This Italian Meringue Buttercream is silky smooth with a rich velvet texture, providing great volume and decadent vanilla flavor to cupcakes and cakes.
2cupsunsalted buttersoftened (4 sticks), cut into ½” cubes
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
In the bowl of a standing mixer, add egg whites and begin beating on medium speed until the egg whites become foamy.
Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and continue beating until the form stiff peaks - hold their shape.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sugar and water. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring until all of the sugar granules are dissolved.
Continue heating the sugar mixture until the temperature reaches 238-240°F (the soft-ball stage).
Transfer the sugar syrup to a measuring cup or something that allows you to pour it easily in a thin stream.
With the mixer running on low speed, pour the sugar syrup in a very thin stream into the stiff egg whites.
Mix on low until all of the sugar syrup has been incorporated. The egg white mixture will now appear glossy and stiff like meringue.
Continue mixing on medium speed until egg whites have cooled completely (feel the bowl to make sure no warmth remains).
When the meringue has cooled, add the butter - 1-2 cubes at a time. Mix each tablespoon into the meringue completely before adding the next couple cubes.
Continue adding 1-2 cubes of butter at a time until it is all combined.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and switch to the paddle attachment. Add vanilla extract.
Beat on low speed using the paddle attachment for several minutes to beat the air out of the buttercream. The buttercream may appear curdled at first, but it will beat out into a smooth, luscious frosting.
To frost cupcakes with a swirl, fit a large piping bag with cake decorating tip #1M.. Fill the piping bag with buttercream. Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes in a counter-clockwise direction, swirling up and toward the center.
Notes
This buttercream is light and silky smooth. It works well for piping swirls and borders and can even be used for piping details.
The frosting is the most shelf-stable of all buttercreams, but it still cannot sit out in warm temperatures. If frosting becomes too soft for piping or spreading, place it in the refrigerator to firm up a bit. If refrigerated for long, you may need to rebeat the frosting to smooth it out.
This recipe can be doubled.
You can substitute salted butter if you do not have unsalted butter.
It is important to cool the meringue before adding butter so that the warm meringue won’t melt the butter. You can press an ice pack or cold cloth to the outside of the mixing bowl to help it cool quicker. Tip #1M is used for all piping in these photos. Italian meringue buttercream tints nicely with good quality gel food coloring. Do not use liquid food coloring to tint this type of frosting as it tends to appear speckled. If you prepare the buttercream in advance, refrigerate it (or freeze) in an airtight container. Thaw until soft and rebeat for several minutes with the paddle attachment on your mixer.
A standing mixer is best for this recipe. Using a hand mixer would take so much time, your arms will get really sore.
You can pour the sugar mixture directly from the saucepan into the egg whites, but transferring it to a measuring cup makes it easier to pour it into the egg whites.
Italian meringue buttercream is different from swiss meringue buttercream bc you make a sugar syrup and pour that into the egg whites whereas with swiss meringue buttercream, you heat the sugar and egg whites together and then whip them into meringue.