My Favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My Favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Swiss meringue buttercream is like heaven. It’s so light and fluffy and not at all overly sweet like some frosting. I definitely prefer it over any other kind of frosting.

Ever since I first tasted SMBC I have been searching for a fool proof recipe that I love. I have found that recipe. Trust me on this one. It’s amazing.

Most people seem intimidated by SMBC because of the fact that sometimes it curdles when you’re mixing it up. You have to be patient and know that it’ll come back together. Because of the technique used in this recipe, you won’t have to worry about that here. I was a bit skeptical when I first tried this recipe, but it works every time.

I prefer to refrigerate my cupcakes after frosting them with this SMBC. This will set the frosting. Then bring them to room temperature prior to serving.

One Year Ago: Rice and Beans

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This is my favorite Swiss meringue buttercream

Yield: Enough to frost 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 oz egg whites (3-4 large egg whites or about 1/2 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp lemon extract, almond extract, orange extract, or vanilla extract

Directions:

Lightly whisk egg whites and sugar together over simmering water until egg-white mixture is hot to touch or a candy thermometer reads 140°F (60°C).

Pour hot whites into a room-temperature bowl and whip with a wire whip until double in volume on MEDIUM-HIGH speed. When the mixer stops, the meringue should not move around in the bowl. Meanwhile cut up butter into 2-inch pieces. (The butter should be slightly moist on the outside but cold inside.)

On your mixer, remove the whip and attach the paddle. Add half the butter into the bowl immediately and pulsate the mixer several times until the meringue has covered the butter completely. To pulsate the mixer, turn it on and off in a jerky motion. This forces the butter on the top to the bottom of the bowl. Add the balance of the butter and pulsate mixer several times. Slowly increase the mixer's speed, starting with the lowest speed and increase the speed every 10 seconds until you reach a MEDIUM-HIGH speed.

Continue beating until the mixture begins to look light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl. Reduce speed to LOW. Add flavoring and continue to beat on LOW speed for 45 seconds. Then beat on MEDIUM-HIGH speed for an additional 45 to 60 seconds.

Leftover buttercream can be placed in plastic containers with lids and kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost completely (several hours) and rewhip before using.

Storage: Store the icing in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe from epicurious

Dessert, Frosting, Go-To Recipes, Other

22 comments »

23 Responses to “Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake Truffles”

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Fun and Fearless in Beantown — January 4, 2011 at 5:25 pm

I can’t barely bake so the idea of finding a creative way to use leftovers astounds me. This looks AWESOME!
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2

Maria — January 4, 2011 at 5:33 pm

Gorgeous truffles!
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3

Justin — January 4, 2011 at 5:34 pm

I love red velvet… these look amazing.
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4

Megan — January 4, 2011 at 5:35 pm

I’ll have to remember this… I often have leftover cake too. They looks so pretty!
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5

EliFla — January 4, 2011 at 5:37 pm

This is a very good recipe…thanks and happy new year, ciao Flavia
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Sue — January 4, 2011 at 6:03 pm

These are so pretty! Great for valentine’s day:)
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Blog is the New Black — January 4, 2011 at 6:14 pm

These look so wonderful! Love the vibrant red!
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8

ann — January 4, 2011 at 7:04 pm

These look so good. Wonderful idea.
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Tara — January 4, 2011 at 10:29 pm

Okay this is just hilarious! My grandma purchased a frozen Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet Cheesecake for Christmas. I took the remaining pieces home to make into balls, which we served at my new years eve party. SO good!
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10

Rhondi — January 4, 2011 at 11:12 pm

Amazing as usual! I tagged you on my blog to answer some questions:
http://bigmamashomekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-weekday-morning-routineand-ive-been.html

Have a great day! Rhondi
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11

Daisy — January 5, 2011 at 2:47 am

you are a genius! Such a great idea to use leftover and maintain portion control.
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KcomeKarolina — January 5, 2011 at 2:33 pm

oh they look so yummi!!!

xoxo from rome
K.
http://kcomekarolina.blogspot.com/
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13

Chelsea — January 5, 2011 at 7:35 pm

Such a good idea, these look so good! I love the red velvet and cheesecake combo. You’re blog is awesome 🙂
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14

We Are Not Martha — January 5, 2011 at 8:34 pm

Wow, these are so beautiful! Best way to use leftovers EVER! And who knew you could do so much with red velvet!

Sues
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15

Caroline — January 6, 2011 at 4:36 pm

It’s not over-indulging because you’re able to stop at one. I would probably have eaten half a dozen of them, they look so good! What a great way to jazz up ‘leftovers’!
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Boston Food Diary — January 7, 2011 at 4:04 pm

What a FANTASTIC idea!!!! These look beyond amazing!!
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Elina (Healthy and Sane) — January 7, 2011 at 9:09 pm

I remember the post about that cake. I really want to make it some day! The idea of turning some leftovers into truffles is pure genius! 😀
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Shannon — January 8, 2011 at 1:54 am

ooh, what a creative way to deal with the cake 🙂
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Bridget — January 9, 2011 at 4:51 pm

I’m picky about what I bring in to work too. It bugs me when people bring in things that are clearly gnawed on, you know? This is the perfect way to reportion leftover cake into easily sharable treats.
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20

Carolyn Jung — January 10, 2011 at 4:56 pm

Wives always know best! LOL
Glad you made him “eat” his words, so to speak. The truffles are so adorable and perfect for Valentine’s Day.
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21

sheila @ Elements — January 19, 2011 at 7:19 pm

They’re adorable!!! They’d make a perfect Valentine treat too!!
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22

P way — October 15, 2014 at 8:07 pm

So…. Don’t mean to appear ignorant, but some of us have NOT made cake balls from left over cake, please be more specific in your discourse, please.
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23

Angela + Payton — October 1, 2018 at 6:35 pm

ummm this cake failed. We followed the recipe to the t and it deflated and tasted bad. This recipe was extremely watery and gross and soggy. It fell apart quickly. Thanks!