Swiss meringue buttercream

Fill your cakes with a silky smooth meringue buttercream. This recipe makes enough to fill and ice a three-tier cake, and it’s easily halved for smaller bakes

Prep:45 mins

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Nutrition per serving

kcal 472
fat 36g
saturates 23g
carbs 34g
sugars 0g
fibre 0g
protein 2g
salt 0.09g

Ingredients

300g egg whites
600g caster sugar
800g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Put the egg whites and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Gently stir for a few minutes until you can no longer feel any grains of sugar between your fingers when you touch it. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Whisk on medium speed until the mixture becomes meringue-like and has reached stiff peaks, about 3 mins. (You could use an electric whisk, but it will take considerably longer, around 35 mins.) Add the butter 1 tbsp at a time, whisking to combine before the next addition. It may look curdled and soupy but be patient and keep whisking until you have a smooth, fluffy buttercream. Whisk in the vanilla. If using this buttercream to ice a cake, change to the paddle attachment and set it on a low speed for a few minutes – this helps remove air bubbles from the icing and makes for a smoother finish to your cake. If you like, you can also add melted chocolate, freeze-dried fruit powder, malt extract or other flavourings.

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