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 »

19 Responses to “Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting”

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Megan — January 13, 2011 at 5:06 pm

I’ll take any leftovers! They sound amazing. I keep saying dessert recipes with bacon and bookmarking them, but I haven’t tried any yet. Adding this one to the list now too. 🙂
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ann — January 13, 2011 at 5:07 pm

These look so terrific. I love the flavor combinations!
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Blog is the New Black — January 13, 2011 at 5:08 pm

I’m intrigued!
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KV — January 13, 2011 at 5:46 pm

interesting! I have a recipe for chocolate bacon fudge or maybe pb bacon fudge but I’m afraid to try it
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Rachel @ Baked by Rachel — January 13, 2011 at 6:01 pm

The frosting sounds amazing. I honestly still can’t bring myself to get behind bacon in desserts. Maybe someday I’ll try a bacon cupcake if I’m given one though. 🙂 I can only resist so long.
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Jennifer — January 13, 2011 at 6:08 pm

YUM! These look so good! I haven’t tried the bacon / sweet combo yet, but I’m sure I would love it!
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Fun and Fearless in Beantown — January 13, 2011 at 6:13 pm

This looks delicious but I’ve got to ask….what is a pirate party?
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Jen — January 13, 2011 at 6:21 pm

Fun and Fearless – It’s exactly like it sounds… Everyone dresses up as a pirate (or something related – Hubby and I went as Treasure maps last year). They even hire this guy who looks like Captain Jack Sparrow to come and there’s a prize for best costume. One of the best parties of the year!
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Cupcake Activist — January 13, 2011 at 8:48 pm

Sounds great! The problem I’ve seen with bacon is that sometimes it is chewy in cupcakes. That’s not good. I like that this recipe says to cook until crispy. Extra crispy for me!
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Laura and Alex — January 13, 2011 at 9:11 pm

My favorite candy bar is bacon chocolate!!! I can’t wait to try this 🙂
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Carrie — January 13, 2011 at 9:13 pm

Wow, those look and sound amazing!
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Shannon — January 13, 2011 at 9:42 pm

oh yum. after putting bacon in last years cookies this might need to be next 🙂
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Corrine — January 13, 2011 at 9:56 pm

I’m so curious to try bacon in baked goods, but do you think turkey bacon would work?
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Jen — January 13, 2011 at 10:08 pm

Corrine – I’m sure turkey bacon would work if you could get it nice and crispy. I’ve heard that if the bacon isn’t super crispy, it has a really weird chewy texture in baked goods.
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Corrine — January 14, 2011 at 2:11 am

Thanks Jen! I’m going to give it a try!
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Evan Thomas — January 14, 2011 at 2:28 pm

This has just about everything that I would want to go together. Awesome recipe!
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Medifast Coupons — January 14, 2011 at 4:10 pm

This is certianly a unqiue mixture of tastes and textures, but it comes together nicely. Definatly a must try!
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darcyeats — January 14, 2011 at 6:22 pm

Chocolate..caramel…bacon…PERFECTION.
I am infatuated with the perfect smoky/salty addition of bacon into sweet baked goods. So delicious. Of course, I’m kind of a fan of adding bacon into just about anything.
Great pics, def wanna try these out!
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kitchenmisfit — January 16, 2011 at 1:01 am

Sorry the cupcakes didn’t turn out like you wanted. Have you ever tried the bacon/chocolate cupcake at Cherry Bomb Bakery in Brighton? They are fantastic!