HOW TO MAKE (AND RESCUE!) SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM | | | Hello everyone! Fall is officially here! Isn't it great?? I am so ridiculously happy about this! It's time to get baking again...
So... one thing I know from talking to a lot of you is that when you want to bake a special cake, the cake itself isn't where you struggle.
No, it's not. Instead... it's the freaking frosting!!!!! It's drippy, it's soupy, it's grainy, it's just a giant sloppy mess.
Oh my gosh but I hear you! How can you have a gorgeous layer cake when you're frustrated by the frosting every time??
So let's talk about frosting today - specifically Swiss Meringue Buttercream (aka SMBC... because typing out Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting over and over again is going to be just... too much ha!).
SMBC is what I call for in most of my cake recipes. There are multiple buttercream frostings that you can make but Swiss is the easiest of the meringue buttercreams and results in a silky smooth frosting that's very stable for decorating.
It's not as sweet as an easier American buttercream and it doesn't form the thin crust that American buttercream is known for. But, it's a silky smooth frosting that you can flavor and color to your heart's content (or turn a pristine white). It is a beautiful frosting for so many types of layer cakes.
All you need are egg whites, sugar, unsalted butter, and a stand mixer. You could do it with a hand mixer but I don't recommend it.
For a full, step-by-step, illustrated Swiss Meringue Buttercream Tutorial head over to my website where I'll walk you through the whole process. For a few of my key tips, keep scrolling! | | FIVE KEY TIPS FOR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
1. AVOID GREASE AND EGG YOLKS AT ALL COSTS
I cannot stress this enough. This is the number one, most important, please read and follow my instructions, don't skip this step:
EVERYTHING YOUR EGG WHITES WILL COME IN CONTACT WITH MUST BE GREASE-FREE.
Please read that statement again! This is so critical. One drop of grease or egg yolk can entirely ruin your frosting beyond the point of fixing it. It is ENEMY #1 when it comes to meringue frostings.
With vinegar or lemon juice, wipe down your mixer bowl, whisk attachment, hand whisk, measuring cup for the sugar, and your small bowls for cracking the eggs into when separating the whites. I even wipe down the underside of my mixer to make sure there is no residue to fall into the bowl.
Wherever possible avoid plastic tools and mixing bowls - plastic can retain grease even when thoroughly cleaned. Stick to metal or glass.
2. READ TIP #1 AGAIN
Just to reinforce how important that first tip is! Having to turf a bowl of eggs and butter is not fun (and not cheap!)
3. SEPARATE YOUR EGG WHITES IN A SMALL BOWL
Don't separate the egg whites directly into your mixer bowl. If you have an accident and crack a yolk, you'll ruin the whole batch of egg whites. Instead, separate one egg into a small bowl, transfer the white to your mixer bowl and then crack your second egg.
If you do have an accident it's just one egg wasted instead of several eggs!
4. TEST FOR GRAININESS
One of the key steps in SMBC is cooking the egg whites and figuring out when they're done!
In a perfect world, you'd use a candy thermometer and let the eggs reach 160F. I tend to use the "touch test" where I dip a (clean) finger into the mixture and rub it between my thumb and forefinger. You want the mixture hot to the touch and totally smooth. If I feel even the tiniest amount of graininess, I keep heating it!
5. WALK AWAY FROM THE BUTTER
Once you've got your stiff meringue (if it's droopy it means grease or egg yolks got involved and unfortunately, you're going to have to start over - nothing can fix this!) it's time to add the butter.
Adding the butter can result in some very undesirable texture changes while it's mixing. Don't panic. Just keep mixing. It will come together. I will often just walk away from this mixing stage for 5 minutes to avoid stressing myself out and (hopefully) come back to a perfect SMBC.
WHAT CAN I DO IF THINGS GO WRONG?!
If your meringue is droopy before it's time to add the butter, you're out of luck, I'm afraid. This is a result of some rogue grease or egg yolk coming into contact with your egg whites and you'll have to start again.
BUT... if you have a stiff meringue before adding the butter, pretty much any issues you encounter past that point can be fixed! I run down an entire list of troubleshooting tips in this SMBC article that can help you out! | | | One of the great things about SMBC is it's fantastic for adding flavour variations. Whether it's fruit or chocolate, peanut butter or coconut, the possibilities are endless! I have links to many different flavour variations in the SMBC tutorial but here are a few ideas to get you started! | | | Get baking with my Big Ebook Bundle! With over 80 thoroughly tested, beautifully photographed recipes in three gorgeous books plus my cake baking tips as a bonus, you'll have all the recipe inspiration and baking tips you could need! | | I hope this has made you a little more confident working with Swiss Meringue Buttercream - it really is the most lovely frosting. I'd love to see how you use it! If you decide to try any of the cake recipes here or use the swiss meringue buttercream recipe and share your results on social media, be sure to tag me (@livforcake). I'd love to see what you're baking in your kitchen!
- Olivia | | | |
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