI followed the instruction and it looked fine last night. So I put the buttercream in the fridge for next day to use. I leave it out at room temperature, my buttercream started to get very runny.
DeleteHi Sonia, may I know how much of cocoa powder do I need if I want to do chocolate buttercream ? Can I store it in the fridge if there's a balance
ReplyDeleteNazia, I have never try with chocolate, maybe you can start with 1tbsp cocoa powder. If you store in fridge , it will turn hard..
ReplyDeleteReally grateful for your sharing, after I failed 2 times in a row did I find this recipe. I will try it out tomorrow. Happy baking!
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteI am going to make birthday cake for my son 1stbirthday. Which frosting would you recommend? It is summer now and I would like to cream the cake 1 day in advance. Thank you very much.
LL
LL, go ahead to use this Swiss meringue cream, should be able to withstand in hot weather . Let me know the outcome if you havd tried out.
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your reply. I am thinking to bake Japanese cheese cake and cream it with this as per your suggestion. Will it be ok to put cheese cake outside overnight?
LL
Hi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteFor this meringue buttercream, do i have to use the normal sugar or i can replace with icing sugar?
Thank u for sharing this recipe, I'm going to try it today, can we add vanilla extract to it and how much?
ReplyDeleteHi Sonie,
ReplyDeleteDo you know how long we can store the buttercream in the fridge?
Yong, sorry I am not sure how long it can be store in the fridge since I use up whole recipe at a time..Maybe you try out and let me know how long it can be kept. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNajia Hossain, I have never encounter this problem before, sorry I could not give you the exact answer. Make sure you use a good quality and pure unsalted butter.
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteMy first attempt making swiss meringue buttercream and it's a success. Thanks for sharing. But what bothers me is that does the egg white considered safe for consumption since I did not use thermometer? g
Hello Sonia,
ReplyDeleteMay I know what's the difference taste wise between the Swiss Meringue buttercream and the Krimwell buttercream?
I'm planning to make a rainbow layer cake. Can I use the swiss meringue buttercream to frost the cake? Will it be suitable. Thanks!
Alice,Swiss meringue buttercream tasted creamy and milky, definitely nicer than Creamwell which tasted artificial. Yes of course you can use Swiss meringue buttercream to frost the cake , and the best thing is it can withstand in this hot weather here in room temperature .
ReplyDeleteHi sonia...can u replace butter with shortening? or replace half of the butter w shortening?
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the recipe. I've tried it once and have been using it ever since. Great recipe for piping!
Hi, Thanks for this wonderful recipe! Tried and it works so well!! However, any idea if I could still reduce the sugar?? Will it affect the result? I want to try doing a salted caramel buttercream but worry about the sugar level!! ;P
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteIf I wan to do a strawberry buttercream how shd I do it?can I just add the puree and stir in?can I use it under fondant?
Sadly, these did not work for me. They melted within 30 minutes in this heat. The cupcakes were made the night before and I followed the recipe to a 't'. :(
ReplyDeletethanks for the recipe on buttercream. I baked it for teachers day. And got compliment on the buttercream.
ReplyDeleteI helped my 7 yr old and her playdate fren bake magnolia bakery cupcakes ( 50% less sugar) with your frosting, it was brilliant even after 1 day, mind u I hv never bake in my life...added colors and the girls were having fun "drawing" their bakes. Now it made me try on my rainbow cake and mixed with nice gel paste color.. and altho I hv a party tmr, i am just gonna leave it outside at room temp with shrink wrap on the outer box to keep the ants off...will adv if it still excellent tomorrow! Thks once again.your recipe is easy to follow!
ReplyDeleteHi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteI got some questions.. since we used all butter hence the buttercream turns out bit yellowish.. how can I make it more whitish? I need the buttercream to b white and also I cnt seems to get the colours that I wan because of the yellowish of the buttercream.. will u b able to help?
Mabel
Mabel, this buttercream means to yellowish since butter is used. If you want whitish cream, then you have to use vegetable shortening (I use Cisco brand) plus icing sugar, ratio 2:1
ReplyDeleteHi sonia, 2:1 is 2 part butter, 1 part shortening or the reverse?
DeleteCandice , butter 2 and sugar 1
DeleteHi Sonia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your recipe. May I know how many cupcakes can i frost with 1 batch of this recipe? Thank you.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteHow much does this recipe yield? Is it enough to fill and cover 8" cake?
Thanks !
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteMay i know which brand of unsalted butter that you use to make swiss meringue buttercream? So that it produce the best result and taste.
Thankyou dear.
Anonymous, hi, I used Anchor unsalted butter.
ReplyDeleteJust tried ur recipe, simply fantastic. Smooth, creamy & holds it shape v well.
ReplyDeleteCan I double the recipe for frosting ruffle cake?
Thanks for sharing your recipe...
ReplyDeleteHi, how many cupcakes can I frost with this recipe?
ReplyDeleteWill you be coming up with another video or blog to put everything together? Like what do you do after doing the meringue. At which stage do you do the cupcakes. How you pretty up the cupcakes? How to do the rose design with the meringue?
ReplyDeletehi, im planning to use this recipe to frost a cake. just want to ask if i put it in the fridge after frosting the cake. i understand that frosting will harden, but will it be soft when returned to room temp? :)
ReplyDeleteGood day Sonia. May I know how would I be able to use a stand mixer when comes to using ice cubes? Any advise ? appreciate ur advise
ReplyDeleteKimhuat, last time when I made big batch of this cream , i also using stand mixer, once butter added, I remove the bowl and put underneat with ice water , then use a electric hand whisk to continue beat it .
ReplyDeleteHi I juz chanced upon your blog. Thanks for sharing this! May I know if the double boiler heat will be sufficient to kill the bacteria in the egg whites? I'm always paranoid about using raw eggs, but would like to try this recipe so much. Thanks for your time and advice!
ReplyDeleteKaren , yes it is safe to consume
ReplyDeleteHi will this recipe be able to cover a 2 tier 8 inch cake?
ReplyDeletejo, ya,should be able to cover.
ReplyDeleteHi there, if I want a chocolate flavor of this smbc, can I add cocoa powder or chocolate emulator to it? If yes, how much do I add and when to add? Thank you. And if I want a whiter smbc, how to go about it?
ReplyDeleteWanxia, you can fold melted chocolate at the end for chocolate smbc . No you can't get white smbc because the butter. Unless you make normal buttercream method using vegetable shortening with icing sugar .
ReplyDeleteHi dear, thanks for the reply! for melted chocolate, is it chocolate chips? how much to use? or can i also use chocolate emulco (chocolate paste) instead?
ReplyDeletewill it still be able to last long in room temp like the original flavor?
Thanks!
May I know when u simmer the bowl over hot water, did the bowl touch the water? Was wondering if raw egg whites are cooked enough to remove samonella?
ReplyDeleteHello! Would it be possible to use a stand mixer till the end? Since I do not have a hand mixer.. I was thinking of wrapping my mixing bowl with chilled cloth to replace the bowl of ice cubes. Would that work?
ReplyDeleteThank you Sonia! Second time I tried a recipe from you and it's a success! I added 1/3 cup of nutella at the end to fill and frost my son's birthday cake. It's yummy!:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I will give it a try. Never tried making Swiss Meringue Buttercream before as I deemed it to be very difficult to make.
ReplyDeletehi! isit possible for me to add orange juice/zest in this frosting to make it taste orangey?
ReplyDeletewhy mine is watery？is it because over beat？
ReplyDeleteSonia, many thanks for sharing this recipe! It has been working well for me! At my first time, when beating the butter in, my electric hand-whisk broke down so I didn't manage to complete the process. Tried 2nd and 3rd time and works perfectly, it curdled and after using spatula to mix, it forms well. 4th time the mixture became runny even after adding all the butter. I kept it in the fridge overnight, took it out to leave at room temp for an hour+ and beat again and it works! Will definitely keep using this again and again! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, may I check if you know 1 recipe can pipe how many cupcakes? Thank you!
ReplyDelete