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. 
Dark chocolate truffles in cookie form? Um, YES!!! I’ll take a dozen for myself and another dozen for later, please.
Wow – these sound good! and I truly do not understand how people can just “not be into chocolate!” It is my favorite!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:26 pm
Yea, I really don’t get it either. Oh well, more for me!
Oh wow, chocolate truffle cookies sound divine! These look ridiculously good! Love that they’re salted too!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:27 pm
I have been sprinkling salt on all of my cookies recently. It makes them much more adult and less super-sweet.
Yum these look divine!
I’m always in need of a chocolate fix! I have several friends that claim they are not chocolate people, yet I find whenever I make something chocolate + salt, they are all over it!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:28 pm
I definitely find that people who claim they aren’t chocolate people rarely say no to any homemade baked goods. Chocolate or otherwise.
Oh my! These look divine 🙂 I’d love to make these babies soon!
these look amazing!! and how thick that batter is 🙂 love the sea salt!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:29 pm
The batter was basically ganache. You could have just made truffles from it directly.
I love any and all things dark chocolate. These look so decadent!
I’m curious to find out what blog platform you’re working with?
I’m having some minor security problems with my latest blog and I’d like to find something
more safeguarded. Do you have any suggestions?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:56 pm
I use WordPress
Wow! Those look so perfectly decadent! I’m practically drooling on my screen 😉
Just made these. Worried I didn’t bake them long enough… however they still tasted divine. Waiting to get the verdict from my husband on them.
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
I think underbaking these sounds like a great idea. I might have to do that next time.
Since I’m trying this recipe for the first time, can I halve the entire recipe?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:12 pm
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I didn’t see this comment until now! I don’t see why you couldn’t make a half batch of these cookies. Did you try it? How did they turn out?
These are the most amazing chocolate cookies I have ever made. Everyone with whom I have shared them have gone absolutly nuts and want the recipe. I do not wet my hands when rolling the cookies into balls—too messy. I just let my hands get sticky and rinse and dry them after making several balls. This is one of the best recipes on Pinterest.
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
Thanks for the kind words! So glad you enjoy these cookies. I was wondering if getting my hands wet actually helped with the messiness very much. Next time I’ll be sure to just go at it without dealing with the water.
Hey! I tried halving the recipe…but it melted while in the oven. Became runny & all of them just stuck together 🙁
I tried just one batch. Anything I can do to fix the remaining batter?
beantownbaker — June 18th, 2013 @ 4:01 pm
Interesting… How did you account for half of an egg? And is your baking powder past it’s expiration date?
Ohh! Looks like I’ve added a lil too much egg. Damn! Any way I can fix the batter? Add more flour perhaps? Plz help!
beantownbaker — June 19th, 2013 @ 7:12 am
I’d add a little more flour to see if you can balance out the extra amount of egg in there.
I added 1/4 cup more flour & a teensy bit of baking powder to my messed up batter & they came out wonderfully! They’re so gooey & yumm that my husband & son (who never eats chocolate!) finished six cookies at one go!
Amazing recipe!! Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it !
beantownbaker — June 20th, 2013 @ 7:00 am
Oh GOOD! So glad you were able to make them work. Aren’t they divine?
U bet! They are sinfully delicious! Sent some in my son’s snack pack & I have mommies calling for these cookies!
I’m officially ur No.1 fan now! 🙂
beantownbaker — June 20th, 2013 @ 7:18 am
Aww Thanks! 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I could put them in the freezer instead of the fridge for a shorter period of time? If so, how long should I put them in the freezer for instead of the fridge?
beantownbaker — June 27th, 2013 @ 8:06 am
Hm. You could definitely try it. I would think it’s still going to need an hour or so in the freezer since you want it to set up pretty well. Let me know how it turns out if you do.