This faux Swiss meringue buttercream recipe is quick, easy, and so smooth. It’s wonderful for cake decorating and comes together with simple ingredients. It can be flavored and colored to make beautiful and great tasting cakes!
How I landed on this recipe
I started cake decorating about 1.5 years ago. Sugar Geek Show was probably my number one resource when I was figuring out cake decorating and I used her Easy Buttercream Recipe for a very long time. Eventually I stated making small changes to it to suit me. This recipe is an adaptation from hers. The recipe is amazing and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. She also has a chocolate version and it is delectable.
I started liking my buttercream a little thinner and started experimenting with less egg white and less butter. When I kept getting asked about what I’m using, it got hard to explain a little less of this and a little more of this so I tried to nail down my ratios. For egg, sugar, and butter I’m using 1:4:3. If you like yours slightly firmer I think you will prefer Liz’s original recipe with ratios that are 1:4:4. It seems like a small difference in ratios reduced like that, but makes a big difference.
Now, some people I’ve referred to that recipe have told me it’s too “slippery” or too soft for them. This buttercream is very different if you’re used to working with American buttercream. I happen to like mine even softer than what other people may like.
About the buttercream
The most common thing I think people will ask about is the uncooked eggs. In the United States you can find pasteurized eggs in the grocery store. All boxed egg whites are pasteurized, and you can use them in this recipe as long as it is the only ingredient listed in the ingredients list. In fact I only ever used boxed egg whites for this. Egg whites from whole eggs are generally recognized as safe, it is very rare for them to have salmonella, but if you are concerned you can look up a procedure to pasteurize them at home if needed.
It is stable at room temperature as any other buttercream is, but will definitely melt in heat. It does not crust. This buttercream freezes well and I always save all of my left overs.
The recipe here is enough for one cake, but I prefer to make a larger amount and save the left overs. For one cake the ratios for eggs, sugar, and butter in oz are 6:24:18. If you’re a baker and like larger batches like me I prefer to make it as 8:32:24 because it’s a whole 32 oz bag of confectioners sugar and it’s 6 sticks of butter, easy.
You may love this buttercream recipe with my Easy Layer Cake recipe!
Tools for the buttercream recipe
You’ll need a mixer, a sifter to sift your powdered sugar, and a scale to measure your egg whites. You can not get around the scale, it is an important baking tool and they are inexpensive at most stores or online.
To make the buttercream
Weigh out your egg whites into the bowl of your mixer. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl. Fit your mixer with the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on a low setting and work your way up to high. Let that mix for 6-8 minutes until it has whipped up into a meringue.
You may like to trade out your whisk attachment for the paddle attachment to decrease air pockets for the next step. Turn it on low and start adding your butter in one stick at a time. It may begin to seem curdled if your egg whites were colder than your room temperature butter. It’s ok, the temperature will even out and it will come together just fine by the time it is done. Once all of the butter is in, add your salt and flavor of you choice. Let it mix for about 10 minutes. It seems like a long time but it’s supposed to help reduce air pockets.
This is the point where I will separate it out and color it if I am planning to do something colorful, and if you know me, I almost always am. I like to use Americolor gels. If you’re new to cake decorating I highly recommend this student kit because it has most colors that you can mix to make more shades. This is how I started out and then as I ran out slowly started buying the larger bottles and more shades.
If you’re interested in learning more about this type of buttercream I highly recommend you read through Liz at Sugar Geek Show’s whole blog post on it. It’s full of so much information and is very educational.
Faux Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Equipment
- mixer with whisk and paddle attachments
- kitchen scale
- spatula
- sifter
Ingredients
- 6 oz egg whites
- 24 oz confectioners sugar
- 18 oz unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 TBS flavored extract, like vanilla
Instructions
- Weigh out your egg whites in the bowl of your mixer. *
- Sift your confectioners sugar into the bowl.
- Make sure your mixer has the whisk attachment on. Begin mixing it on low, slowly increasing it to high and let it go for about 6 minutes.
- Change out your whisk attachment for the paddle.
- Turn the mixer on low and add your butter in 1 stick at a time.
- Add your salt and flavoring.
- Let the mixer go on low for about 10 minutes. **
Hi! Do you think this would work with margarine instead of butter?
Thanks!!
Im almost certain yes, but have not done it myself
Is this less sweet than reg American buttercream?
Swiss Meringue buttercream is generally regarded as less sweet yes!
I consider this a happy marriage between ABC and SMBC…a little sweeter than SBMC but not as sweet as AMC.
Hola! Como estas? Quería consultarte si las claras no las pones en el fuego pars quitar la enfermedad de salmonella. Gracias 🇦🇷
Ella usa claras de huevo pasteurizadas que vienen en cartón, no usa las claras directo del huevo 😄 yo uso esta receta y me funciona muy bien
Can I use a hand mixer
I think so! You may need to mix for longer, and ice your arm after! 🙂
En USA venden las claras de huevos en carton (como carton de leche) y ya están pasteurizadas. Eso es lo que usamos. Pero también se puede hacer una crema sin claras de huevos.
https://preppykitchen.com/vanilla-buttercream/
This buttercream is the best.
Thank you!
Hi just wondering 🤔, cuz of the eggs… does this frosting NEED to be refrigerated? & also do the eggs need to be pasteurized 1st?
Thanks
Its ok at room temp for 2 days. I prefer to refrigerate things in general though, they always last longer. Yes the eggs should be pasteurized before using. In the us you can buy them in a carton. Or you can look up a method online to pasteurize your own.
So you don’t need to heat egg whites?
no need to heat as long as it comes in a box- the boxed egg whites are pasteurized.
Love watching your cake decorating Instagram and blog grow! You are an inspiration and this recipe is 💣🔥
That means so much to me, really! Thank you so much!!!
I made this recipe and honestly, it boosted my confidence in cake decorating. I always struggled with getting a smooth finish but this was just the right consistency and it went on like a dream. It also comes together so quickly. I used to make SMBC and I love it, but it’s kinda time consuming lol. Thanks so much, Kristin!
Nancy! Thank you so much for the kind words. Im so glad it worked well for you. So much of cake decorating is just finding what techniques and recipes work for you. For example, I can’t smooth American buttercream to save my life. 🙂
The egg whites don’t need to be cooked for this frosting?! I’ve never seen raw egg whites put in a frosting. Just seems strange. Does this need refrigerated once done?
They are pasteurized egg whites.
It is a very common method of making buttercream.
It is stable at room temp for 2 days.
I freeze and reuse left overs up to 6 months.
Can you add fresh strawberries or raspberries to this faux buttercream, ti make strawberry buttercream?
Im not sure I would do that in this recipe. The wetness of it would likely change the texture and how it sets up. Freeze dried berries that have been crushed turn out very well in the recipe! hope that helps
Hi, I’m in the UK.
Can I please get the measurements in grams if its no bother to you.
Thank you
Hi Phyllis, im not sure what it is in grams. You could find the conversions on a measurement conversion calculator online if needed or purchase a scale that also has oz, most do.
Any idea how this would work if I used meringue powder instead of egg whites? I have a fair amount I hand for my Royal icing cookies. Thank you.
Im sorry I have no idea if this would work. It would probably need to be a very different recipe. You could probably search for some and come up with loads. Good luck.
HI, can I please ask. Do you not need to whip the egg white first before adding the icing sugar, just someway I saw too? What’s the difference?
Thanks
No, I add the sugar in it. I don’t know the difference because Ive never made it that way.
Wouldn’t the egg whites be raw then and unsafe to eat? With Swiss we cook them which makes them safe to eat.
Pasteurized egg whites are safe for consumption.
How can I make this a chocolate Swiss merengue? Thanks!
sift in 3-4 oz of cocoa powder with the powdered sugar
May God bless you with so much comfort and happiness in life for helping so many of us with ur passion and writing ❤️💕
How sweet, thank you very much!
Hi how long can you freeze this buttercream for? Thanks
generally 6 months!
Can this buttercream be covered with fondant?
I have never done this myself, but the original recipe, that is slightly different than mine has been used for it by the author.
Do you use fresh egg whites?
Carton egg whites. They are pasteurized.
I usually make American buttercream which requires no eggs. Does this recipe have to be refrigerated at all times once applied/given to the customer? Thanks!
Its stable at room temp for a couple days.
What size is your mixer?
The 5 qt kitchenaid
How far in advance can I make this and store in the refrigerator? Do you recommend re-whipping after it has sat out for a bit? Thank you! My hubs bought me a new 7qt proline kitchenAid so I could get my baking mojo back (and your inspiration!). TIA!
how exciting! 6 months in the freezer, a week or so in the fridge, a couple days at room temp.
I prefer to freeze that way if I forget it I know its still good.
Rewhipping it can help smooth it out.
Happy baking!!
I am really excited to try this as I saw that you “can’t smooth ABC to save your life” and I feel that way so often too! Your cakes and creativity are super inspiring ❤️💜💗💙
hahah I really can’t! Thank you! I hope you like it!
Hey Kristin,
My name is Matt, and I, too, just started making cakes about a year-and-a-half ago (the second time I was unemployed during the pandemic… sigh) Anyways… Sugar Geek Show was one of the many tutorials that I followed as well to get started.) And I love her easy buttercream recipe. I’m at a point now, where with American buttercream… while there’s a place for it, it’s just a real pain when it comes to decorating, smoothing, etc, and I’m finding that this is the easiest to work with and smooth meringue-based frostings. I recently just had to make a red velvet cake (and alas, use cream cheese frosting), and again just ran into the same problems I run into with American Buttercream (too soft… hard to work with… unstable… all that stuff), so I wanted to ask you… have you tried, with this recipe, ever flavoring with like a cream cheese flavor??. ( I saw that LorrAnn makes cream cheese flavor.) I’m just trying to look at options, so that I never have to make American buttercream ever again… lol
Hey Matt! I tried the cream cheese flavor one time, its close but not quite the same. But I tried it in a macaron so it may be different on a cake. You could stack and crumb coat with the cream cheese frosting and finish with buttercream? Good luck!!
This recipe is such a game changer! There is no comparison in texture and flavor:) Soooo ridiculously delicious I actually daydream about it sometimes. Makes me feel like a real, bonafide cake lady! Thanks Kristin!
That makes my day!! Thank you so much!!
Hi Kristin, your cakes are beautiful! Would this icing work on a tiered cake? Thinking o doing a two tier design for a wedding. Thank you.
Absolutely! I definitely recommend practicing with it first if you’ve never used it.
Hi Kristin,
With this buttercream, have you found that it’s stable enough when you need to pipe a damn with it when doing cakes with soft fillings?
I love seeing all your stunning cakes on ig and am excited to try this recipe! Have you ever tried stenciling a cake with it (buttercream on buttercream)? I’m wondering if it would be stiff enough? Thank you!
Hello, I have not stenciled before. As long as its cold when you peel it, it should be fine. I use it for everything.
I’m beyond grateful for this recipe. Thank you for taking the time to experiment and sharing this SO valuable information with all of us. I dyed the buttercream, the colors were beautiful, no lumps, easy, spreadable and soft.
I paired this recipe with your cake recipe “easy layer cake for cake decorators” and it was a hit, delicious with a tight crumb. I stacked two cake (3 tiers each) and stood up amazingly for hours.
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for sharing your success. It makes me very happy you enjoyed it.
hey Kristin! I was wondering, is this very buttery tasting? ive made regular and faux meringues before and I could never get over the greasy look/feel and also the buttery taste…im not sure if I used good recipes or not but I just have a negative view of meringue buttercreams now. Would you say this has a noticeable butter taste or feel in the mouth? im so used to abc and its slightly rough texture lol so when I eat anything icing that’s reeeeally smooth, it feels weird to me LOL
Hello!
The texture and mouthfeel of this is similar to a regular meringue buttercream recipe. Im not sure you would enjoy it unfortunately. Stick to what you like! There’s nothing wrong with that.