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
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Hmm it seems like your blog ate my first
comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and
say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything.
Do you have any points for beginner blog writers?
I’d really appreciate it.
They sound awesome! Everything I like–hubby has good taste! You might want to edit–it says chocolate chips and I assume you mean butterscotch chips. Can’t wait to try them. Thanks a lot.
beantownbaker — February 12th, 2014 @ 12:46 pm
Thanks for the heads up. I have fixed the typo.
I must admit that in reading this post I turned to my fiance and asked him what his favorite kind of cookie was (we’ve been together 5 1/2 years). His response: peanut butter chocolate chip. You learn something new every day 🙂
I too love butterscotch (and coconut and toffee for that matter!) but it is such an overlooked flavor!
beantownbaker — February 12th, 2014 @ 12:46 pm
Isn’t that funny?!? Crazy how you can be with someone so long and still be surprised by them!
In the recipe you, you say to add chocolate chips(?) and there is no reference to when you add the toffee or the coconut…
beantownbaker — February 12th, 2014 @ 12:45 pm
They go in with the butterscotch chips. I have updated the recipe to reflect this. Sorry about the typo.
Thank you for the nice recipe.
kind of amazing/awesome that there’s still more to discover about him after all these years! 🙂
Wow, what a combination! These cookies sound heavenly 🙂
Yes yes yes! Butterscotch and coconut together! It works it does.