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

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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

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9 Responses to “Rocky Ledge Bars”

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    1
    Cara — March 22, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    I’d love to have one of those for breakfast right about now 🙂 Can’t wait to see what else is in store this week!

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    yumventures — March 22, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    These look amazing and delicious! I have never made bars, but I love eating them! I can’t wait to see the rest of your recipes, and I’m sure they will inspire me to make some bars of my own 🙂

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    Sara — March 22, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    These look great! They’ve got a little bit of everything.

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    KV — March 22, 2010 at 7:53 pm

    Yummm. I’m excited to see what else you post this week – I always make bars instead of individual cookies, so much easier!

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    ErinsFoodFiles — March 22, 2010 at 10:44 pm

    Those bars will always have a special place in my heart, because that’s what I debuted my blog’s new look with! Plus… they are just insanely delicious!

    Looks great!

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    Julie — March 23, 2010 at 1:02 am

    I can’t even begin to tell you what I’d give for one of those right now!

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    Kelly — March 23, 2010 at 11:35 am

    Those look delicious and definitely something my hubby would love. I’ve been in a baking funk lately and will have to try these this week.

    On another note…since you’ve changed your blog around a bit, it’s taking a very long time to load. Is it just me that’s having this problem?

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    Jen — March 23, 2010 at 11:39 am

    Thanks for letting me know Kelly. I haven’t heard that from anyone else. I use Google Chrome and it doesn’t seem to have any issues, but I’ll definitely look in to it.

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    booksncooks — April 15, 2010 at 7:22 pm

    These were great using up all the random baking goods in my kitchen. Wonderful recipe!

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