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Monday, May 17, 2010

Swiss Meringue Buttercream



Few months back, when I made Rainbow Piano Cake, there was a request for me to show how I make my buttercream. So, here it is.

Forget about those so called buttercreams at bakeries. They are laden with shortening or margarine. That's why they make your mouth feel so oily, with a waxy, plasticky film all over your tongue. Yucks!!!

But not this buttercream made with real butter.
1. It's light and creamy, and has a wonderful aroma. Almost like whipped dairy cream, slightly heavier in taste and texture. Provided you use fresh butter. Stale unsalted butter smell like Planta or even Dorina. Well, that is one of the reasons I don't consume margarine, I never like the smell and I never knew why. Now I know cos they smell like stale butter. Fresh butter smells like dairy cream, nice and good. This swiss meringue buttercream is not oily in the mouth, but your mixing bowls still need to be cleaned with either hot water or wiped with tissue to ease cleaning.
2. This buttercream also is not sweet like those simple buttercreams where you only beat butter with icing sugar. Ratio of sugar to butter is much lesser than simple buttercream and you can make more icing with this amount of butter than tradtional buttercream. Saves you money.
3. It also holds up well in our room temperature. If you want it to hold up longer, don't beat it too much at step (3), 5-6 minutes will be good. 8-10 minutes you will have a very fluffy icing, but one with less capacity to hold at +30C for long periods of time. My MIL left the cake overnight in the cabinet and the cream was still there, not melted, didn't even budge.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe Source: Tartelette

Ingredients:
60gm egg white (about 2 large whites)
100gm sugar
170gm unsalted butter (taken out from fridge and cut into 10-12 small pieces just before you start to heat the egg whites)


Method: (instructions are adapted to tropical weather and hand held mixer)
1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream.
(egg whites in buttercreams are safe for consumption once it reaches 65C, to know how much is 65C w/o a thermometer, just mix 250gm ice with 500ml boiling water. Stir the water gently and wait until all ice has melted, then feel the water. It is approximately there)

2. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Put the bowl into a basin of water. The water should feel cool, like tap water on a rainy day. Do not use very cold water, not icy water. Beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes.

3. Now add in add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

.
Important:

Temperature: If you have a room temperature and humidity like mine, try to add 3-4 pices of ice cubes into the water in step (3) when you add in the butter to prevent the whole mixture's temperature from going too high. The movement of the mixer will heat up the buttercream. Temperature plays an important role whether cream or soup will form. Too cold and the butter can't get fluffy, too hot and you'll get runny soupy cream.

Butter: It must be at 19-23C. Most recipes call for butter to be at room temperature. Yes. But that is non tropical room temperature. Our room temperature can be somewhere 28-37C. So, if you leave your butter to come to our room temperature, failure is not far from grasp. The butter should not be shiny. It should be matte in colour, and you will be able to hold it firmly with your fingers like what you see in the picture and soft enough to be dented thoughout with some pressure.
updated 12/12/14: If you want a whiter outcome, use French butter (Lescure is my fav) or Danish butter (Emborg, Lurpak)

Eggs: Do not use pastuerized eggs. The egg whites won't melt the sugar. I saw this in one blog.. I forgot where.
**Additional notes on eggs : I have tried beating pastuerized egg whites for meringues before. It works. But I haven't tried making buttercream with it yet, as I prefer to go through the heating steps. You have to use 1/4 tsp cream of tartar with each egg white to ensure it whips up beautifully. Pastuerized egg whites are rather 'tightly' bound, so you must use lots of cream of tartar to 'loosen' it. It won't whip to the volume as regular egg whites, which is another reason for me not to use it. The brand I used is SafeEgg, different brands may differ.


This is my 1st attempt pic from The Rainbow Piano Cake post. The first pic above was my 3rd attempt.

So, let me close this post with some buttercream information,

Common types of buttercream
1. Simple buttercream -icing sugar and buter. Less stable in tropical weather.
2. Italian buttercream -sugar and water cooked to soft ball stage, poured over beaten egg whites and then beaten with butter. Very stable
3. Swiss meringue buttercream -egg whites and sugar heated together, then beaten like a meringue and beaten with butter. Stable.
4. French buttercream -method similar to italian buttercream, but yolks are used in place of whites. Less stable

139 comments:

  1. I prefer the Italian meringue buttercream...the only problem is the process so time-consuming. So the Swiss version is definitely the best alternative. Thanks for the efforts you have put in this entry, I find it very useful. :-))
    Have a not-so-blue Monday!
    Angie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the step by step recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Any baker would appreciate a good buttercream recipe. :)

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  3. Thanks Wendy for showing this! I always wanted to make this kind of cream. Going to try it out soon. Have a nice day!
    Cheers, Kristy

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  4. Angie,
    I don't think I'll try the Italian version any soon, the soft ball syrup thing is a bit tricky.
    Swiss style is much easier.

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  5. Kristy,
    Can't wait to see how it turns out for you.
    :)

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  6. a lot of hardwork...i tried to make the pastry for pie b4 always failed bcs my hands are too hot hahhaaaha.....duno y the skin was very crusty leh...u know y sifu? hahahah

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  7. This is very great information, thanks for sharing this.

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  8. Wendy, from the way u described I m going to try it for my next bday cake. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. I too prefer to use Swiss Meringue Buttercream if I wanted to decorate my cake. I find them much lighter than the usual butter cream. You are right about the temp. There was one I added the butter too early to the meringue and my butter melted :)

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  10. Wendy,
    Hi,thanks for your wonderful recipes and patience in providing the step-by -step instrucitons, it is indeed useful for novice baker like me.I'm interested to get those temperature and humidity reader, may i know where did you buy it?
    Sem ,KL

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  11. Sem,
    I'm sorry that I did not buy that temperature and humidity reader myself.
    My husband bought it online. Before he got his camera's dry box, he used this to monitor the humidity in the cabinet where he put his mistresses :)

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  12. hi wendy, may i know what is the shelf life of this buttercream if i keep in the fridge? thanks. yin

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  13. Wendy, i have been waiting for this recipe of yours! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us =)

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  14. Yin,
    I'm sorry I cannot give you a definate answer as I've never experimented to know the duration.

    But from other blogs and sites, they usually say 1 week in the fridge and 1 month frozen. But Aunty Yochana says hers can last 6 months in the freezer. As long as you keep it air tight(it can dry out, as egg whites contain water), it can really keep well. It's unlike dairy creams where u have to consume within 3 days.

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  15. Manglish,
    You overworked the pie crust la. Knead too much liao.

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  16. Bakericious,
    Oh great!!! Hope to know the outcome.

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  17. Icook4fun,
    True true.. I saw in many sites stating this problem about temperature, which was why I used the cold water bath to help avoid this problem especially in hot malaysia.

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  18. this is an excellent post on different buttercreams. very informative and well-written! thank you. :)

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  19. wow wow...r u a baker? glad to bump to ur site here...very nice!

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  20. Vialentino,
    I'm just a homebaker that bakes for fun.

    ReplyDelete
  21. er...

    the beach nice or not - dont know cause i not time to go.

    breakfast ar.... normal lo... no so special but not bad la...

    Pool nice or not ar... nice.

    extra sofa ar.... yes.

    suite deluxe - rm290.

    heheehee go la... suppport sikit lim guan eng hahaha

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  22. hi wendy, is me again i'm a 100% copycat here , i did your pumkin mao tao ...and same here left with some pumkin puree bake your pumkin cake (still baking in the oven)and now i'm looking at your swiss buttercream....oh yes going to doing it NOW ....

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  23. Hi,

    Thanks for the step-by-step method. I just have 1 question though, when you concluded that swiss meringue buttercream = stable, is it stable enough for decoration purposes, eg to make roses etc?

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  24. Shas,
    It's so stable, that it stayed overnight at room temp for 2 days, w/o budging.
    You can pratically pipe anything with it.
    But it won't stay when exposed to too hot places, like under the sunlight. But under 38C is fine.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Wendy,

    Thanks for answering my question above. I have tried swiss meringue buttercream once but using a different method. It tasted great and definitely more easy to make as compared to italian meringue buttercream.

    Will definitely try your way of doing it the next time i decided to make swiss meringue buttercream. Thanks again.

    Shas @ shascakes.blogspot.com

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  26. I tried this recipe. It rocks. The cream taste good and easy to frost too.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wei Pin,
    So glad ur gals ate all the cupcakes.
    I hope you use the recipe again and again.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for the information on different types of buttercream. I know the butter & icing sugar one is really butter icing. I made a buttercream from one of my books and it was with yolks not whites. Thanks, I didn't know it was french buttercream!

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  29. Plum Leaf,
    I have yet to try french. How was it? Rich?

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  30. It was alright actually. Meant it had a lovely yellow colour to it (especially as my eggs are free-range from hens in our garden). Only thing is, it looked like margarine but obviously tasted lighter. I used it to sandwich a victoria sponge with a homemade 3-berry jam, then to crumb coat the entire cake before covering in fondant. (See my post on two-tier birthday cake - it's the bottom tier.)

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  31. hi wendy,
    other than using the buttercream to decorate the cakes, what else can we use it to?? i have this silly idea, why not ice cream, by adding nuts or fruits or even yogurt after it is frozen?? can it be?

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  32. Janetan,
    If you can spread ice cream on the sides and not get it melted, I don't see why not.
    Where I live, ice cream cannot stand even few seconds out from the freezer, and it'll start melting. There is no way I can spread it around nicely, and do pipings with it. I don't think I can do the same as Baskin Robbins,they just have special equipment for it, not what we have at home.
    I don't only use buttercream for my cakes, I rarely use it. I use whipped dairy cream mostly and it'll taste like ice cream if that is frozen. But my cakes aren't frozen usually. That'll be too hard to eat.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for posting this. For so long I've been lookin for a good frosting recipe that will hold up in tropical temperature, and doesn't have the greasy feel of shortening and the graininess of icing sugar. But all the recipes I found were posted by people who lived in some cold place, and weren't about to relate to the climate I live in (I'm in Jamaica by the way).
    Do you have a good recipe for a whipped cream type frosting that will hold up well in our climate? something I can use on black forest cake... stable enough to support 3layers. I tried a recipe that called for regular dairy whipping cream and confectioners sugar, but that didn't hold up longer than over-night in the fridge... it went completely flat, and the layers slid off.
    Plz respond, thank you so much!!

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  34. raxxJa,
    I believe you were the one who left a comment in my Black forest post.
    My cakes frosted with dairy whipping cream last as long as it's chilled in the fridge and won't start melting away until you bring it out from the fridge.

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  35. OMG!! I love this tutorial..great, luv your blog too :)

    WAN

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  36. hi, juz finish trying this! love love it! mine done within minutes..it does not curdle at all when all the butter has mix in, beat it about 5 minutes to get a smooth texture..pretty sure its done..just to confirm is it possible becoz its takes shorter time than its supposed to, and does not curdled and come back together at all..

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  37. Emma,
    Actually mine also never curdled. It was just liquidy in the beginning, and turned thicker as more butter is added in.
    I used a hand mixer, so it might be longer, plus, different machines have different speeds, the longer you beat, the more volume u'd get.
    It's fine, as long as you et the texture u like.

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  38. hi Wendy,
    Thanks for this wonderful tutorial.I've made this swiss meringue butter cream several times.My kids love it very much !!!

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  39. Hello Wendy,
    Can i ask-is sugar icing sugar? Or the normal castor sugar. Does it make a differences?
    Thanks a lot

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  40. Cindy,
    Glad you and your kids loved this buttercream.
    Thanks for the feedback.



    Anonymous,
    No. Icing sugar is NOT the same as castor sugar.
    Castor sugar is very fine, but still in granular form.
    Icing sugar is in powder form and has a small % of cornstarch in it.
    It's castor sugar in this recipe and not icing sugar. Actually I use fine sugar which is slightly bigger than castor for my bakes. Castor costs more than double than fine granulated sugar. Do not be confused with regular granulated sugar.

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  41. Wendy,
    You are SO RIGHT! Yes, it IS light! Yes it DOES taste like whipped dairy cream but a little heavier! It does NOT have that heavy oily taste in your mouth that commercial bakery cakes have (I've tasted Chinese Birthday Cakes here and they aren't that yummy!)
    Not being tropical here I followed a slightly different recipe but followed your tips. Beautiful result! It's a lovely pale cream colour - my previous attempt of REAL buttercream was french and as I said, my hen's yolks are VERY yellow! Hence a pale lemon colour to my french buttercream. The taste of swiss is not as buttery and rich as french & I think if I had to cover a cake with buttercream I'd choose Swiss. Is it fairly stable? I'm not in high heat and humidity like you though, but wondered how swiss faired for decorating and perhaps piping? Does it hold it's shape?

    Many thansk for a fabulous tutorial! :0D

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  42. Plum Leaf,
    Oh those yucky creams are laden with shortening and how I hate them, haha!
    I've used this cream for frosting before and they are stable, I'd say. But shouldn't be held too long in the hand. It is still butter and not shortening. You can refer to Lyanne's 2nd birthday (bugs cake) and Joanna's pink cheesecake. Both can be found under the label "birthdays".

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  43. Hi. Tq for the recipe and the excellent explanation.I've been looking for so long. Would you mind to tell me how to convert it into chocolate swiss buttercream?TQ

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  44. Anonymous,
    You can either mix in some melted dark chocolate or some cocoa powder paste(mix with boiling water form a thick paste)at the end to flavour the buttercream.

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  45. Anonymous,
    Sorry, typo.
    To make cocoa powder paste, mix some cocoa powder with boiling water to form a thick paste.
    If the water is not hot enough, it will not form a smooth paste.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hi Wendy, how long can we keep this cream in fridge? Sandy...

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  47. Sandy,
    I've never experimented with how long it can keep before it goes bad or starts to grow mould. But I'll just tell u my experience with it. It's not 100% definate as it's not a lab experiment.
    But it's been kept before for months in the freezer.
    And I've kept it for 2 weeks chilled and nothing has happened

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  48. Thanks Wendy as I've not try any before. Just seek for advise...2weeks is enough for me..hehe ...Sandy

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  49. Hi Wendy,

    I've been searching for a buttercream that does not use icing sugar and was very glad that I found your blog.

    I have a standalone mixer at home. Therefore is it a must to have the waterbath as I do not know how to put a waterbath in.

    Thanks
    Cynthia

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  50. Cynthia,
    The waterbath is used to control the temperature from rising too high.
    If you cool your meringue well enough, it should be fine w/o the waterbath.

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  51. Hi I'm going to try your buttercream for my girls rainbow cake. Can I make the buttercream first, keep it in the fridge and frost the cake a day later? Can I use the buttercream straight from the fridge before frosting or do I need to rewhip it? Thanks for your lovely tutorial. Eschang

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  52. Eschang,
    You can make the cream days ahead, no problem.
    You have to wait for the cream to soften before frosting, it's made of butter, so it will harden in the fridge, but there is no need to rewhip, maybe just a good stir. I just pop my cream into the microwave and use defrost function for a few seconds to hasten the softening. Remember to let it come to room temp lid off, if not condensation will happen and water will collect at the base of your container.

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  53. Hi Wendy,

    I was wondering if I use meringue powder instead of egg whites, can I just use corn syrup instead of dissolving the sugar with the egg white?
    (As meringue powder is already pasteurized) I am not sure how corn syrup will alter the texture of the final product though.

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  54. Farah,
    I have never used meringue powder before, so I do have the answer for you.
    Sugar is used to give stability to the whipped whites, if corn syrup if substituted, I doubt it will perform the same function.

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  55. Hi I tried making this cream yesterday and it wonderfully easy. Just a note to let u know that I use pastuerized eggs and had no problem. Cheers, Chang.

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  56. Chang,
    thanks for the feedback.
    I've tried whipping pastuerized egg whites, and mine was fine too, but I didn't use it for this icing. Tried that for a mousse after I posted this.

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  57. *Redirected comment

    Dear Wendy,

    I love your blog, your recipes, presentation etc. Tried making the Swiss Meringue Buttercream recently but the sugar did not melt after stirring on top a double boiler for more than 3 mins. In fact, the end result was grainy with a crunch in every bite from the undissolved sugar in the icing. I wonder what went wrong? As you did not specify, I used caster (instead of icing) sugar.

    Tq & rgds,
    Ann

    ******************

    Ann,
    Then is your egg white hot to touch?
    Is your vessel touching the boiling water?
    I used fine granulated sugar of which has bigger granule size than caster sugar.
    The time given is just a guide. You must touch and feel the sugar to check whether it has melted and of course, the temperature.

    Baking should always use caster or something of similiar size, which is why I don't bother to state the type of sugar, unless it's specific like icing sugar or like in the case of Castella cake, regular granulated sugar.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Ann,
    BTW, never use icing sugar for this. It needs some friction of produce aeration.
    You can see from the picture the type of sugar I used, and it's definitely not icing sugar.
    Wish you success the next time around.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Really appreciate you taking time to reply Wendy. No, vessel not touching the boiling water, and I also did not actually touch the egg white mixture to ensure that it is hot. I shall try again, till I get it right. Tx so much!! And you're just amazing! Keep it up!! Ann

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  60. Thanks for the recipe..i tried it last weekeend for mu cousin bday cake. The cream was superb n taste were so rich n yummy..received good compliments for the cream..Thanks ya..: )

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  61. Wendy,

    This cream can be keep for how long outside fridge ?

    Jo

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  62. TQ Wendy.. will try 1 day... hehehe..

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  63. this is the best buttercream ever!
    here's my experience: while beating butter into the meringue my buttercream curdled! but no worries, i just continued on beating and it came together beautifully. it came out nicely stiff, smooth and velvety. totally yum! taste just as u said, like a heavier and thicker version of dairy whipped cream.

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  64. Jo,
    in the post, I did mention, it was well even overnight in the cabinet.


    Nuri,
    Hope that one day will come soon


    Sotong,
    Hmmm.. will I be seeing cupcakes on ur blog soon? Hmmm

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  65. if i want to double this recipe sugar would be 200gms and egg whites would be 4 and butter would be 340 gms ...pls clarify wendy

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  66. Anonymmous,
    Yes, just X2 of everything.

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  67. Hi Wendy, i tried this but my became watery. Is the bowl itself have to be cold in step 2? or i need to wait for the white egg mixture in steps1 turn cold only whisk? :( i ended up using normal buttercream to frost my cake. :( sigh.....
    pls help.. :) thanks because i know you will help me :)

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  68. Jamie,
    At step 2, the meringue is still hot, but as you beat it for 5 minutes, it will turn cool to touch.
    By the time you need to do step 3, it will be cool already.
    It will still whip up, if you continued adding in the cool butter (not cold, not tropical room temperature, but 19-22C butter, it's considered cool in our climate)

    If the whole thing doesn't firm up even with a cool waterbath (not cold), I suspect you had your butter too warm,as in, tropical room temperature. Could you hold the butter with just 2 fingers?

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  69. Hi Wendy, yes i can hold the butter with 2 fingers. hmm..........i also dunno why. nvm, let me try again. hopefully this time i can successful. :)

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  70. Hi Wendy,
    I just made the buttercream for the first time. Mine looks yellowish like color of the butter. Is it right? I'm from Singapore. I suppose I don't have to leave in the fridge if I use it within today? If not I have to transfer to an airtight container right?
    Thank you!

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  71. Lynn,
    Yup, it will be fine. Any unused portions can be chilled (air tight) or frozen.
    Different butters different colour. Some butters like SCS are more yellowish.

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  72. Thanks a lot Wendy! Phew! I was so worried I can't use it. Yes I used SCS butter.
    Oh and i didnt had enough ice cubes and couldnt do the temperature test. I hope it's safe for my 4yo to eat.
    Now am waiting for the pumpkin cake to be out.

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  73. Hi Wendy,
    Glad that I found your recipe. I want to make some frosting on a birthday cake, it's my first time decorating actually, but I am apprehensive using anything with raw egg whites. But since you said that egg-whites are safe for consumption at 65C, that puts me at ease.

    Quick question: My room temp is constant at 20 degrees celsius, can I skip step 2 (beating over bowl of ice cold water)?

    thanks :)

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  74. Hi Wendy,

    Thanks for the prompt reply. I will try it out and let you know how it works out for me =)

    ReplyDelete
  75. Dear Wendy,
    I really enjoy reading your blog. Thank you for the detailed explanations.
    I am assigned to bake my nephew a birthday cake this May ( for the first time) so I am researching a lot to see what I can do to make the cake a little prettier. I don't want to disappoint an 8 year old.

    I have never tried making buttercream before, I am thinking of trying your swiss buttercream on a chocolate cake. Will it be too much of a challenge for a first timer? hehe.

    I read in one of your reply to a blogger saying that you can add cocoa powder +boiling water to make a paste to flavor it. I am not sure how much to add and whether it will change the consistency of the buttercream. Hope you can help.

    Thank you
    Chen Chen

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  76. Chen Chen,
    It will be good at the consistency of toothpaste.
    U can make the frosting way ahead and keep it chilled. Give yourself more time :)

    ReplyDelete
  77. Dear Wendy,
    Thank you for your speedy reply. Really appreciate it!
    I hope I can manage! haha...
    Cheers!

    Chen Chen

    ReplyDelete
  78. Hi wendy...such a wonderfull tutorial...i made it 2 days back...mine facing the same problem that the egg white a bit watery besides forming a soft peak...but than when i read some of the comments and ur tips i can see some mistakes i did...especially the icing sugar :P....but the taste of the butter cream was really heaven...i will try again and again until i get the best result....thanks a lot ya :)..beside that u have such a awesome blog...i almost everyday visiting it...:)

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  79. wanithevan,
    Oh no, not icing sugar!
    It's caster sugar.
    thanks for the support

    ReplyDelete
  80. Dear Wendy,
    What happen if I'd used icing sugar? Just made my batch just now- but haven't frost the cake yet. This is my first time trying this type of buttercream. But so far - it can hold its shape. Please advise.

    I'm glad I've found your recipe - all other recipe are using stand mixer etc.

    ReplyDelete
  81. canvaslisa,
    For meringues it is always better to use caster sugar.
    Icing sugar will toughen the meringue because it contains cornstarch and the granule shape of icing sugar may not give you the best volume for the meringue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wendy,
      Does that mean the buttercream won't be able to hold it's shape? Or the icing will be too hard?

      Delete
  82. canvaslisa,
    The cornstarch in the icing sugar could thicken the meringue as you heat it up during the double boiling.
    With this, it could lead to a less fluffy meringue, hence, a not as light icing.
    But if it's a baked meringue, the cornstarch could make it less melt in the mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Hi Wendy, I am a 1st timer to using swiss meringue-buttercream to frost cupcake, is my daughter's birthday, may I know is this amt of cream sufficient to frost 20 cupcakes? if need to increase how many time? I will give myself more time to prepare in advance, and keep the cream in fridge.
    Thank you for all your tips and sharing.
    Good Days!

    ReplyDelete
  84. Soh,
    Not enough for sure if you're going to do the swirl.
    But it also depends on how much you use to smother the cupcakes with. If you're going to pipe single layer small stars, then should be fine.
    Maybe you make double of this, extras can be kept frozen. It'll be troublesome to have not enough frosting.

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  85. Appreciated for all your advice.
    Will update once cupcakes is done, hope to show you the result.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Hi Wendy, I tried your buttercream for my girl's birthday, and turned out so nice, you are right the cream much lighter than the usual buttercream, and stable, on Sat the weather was so hot but they are stable to held on for 3 hrs.
    Thank you for your wonderful recipes & patience in providing the step-by-step instructions.
    I am so worried, but it success.
    Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  87. soh,
    I'm so happy that your cupcakes turned out well with this cream.
    Glad u enjoyed this ;)
    Converted, right?

    ReplyDelete
  88. Yes, I prepared double of the cream, just enough to cover 16 cupcakes, my girl is "sweet 16".
    I am so worried before I start.
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  89. Hi Wendy

    I have tried your swiss meringue cream frosting twice, with fantastic results.

    Here are the 2 birthday cakes I made using your frosting recipe, actually I made 3, but one of them was using American Buttercream which was horrible in taste.

    http://everybodyeatswell.blogspot.be/2012/06/how-to-make-mama-cake-for-mothers-day.html

    http://everybodyeatswell.blogspot.be/2012/06/how-to-make-aeroplane-birthday-cake.html

    Thank you once again!

    Miss B

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  90. Dear Wendy,
    Just wanted to tell you that I was successful with this buttercream recipe! I didn't use it for my nephew's cake but I made a small cake for a friend's birthday. It didn't melt....It stayed beautiful :)
    Thank you so much for sharing!

    Chen Chen

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  91. Chen chen,
    The cake must have looked pretty, I can imagine:)

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  92. Hi Wendy,
    It is nothing compared to your creations but I am happy with it as it was my first try! Wish I can show u...
    I have a lot to learn from you.
    Thank you again.

    Chen Chen

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  93. Do you know how can I make the chocolate smbc? What's the ingredients? Tks!

    Claire

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  94. Claire,
    I have never tried it myself, but you can try with melted dark chocolate added in at the end.

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  95. How many cups does this recipe yield? (:

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  96. Stella,
    Less than 2 cups, I have never measured it by volume before.

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  97. Hi Wendy,

    I am so happy as i finally successed :) hahaha
    thank you so much for the detail explantion and notes. muak muak

    Jamie (fancy)

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  98. Hi wendy,

    I have tried and turned out very well..my kids really love it..tq

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  99. Hi! I've been making Swiss Meringue for some time now, but lately, I've been having problems with it. I use the same recipe as you. The texture is amazing, but it lacks the 'meringue' taste. Could this possibly be due to the fact that I beat the meringue to stiff peaks and switch to the paddle attachment before adding the butter? Thanks.

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  100. P.S.: I don't even go through the curdled stage anymore. Is this normal?

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  101. Meg,
    Hmmm.... After I used my KA to make buttercream, I use the whip all the way. My friend told me, it's not neccessary to change to the paddle. And I've used the whip all the time since then. I don't go through curdling too. My friend, a pastry chef told me, if I use cold butter, I can add the butter in while it's warm to touch. That's what I do nowadays. It's a bit risky, but so far so good for me

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  102. Hi Wendy,

    Tried your SMBC today. I find it's too sweet for me and my family. Sorry that we don't have sweet tooth. Can I reduce sugar? If yes, maximum how much sugar I can reduce? Thanks!

    Saly

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  103. Saly,
    So sorry, no you can't reduce the sugar, if not, the meringue won't be stable.
    Whip the cream really fluffy and it won't be as sweet. A low volume SMBC will be very sweet.

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  104. Wendy,

    I guess I don't whipped the cream until very fluffy enough then. I've leftover that I've stored in the freezer. Can I thaw it to almost room temperature and whip it again until very fluffy?

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  105. Sally,
    I have never tried that out myself, I just stir it too smooth out only.
    But you can try.

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  106. Wendy, I would to use this buttercream to be piped on cupcakes (pink swirl rose) in the morning. Can I prepare it the night before then pipe it on cupcake in the next morning? How should I store this butter cream? Pls advise. Thanks. Regards Lisa

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  107. LL,
    If you are from this region, just leave the buttercream at room temperature (preferably below 28-29C), provided the cream doesn't have any fruit puree added in.

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  108. Thks Wendy for the advise. Will buttercream texture change if I keep it in the fridge. The next morning, take out from fridge until room tempreture then pipe onto cupcake. Will this work?

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  109. LL,
    If you have the time to wait for it to soften to a workable texure, you may.

    ReplyDelete
  110. Hi Wendy, like your buttercream recipes. Can i ask if i make the cup cakes the night before can the cream last until the next morning? Will it be stable for whole night if i keep the cup cakes at room temperature? Pls advise..
    Thank you

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  111. Sally,
    Overnight is ok, provided you did not add in any fruit puree.

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  112. Hi Wendy, thank you for sharing the recipe. I tried making this kind of butter cream yesterday, I followed all of your instructions, hehehehe. Actually this is my first attempt of making butter cream, the taste is good...:)

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  113. hi wendy,

    thanks for your sharing. i understand that this swiss meringue is use for deco. will it also can be use for cake assembling? or they have different method and recipe?

    ReplyDelete
  114. Jesselyn,
    I fill my cake layers with SMBC too. Most of my recent cakes are filled with IMBC or SMBC if they aren't with fruits

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  115. I made SMB today... It come out so well. I am also from hot and humidity area, so your tips helps a lot.... thank you. the cream is delicious, light and fluffy, smooth...

    ReplyDelete
  116. Hi Wendy, i have a question. do you have a way to make white buttercream? i would like to colour my buttercream blue, but since butter is yellow it always turns out to be green instead. i dont want to use crisco/vegetable shortening cos i find it weird.

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  117. c. linda,
    It depends on the butter. Some brands are very yellow,for eg, SCS.
    I find Lescure to be the whitest. so far.

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  118. Hi Wendy, how long can we leave this buttercream out at room temperature before it goes bad? thank you

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  119. izumi,
    I have never done test on it, but overnight is not a problem.

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  120. hi wendy, i made a swiss buttercream and there is a left over, i put it on a mixing bowl and covered it by using a cling wrap... how long it will last...? and can i used it again...

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  121. Thank you for sharing this QWendy. It's my first SM Buttercream and it works!

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  122. Hi Wendy

    I used recipe of your Swiss Meringue Buttercream this morning and cream turned out successful. The good result was due to your very illustrative step by step instructions. I intend to pipe cream on cakes on Saturday to share with my church friends on Sunday. Will let have their feedback after they have tried it.

    Thank you so much for sharing with us readers your good recipe/s unselfishly.

    Blessings
    Priscilla Poh, S'pore

    ReplyDelete
  123. Hi Wendy,
    I'm thinking of using your recipe to frost my daughter's birthday cake. It'll be an approximately 9"x13" cake which I plan to cover in buttercream rosettes. May I know roughly how many portions of your recipe should I make? Without the icing sugar, will this meringue still have enough body to hold the shape of the rosettes I plan to pipe on the cake? Thank you!

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  124. Hi Wendy, if this buttercream being left overnight in room temperature, will it spoil? Thanks! :)

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  125. Alexia,
    sorry for not responding earlier,
    There is no icing sugar in this recipe.
    I do not know how the size of your rosettes, but I think you need to make 4 times the amount here to have a decent covering.



    Cherie L,
    Yes it can, without the addition of fruit puree, it can stay at room temperature for a day or two.

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  126. Hi wendy,
    I tried it for 3 times and failed it all. Whip the egg whites and sugar, passed. Cool it down, passed. Incorporate cool butter that just taken out of fridge, passed. At first it all seems like a smooth thick liquid. The Longer i beat, it begins separate and producing water. I don't think it's the temperature, because i'm sure it's cool. I might try to use another brand of butter.

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  127. corn,
    It's too cold.
    That's why it's splitting. It should not be cold, but just like tap water on a rainy day, or like cool river water

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  128. Hi can I know which brand butter is good for making SMB

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  129. Rene,
    French, Danish or Irish butters will be a good choice.
    Australian and NZ butters are too soft and yellowish for my liking.
    There are many brands in the market, just look at country of origin and make sure it's pure butter and you're good to go

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  130. Rene,
    Actually the brands I prefer is stated in the 'Important' section of the post, thank you

    ReplyDelete
  131. Hi there, you are so right. I shouldn’t have use pasteurized eggs. It won’t melt the sugar at all. Recently, I used pasteurized eggs for my SMB and it still feels very grainy after standing in front of the stove for about 45-60 minutes. I would rather take the longer process and use fresh eggs the next round and heat it till 70 degrees Celsius. Also, I must agree with you on the butter. Always use French unsalted-butter for Butter cream even though it’s slightly more expensive. Unfortunately, we do not have Lescure butter here in Singapore so the other alternative is Elle and Vire butter. Thanks so much for the tips!! -N

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  132. Thanks for the tips, Wendy! So helpful. I will try making the buttercream following your guide. My previous attempts at other buttercream recipes all fail and melted in the hot weather. T.T I'm actually keen on making a cream cheese flavour one - do you think it will hold up well if I add a block of cream cheese? Thanks for your help!

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  133. Naomi,
    SMBC will not withstand the outdoor tropical afternoon heat which could rise above 35C, with RealFeel at 40C, it will melt as well. It stays well indoors, in tropical weather. Adding in cream cheese might make it less stable, but it should be ok if it's in an air conditioned room.

    ReplyDelete

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