Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I've had a few requests wanting to know about Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  When I need white frosting to decorated a cake, I use Swiss Meringue as it uses the egg whites as opposed to the egg yolks is classic French Buttercream.  It still has a slight yellow tint to it from the butter, but as you can see in the photo, it still appears pretty white.

To Make Swiss Buttercream You Will Need:

a hand-held mixer

stainless steel bowl

skillet deep enought to hold 1-inch of simmering water

instant read thermometer

4 large egg whites

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla

stand mixer

3 sticks butter, unsalted

To Make Swiss Buttercream:

Have all ingredients at room temperature.

Bring 1-inch of water to simmer in skillet.  (You may need to adjust to deeper water level as you will want the water to be the same depth as the egg mixture.)

Whisk together egg whites, sugar, water and cream of tartar in stainless steel bowl.

Beat egg mixture with hand-held mixeron low  until temp reaches 140 degrees on instant read thermometer.

(Be sure to rinse thermometer in simmering water between readings as you do not want to contaminate egg mixture.)

Once it reaches 140 degrees, continue beating on high until the temp reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from skillet and add vanilla.

Continue beating on high until mixture is cool and holds glossy peaks.

In another bowl in stand mixer, begin beating butter until creamy.

Add a little bit of meringue at a time until incorporated.

Continue to beat until fluffy.

This can be made ahead and stored in the refridgerator for 5 days or frozen for several months.

(To use frozen buttecream, break off pieces into microwave safe bowl.  Set on defrost for 5 to 10 seconds at a time until desired consistency.  If you get it too soft, just put back in fridge.)

Enjoy!