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

More effort

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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