My Favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My Favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Swiss meringue buttercream is like heaven. It’s so light and fluffy and not at all overly sweet like some frosting. I definitely prefer it over any other kind of frosting.

Ever since I first tasted SMBC I have been searching for a fool proof recipe that I love. I have found that recipe. Trust me on this one. It’s amazing.

Most people seem intimidated by SMBC because of the fact that sometimes it curdles when you’re mixing it up. You have to be patient and know that it’ll come back together. Because of the technique used in this recipe, you won’t have to worry about that here. I was a bit skeptical when I first tried this recipe, but it works every time.

I prefer to refrigerate my cupcakes after frosting them with this SMBC. This will set the frosting. Then bring them to room temperature prior to serving.

One Year Ago: Rice and Beans

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This is my favorite Swiss meringue buttercream

Yield: Enough to frost 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 oz egg whites (3-4 large egg whites or about 1/2 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp lemon extract, almond extract, orange extract, or vanilla extract

Directions:

Lightly whisk egg whites and sugar together over simmering water until egg-white mixture is hot to touch or a candy thermometer reads 140°F (60°C).

Pour hot whites into a room-temperature bowl and whip with a wire whip until double in volume on MEDIUM-HIGH speed. When the mixer stops, the meringue should not move around in the bowl. Meanwhile cut up butter into 2-inch pieces. (The butter should be slightly moist on the outside but cold inside.)

On your mixer, remove the whip and attach the paddle. Add half the butter into the bowl immediately and pulsate the mixer several times until the meringue has covered the butter completely. To pulsate the mixer, turn it on and off in a jerky motion. This forces the butter on the top to the bottom of the bowl. Add the balance of the butter and pulsate mixer several times. Slowly increase the mixer's speed, starting with the lowest speed and increase the speed every 10 seconds until you reach a MEDIUM-HIGH speed.

Continue beating until the mixture begins to look light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Reduce speed to LOW. Add flavoring and continue to beat on LOW speed for 45 seconds. Then beat on MEDIUM-HIGH speed for an additional 45 to 60 seconds.

Leftover buttercream can be placed in plastic containers with lids and kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost completely (several hours) and rewhip before using.

Storage: Store the icing in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe from epicurious

Dessert, Frosting, Go-To Recipes, Other

22 comments »

41 Responses to “Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting”

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1

What's Cookin Stacey?? — August 18, 2009 at 12:41 pm

These sound soo good!!!
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2

oneordinaryday — August 18, 2009 at 12:43 pm

I haven’t conquered my fear of yeast yet, but these look like a yummy way to try to.
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Jigginjessica — August 18, 2009 at 12:50 pm

They look great!
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4

Stephanie — August 18, 2009 at 2:06 pm

These look like the most delicious thing I could ever eat.
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Jen — August 18, 2009 at 2:07 pm

Yeast is definitely become less and less scarey for me…

Steph – you should so whip these up. They’re not too hard and worth the effort!
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Katie — August 18, 2009 at 2:33 pm

OH MY GOODNESS WOW! This is seriously the BESST idea!! THey look sooooo good!!
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Xiaolu — August 18, 2009 at 2:37 pm

I’m glad you’re starting to conquer your fear of yeast! Those cupcakes are so photogenic. I’m getting hungry just looking at them.
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Cathy — August 18, 2009 at 2:42 pm

what a great idea! They look great!
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nutmegnanny — August 18, 2009 at 3:36 pm

OMG these look awesome! I need one right now:)
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10

Katrina — August 18, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Awesome!
And I saw on Cake Wrecks that today is National Cupcake Day.
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Erin — August 18, 2009 at 5:12 pm

These look so cute!
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12

jesstyler — August 18, 2009 at 5:34 pm

oh my gosh! YUM! Hubby LOVES cinnamon rolls. I’ll have to make these for him. He’ll probably eat 1/2 of them in a sitting!
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biz319 — August 18, 2009 at 7:57 pm

My step son would go ape shit over these!!

He loves carrot cake, but no nuts or raisins – and cinnamon is his favorite spice so I made a cinnamon cream cheese frosting that would go perfect with these!!

Thanks for the idea!
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Sunshine — August 18, 2009 at 9:35 pm

I got my jam in the mail today. thank you so much! They were super yummy. I’ll be posting about it in the next couple of days. Rhubarb is my favorite and the vanilla peach bourbon….GENIUS! I’m a follower now. Thanks again.
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Kerstin — August 18, 2009 at 10:19 pm

What a cool idea, they look fabulous – yum!
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Megan — August 18, 2009 at 11:27 pm

Adorable! Love cinnamon rolls and cupcakes… bet these are amazing… and add that cream cheese frosting…yum! I so need these the next time I actually have time to make breakfast! Great job!
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Stephanie Wagner — August 19, 2009 at 12:40 am

These are perfect for the office since they are served in their own paper! Not to mention, they are so cute…
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Ingrid — August 19, 2009 at 5:11 pm

They are SUPER cute! Kudos to you on working out your yeast fears! 🙂
~ingrid
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Sara @ Our Best Bites — August 20, 2009 at 5:01 am

adorable! But not too cute not to eat 😉
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20

The Food Librarian — August 20, 2009 at 5:10 am

Super cute and beautiful!
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21

Siobhán — August 20, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Oh wow, these look amazing! I love cinnamon rolls… mmm… Great idea to bake them in cupcake liners! 🙂
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22

Fuji Mama — August 20, 2009 at 2:03 pm

So glad you liked them!
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23

Liesl — August 20, 2009 at 2:27 pm

Great idea! They look so cute and delicious!
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Donna @ Way More Homemade — August 20, 2009 at 7:30 pm

What a wonderful alternative to those expensive “bake and give” paper baking molds. THanks for the idea. (found you thru taste spotting.)
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25

Heavenly Housewife — August 20, 2009 at 8:48 pm

fabulous!! i’m going to bookmark this one!
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26

bonvivant — August 20, 2009 at 10:30 pm

These are so gorgeous! You’ve given me a great idea to try out for the next batch of cinnamon rolls I’m whipping up! 🙂
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Linsey M. — August 21, 2009 at 12:47 am

those are ADORABLE!!
LOVE THEM!
They would be good for my kid’s teachers!
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Jada — August 21, 2009 at 5:29 am

YUM! Can’t wait to try this recipe and the strawberry basil ones also! Beautiful!
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29

Swirly — August 21, 2009 at 6:56 am

These are so ridiculously adorable! I bet they taste amazing simply because they’re so cute.
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30

Peggy — August 21, 2009 at 11:05 am

these look and sound soooo good! I’ll definitely have to try them soon!
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Ashley — August 24, 2009 at 4:09 pm

These are adorable! Can’t wait to try them out 🙂
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grace_mitchell — August 25, 2009 at 7:21 am

Those look AMAZING. I’m definitely gonna try those tomorrow morning. They would go amazing with coffee for breakfast. 🙂

I don’t bake much, but I have some wonderful recipes on my website you should check out.

http://www.nowthatsgood.net

Thanks!
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Pat — August 25, 2009 at 11:27 am

Try using real Cinnamon in your recipe and reduce on the sugar.

The Cinnamon that we buy in the US is actually Cassia.
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Fahrenheit 350° — August 25, 2009 at 7:21 pm

Breakfast? How about, snacks – lunch – and dinner!
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Charisse — August 27, 2009 at 5:40 pm

I totally made these from her website and looved them so much. They were so delicious and smelled so good.
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Jen — August 30, 2009 at 3:32 am

Yep Pat, most of what we use in the US is Cassia. I thank Alton Brown for knowing that little fact. You can find really good cinnamon at spice stores like Penzeys.
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Carol309 — September 9, 2009 at 12:21 am

It’s been twenty years since I’ve baked anything that didn’t come from a box. I had some time today and tried these rolls. Not bad!! They came out pretty and my husband is taking them to work tomorrow. Husband says these are really great.
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Alexandra — December 11, 2009 at 12:46 am

Those are adorable!!! Such an amazing idea I’m making these for my Mommy christmas party! 🙂

Idea for the frosting, try melting it a bit and then dipping the rolls in it. We used to do this at the bakery I worked at really quick way to make them look really professional! I also like the rustic look but it’s a fun way to make your coworkers jealous of your skills!
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Jen — December 11, 2009 at 1:49 am

Great tip Alexandra!
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sara — February 22, 2010 at 12:15 am

These were great – made them last night to serve for a brunch this morning. 15 seconds in the microwave was all they needed to go from good to amazing and gooey. This was also my first time using yeast and now feeling confident. Thanks!
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cakeje van eigen deeg — November 14, 2010 at 9:44 pm

they look so good. I am looking for a good recipe, but the yeast scares me. but I think I will it give it a try soon…