• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Little Vintage Baking Company

A baking and cake decorating blog. Find elevated recipes, tutorials, and resources for bakers and sweet makers.

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Tutorials
  • Work with Me
  • Portfolio
  • Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Frostings and Fillings

Salted Caramel Sauce

October 29, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Salted caramel is one of those sauces that can go on so, so many baked goods. Even when I’m writing recipes, I have to keep myself in check, otherwise there would probably be salted caramel on everything. This salted caramel sauce recipe should be kept on standby in your kitchen. It is quick and easy to make, doesn’t require a candy thermometer and tastes so much better than store bought. It’s rich, buttery and deep in flavor, making a perfect caramel topping for your favorite dessert.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted caramel sauce has endless uses. This sauce, while still warm, is a thinner consistency perfect for drizzling over ice cream or yogurt, cakes and pies. The sauce, when cooled is thicker in consistency, and is perfect for a cake filling, swirling into brownies, dipping apple slices and for using in frostings.

Salted Caramel Sauce

How to make salted caramel sauce

Prep the ingredients for the salted caramel before you begin because once you get started, it all comes together quickly. Butter and a small amount of water are cooked together. I recommend using a light colored saucepan so that you can see the color indictions that the caramel is done cooking. The water is added to help the sugar melt more evenly. The sugar mixture boils until it is mid-amber in color. Too light and the flavor will be bland, not having been fully caramelized. Too dark and it tastes burnt.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Once the caramel is mid-amber color, remove from the heat. Carefully add the butter. The mixture will steam and bubble so be very careful when doing this. When the butter is fully whisked in and melted, whisk in the cream, salt and vanilla. If the caramel seizes after the cream is added, put the saucepan back over low heat and whisk until melted. Remove from the heat. Pour into a jar or storage container. The caramel will thicken as it cools. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove to thin the consistency. Salted caramel sauce can be kept for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For amazing recipes using salted caramel, check out these posts:

Caramel Apple Coffee Cake

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

 

Salted Caramel Sauce
Print Recipe
0 from 0 votes

Salted Caramel Sauce

Sweet and salty salted caramel sauce
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time10 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (59ml) water
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or flaky salt

Instructions

  • In a medium sized saucepan, combine the sugar and the water. Stir just until combined. 
  • Place the saucepan over medium heat. Let the sugar mixture cook, without stirring, until the sugar mixture turns a mid amber color. Take the mixture off the heat to stop the cooking process.
  • Add the butter to the saucepan and whisk to combine. Be very careful as the mixture is incredibly hot and will bubble up and steam when the butter is added. 
  • Whisk in the heavy cream, followed by the vanilla and the salt. Whisk until smooth.
  • Let the caramel cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a storage container to cool completely.

Filed Under: Frostings and Fillings Tagged With: caramel, salted caramel sauce

How to Color Buttercream: A Comprehensive Guide

July 27, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Coloring buttercream can be difficult, especially when it comes to very dark or very bright colors, and also in trying to achieve an exact color that’s needed to be reproduced for a cake design.  Matching colors and recreating specific colors isn’t always easy to do.  This guide will help you be able to properly color buttercream and frostings, as well as how to customize and create colors and color palettes. This guide will also help you understand color theory basics, help you troubleshoot any coloring issues and give you some tips and tricks for making specific colors, or color palettes.

Coloring Buttercream

This gradient was created by adding blue buttercream to white buttercream. The blue was made the day before and developed overnight. These gradient colors were mixed just before the photo was shot. You can notice some speckling in the mid/light blue colors because the blue hasn’t fully mixed with the white.

How do different types of buttercream adapt to color?

How well buttercream takes on color and how the color develops depends on what type of buttercream you use. American style buttercream, made with butter or shortening, tends to incorporate color the fastest and easiest. This type of buttercream is considered sugar based, so there is generally less fat in this type of buttercream compared to meringue style, or any other fat based buttercream which tend to contain far more butter or shortening. American style buttercream adapts to color easier as the water based gel color dissolves in the sugar/liquid mixture, so the color can penetrate and deepen before mixing with the fat.

Fat based buttercream takes a bit longer to develop color, and can be a more frustrating process, but it can still be done. Because gel food color is water based, so it takes more color to be able to thoroughly saturate buttercream, especially in larger batches, and with very dark or vivid colors. Fat and water repel, so it takes more time for the color to emulsify and develop into the buttercream, but it is still possible to achieve dark and vibrant colors with gel colors.

Less stable buttercream, like those made with custards, roux, whipped cream or cream cheese, tend to develop color similarly to American style buttercream, but oftentimes the texture and stability can be compromised depending on how much color is added. It is also possible that the buttercream can collapse or separate with over mixing (like a whipped cream buttercream). Avoid adding too much color to these types of buttercream as the stability decreases and the texture changes.

Coloring Buttercream

Top row: This buttercream has been colored black using gel color from chocolate buttercream. The first photo is after a couple hours and is still a charcoal color, but has darkened slightly. The second is black buttercream that was left overnight to rest. Bottom row: Buttercream that has been colored red from buttercream that was colored with electric pink, then red oil-based candy color. The first photo is after a couple hours, the second one is the results after resting overnight.

Buttercream also falls into two base color camps. Butter based buttercream is usually more yellow hued, while shortening buttercream is white. This can also make a slight difference in the outcome of a color, particularly if you’re trying to achieve a light or pastel color. If you add a touch of leaf green to white buttercream, it will most result in a hue that is more true to the bottle green color. If you add leaf green to a yellow-hued buttercream, that leaf green color will be have a warmer undertone from the yellow.

If you need your buttercream to be a pure white, you can use a concentrated bright white gel color, or you can also add very (very) small amounts (toothpick dots) of violet gel color to the buttercream to cancel out the yellow hue and create a white buttercream. I’ll explain more on how this works in the color theory section.

Coloring Large Batches of Buttercream

When coloring buttercream, fondant, ganache, etc., it’s good to invest in gel colors that are highly concentrated and true to color. Highly concentrated color requires you to use less color, making the color less likely to be tasted, and less likely for the texture to go off, which is particularly important in moisture sensitive mediums like ganache, gum paste, and fondant. There isn’t one specific brand of gel colors that I specifically use, and I’m always experimenting with new brands and colors, but I’ll list my preferred colors below.

Coloring Buttercream

When I say true color or true to color, I am referring to colors that are a more accurate representation of that specific color, and not color that has lots undertones of another color, or changes hues when added to buttercream. For example, some black gel colors either have a green or purple undertone that is noticeable when mixing into buttercream and fondant. Some brown gel colors have orange undertones. It takes more time to balance out the undertones, in addition to creating the desired color.

An alternative to gel color, for fat based buttercream, is to use candy color, or oil based colors. Usually these types of colors are created to be used with chocolate, and they work fantastically with fat based buttercream, and ganache and are probably my favorite use for meringue buttercream and ganache. I prefer using these colors when I can, particularly for coloring large batches of buttercream.

Coloring methods:

With a meringue style buttercream, you can color the meringue before the butter is added. Just add the color to the meringue, mix to combine, then add the butter. For a darker color, remove a small portion of the meringue, mix in the color until the desired color is achieved (it will more than likely deflate, that’s ok). Add the butter to the uncolored meringue and mix until the buttercream has reached the proper fluffy consistency. Add the colored meringue at the very end and mix to combine. Add more color if necessary.

You can also use the microwave method for buttercream. Remove about ¼ cup of finished buttercream and place into a microwavable bowl. Add gel color until the the desired color is achieved and microwave for 5-15 seconds until the color is incorporated, deepened and slightly liquid. Add the colored mixture to the buttercream and combine.

Coloring Buttercream

Pastels created using individual gel colors.

It’s important to let the colors develop and deepen for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. Particularly with fat based buttercream, not allowing the color to rest also results in speckling, which means that the color hasn’t fully emulsified into the buttercream. When mixing color into the buttercream, you want to bring it close to the desired color, then allow it to rest. Especially for very dark and bright colors. The buttercream will darken a couple shades. Alternatively, you can make a darker buttercream by starting with chocolate buttercream. Adding darker colors to an already naturally darker buttercream will help you achieve those colors a bit faster with less color.

If you’re concerned about tasting the gel color, or of the possibility of staining mouths, consider using the dark color buttercream only as a thinner outer layer of your cake, rather than piling on a lot of dark buttercream on the outside.

When it comes to mixing small batches of buttercream for painting on cakes, or for buttercream details, I mix gel colors directly into the buttercream with a palette knife to help blend and mix together, while also getting rid of any air bubbles. I particularly love this method because the buttercream gets super smooth and sort of shiny like oil paint.

Coloring Buttercream

When two colors that are opposite on the color wheel are combined, they create a neutral color. The paired colors on the left are pastel primary and secondary colors. The pairs were mixed to create the neutral colors on the right.

Color theory and why it’s important

Understanding basic color theory is fundamental for any artist that works with color. Understanding how colors work together, how to balance and create tones, tints, shades etc. is important in being able to create particular colors, and complimentary color palettes.

So, just a few general color theory basics.

Hues  – Hues are the pure colors in the color spectrum, and refers to the dominate color family of a specific color. It’s really the term we are referring to when we mention “color”, except it doesn’t include, white, black, gray (neutrals). Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple are hues.

Tints – Tints are created when white is added to a hue. Think of these as pastels, or hues that have been lightened and desaturated.

Tones – Tones are created when adding white and black (gray) to a hue. Tones can be darker or lighter than the original. In other terms, tones are created by tinting and shading the hue. Undertones can also refer to warm (red, orange, yellow) or cool (green, blue and purple).

Shades – Shades are created by adding black to a hue, making the hue darker.

Coloring Buttercream

Primary colors – These are the three colors that all other hues are made from, and cannot be made by mixing any other hues together. These colors are red, yellow, and blue.

Secondary colors – These three colors are made when two primary colors are mixed together. These colors are green, orange, and purple

For the best results and the most optimized colors, build color by adding a little bit at a time with multiple colors, rather than just trusting one bottle color. Building colors, especially to create purples and pinks also reduces the chances of fading, which can happen with these colors sometimes. For example, I noticed my purple would lighten and have a blue hue. So when I make purple, I start with electric pink (or a bright pink), then I use purple. The electric pink boosts the brightness of the purple and keeps the pink tone of the purple, if the purple starts to fade.

Be familiar with what a particular gel color looks like – whether it has warm or cool undertones, or if there are any alternative color undertones. Ivory is a color I recommend to always keep on hand,  Adding a little bit of ivory helps to tone down the saturation on bright colors, and can help mute a pastel. I add ivory to all my vintage colors as I like these colors to be muted and warm toned.

Coloring Buttercream

These are primary colors – red, yellow and blue. Notice that the red and yellow look throughly saturated and color is evenly distributed. The blue, being freshly made has more of speckle effect because the color isn’t fully disbursed.

Hues can be neutralized when a color is too overpowering. For example, if you have a  yellow hued buttercream, you can neutralize the color by adding the color opposite on the color wheel, so in this case, it would be violet. Adding a little bit of violet to yellow will “cancel” out the yellow, making it white. Another example is gray buttercream made with black gel color. The buttercream ends up looking a bit green. To neutralize the green, you would add very little red to cancel out the green since they are opposites on the color wheel, and end up with balanced gray.

Brands and Colors I like to use:

Americolor – red, black, royal blue, electric pink, electric blue, electric purple, green, bright white, lemon yellow, chocolate brown, ivory, avocado, moss, gold, dusty rose, regal purple

ProGel – purple, claret, gooseberry, navy

Artisan Accents 

Wilton –brown, kelly green, ivory

Chameleon colors (oil based color)

Coloring Buttercream

The top three colors (red, orange and yellow) were mixed the night before the photo was taken. The bottom three colors (green, blue, and purple) were mixed right before this photo was taken. I mixed primary colors together to create the secondary colors.

Color mixes for popular colors:

Masala/Burgundy – more red and less purple, with a little bit of brown to tone down the brightness

Coral – more orange, less pink and a little bit of ivory to tone down the saturation

Wine – equal red and purple, a touch of brown, a touch of black

Mint – more green, a touch of blue, ivory to mute the saturation

Chocolate brown – brown, touch of black

Moss green – leaf green, touch of brown

Royal blue – electric blue, a touch of purple, a touch of black

Navy – more royal blue, less black and a touch of purple to tone the blue and make it less smoky looking

I hope I’ve helped answer any questions you may have regarding coloring buttercream. I’ll be working on separate coloring posts for pastes, chocolate and royal that will be coming soon-ish. If you have any questions, please leave them below so I can get them answered for you!

For more on buttercream, check out these posts:

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Filed Under: Frostings and Fillings, Resources Tagged With: american buttercream, butter, buttercream, candy color, color, food color, frosting, gel color, icing, meringue buttercream, neutrals, shortening

Italian Meringue Buttercream

June 8, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Italian meringue buttercream is the lighter, fluffier, more stable cousin to the ever popular Swiss meringue buttercream. Both Italian and Swiss buttercreams are similar as they are light, silky smooth, and melt in your mouth. They both create a smooth cake surface and chill firmly for sturdy stacking and transportation. The main difference between Swiss and Italian is in the preparation of the meringue.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

The Italian method of boiling sugar and water to a high temperature to create a sugar syrup and then adding it to soft peak egg whites, allows for a more stable meringue, or a meringue that will not deflate or breakdown easily over time. This is especially beneficial when using this buttercream for a cake for an outdoor event or on a warm day. With caution of course. If you frost a cake with any butter based buttercream and leave it outside in the sun in mid-July in the Midwest, it’s destined to be a buttery messy puddle quickly. But, for moderately warmer temps, it is the best butter based buttercream to use.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Egg whites and cream of tartar whipped to soft peaks.

Both Swiss and Italian meringue buttercream contain mostly the same ingredients – egg whites, sugar, butter, salt and flavoring. The exception is that Italian meringue buttercream usually uses some sort of stabilizer (cream of tartar, salt) which stabilizes the egg whites during beating, before the sugar syrup is added.

How to make Italian meringue buttercream

Italian meringue buttercream is made by combining sugar and water into a saucepan and boiling until softball stage, or about 240-245F. As with caramel, mix together the sugar and water. Then stop stirring. You don’t want to create sugar crystals – which would give you crunchy bits in your otherwise silky smooth buttercream. While the sugar is boiling, whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. When the sugar mixture reaches temperature, remove from the heat and turn your mixer up to medium-high speed. Drizzle the *very* hot sugar mixture into the bowl, between the side of the bowl and the whisk attachment.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Sugar syrup has been added, and the meringue has been cooled and beaten to stiff peaks.

Continue to mix on medium-high until the outside of the bowl is just lukewarm to the touch, or the mixture is at 80F. Really though, don’t stress about having exactly 80F meringue here -I’m really just giving you a temperature as a guide. Just feeling that the bowl is lukewarm means it’s ready for the butter. You can wrap the bowl with ice packs or cold towels to help cool the meringue down faster if you wish.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Right after all the butter was added. A bit deflated, lumpy and thin. Keep mixing!

Same as with Swiss buttercream, softened butter is added to the bowl piece by piece until all the butter is added. The buttercream will deflate a bit, and it is quite possible the buttercream will curdle or look thin, like cake batter,  but keep going. Oftentimes, meringue buttercreams go through an ugly, sloppy mess before coming together and looking more like buttercream. Once the buttercream has come back together, let it mix on low speed for a while – 5-10 minutes or so, to get rid any air bubbles. Air bubbles in buttercream under a fondant cake can result in blow-outs and bubbling fondant. The end result will be perfectly smooth, beautiful, fluffy, light and silky buttercream.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

The buttercream is fluffy, light and smooth. Those little holes and divots are air bubbles. Mix on low for 10 more minutes to smooth them out.

Troubleshooting Italian meringue buttercream

*The buttercream can be refrigerated and also freezes well. Bring to room temperature before rewhipping, otherwise the buttercream will separate. If this happens, heat the metal mixing bowl with a kitchen torch while continuing to whip. Stop applying heat when the buttercream comes together.

*Color meringue buttercream with gel color, or ideally chocolate colors (which are oil based). Do not use liquid color as it can dilute the buttercream.

*If at the end of mixing, your buttercream is a liquidy, soupy mess, pop in the refrigerator for 15-25 minutes to cool it down. Look for the edges of the buttercream to start to harden, then it should be ready to whip again. Repeat this process again if necessary.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

*Keep going! If you have whipped up your egg whites and heated your syrup to the correct temperature, the rest of the process is pretty foolproof. If it is curdled, separated, lumpy, the butter was too cold, etc. Keep mixing. It might take a bit longer but keep mixing and it will come together.

*Italian meringue buttercream can hold quite a bit of flavorings. When adding liquids, such as fruit purees and other liquids, mix in a little at a time. The liquid needs to be able to emulsify into the buttercream. Another reason you want to add a little bit of liquid at a time, is that adding too much liquid can cause the buttercream to become unstable. I recommend reducing your fruit purees into concentrates before adding to the buttercream. You can also use pulverized freeze dried berries for fruity variations as well.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

The recipe below is for vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream. But the flavor options are endless. Here are a few popular flavors to experiment with. Adjust the quantities to suit your taste. I like my buttercream flavors as concentrated as possible.

*Chocolate – Add 3 cups (600g) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature, to a batch of buttercream

*Fruit flavors – Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups reduced fruit puree, preserves or curd per batch

*Nut Butters, Cookie Butters, Caramel- Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups per batch

*Boozy – Add 1/4 – 1/3 cup flavored liqueur such as Bailey’s, Champagne,  Amaretto, etc. per batch

For more information on meringue based buttercream, check out my post on Swiss meringue buttercream here.

Italian Meringue Buttercream
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Italian Meringue Buttercream

A fluffy, silky and smooth not-so-sweet meringue based buttercream, that is more stable than Swiss meringue buttercream but lighter in taste and texture. Perfect for all types of flavors and add ins.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Dessert

Ingredients

  • 9-10 (300g) large egg whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 2 ½ cups (500g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (120g) water
  • 3 ½ cups (793g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

Instructions

  • Place the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
  • In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and the water over medium-high heat. Stir to moisten the sugar.
  • Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Boil the sugar and water mixture. Do not stir.
  • Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Add the cream of tartar.
  • On medium speed, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, about 1-2 minutes.
  • When the sugar syrup reaches 240F, remove the saucepan from the heat. Turn the speed of the mixer to high, and very carefully and slowly pour the hot syrup in a thin and steady stream into the bowl, pouring between the bowl and the whisk attachment so that the sugar syrup doesn't splatter. Don't rush.
  • Once the sugar syrup is added, continue to whip until stiff peaks form and the bowl is lukewarm to the touch, about 10-15 minutes. You can wrap the bowl with ice packs to speed up this process, if you wish.
  • Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the softened butter, a few pieces at a time, mixing until the butter disappears into the meringue.
  • After all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and whip until thick, and fluffy.
  • Reduce the speed to low. Add the vanilla and salt, and beat for an additional 5-10 minutes to minimize the air bubbles.

Notes

Buttercream can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerated for 1 week in an airtight container and frozen for up to 3 months.

Filed Under: Frostings and Fillings Tagged With: buttercream, cake, cake filling, frosting, italian meringue buttercream, meringue

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

March 4, 2019 By Ashley 10 Comments

When I discovered Swiss meringue buttercream several years ago, I was intimidated by it. I didn’t like the idea that I couldn’t just throw everything in a mixing bowl and start mixing as I had done with the buttercream I had been making at the time for my cakes. Swiss meringue buttercream requires a bit of extra time, costs a bit more and involves a process. But let me tell you, it is so worth it. Swiss meringue buttercream is luxuriously light and creamy. It’s silky, fluffy and smooth texture makes it a DREAM for filling and icing stacked cakes. It’s stable and holds its shaped when piped. It’s perfect for getting those sharp, precise edges on layer cakes and is a great base for covering with fondant.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

How to make Swiss meringue buttercream

You begin the process of making Swiss meringue buttercream by heating egg whites and granulated sugar in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. This process is to cook the egg whites and melt the sugar all while whisking continuously to avoid any scrambling. Once the egg white mixture reaches 160F, it is strained through a sieve into a stand mixer mixing bowl and using the whisk attachment, beaten until stiff peaks form and the bowl is room temperature to touch. At this point, softened butter is popped in piece by piece and then, and you leave it to mix on low for a bit. It’s important to mix on low as to not incorporate air. Incorporating air into your buttercream can cause and contribute to cake disasters, such as blow-outs, air bubbles and sinking.

This is the time in Swiss meringue buttercream making that most people think they’ve destroyed it and they pitch all of that glorious (albeit, ugly at this point) buttercream. It’s quite possible your buttercream will look curdled, or super deflated. It might even look separated. But it’s ok. Let it keep mixing. This can take up to 10 or 15 minutes. Keep mixing and it will come together into creamy, silky and smooth Swiss meringue buttercream. Mixing the buttercream on low for a while allows it to fully incorporate, and eliminates air pockets – which is super important if you’re making a fondant covered cake. It also helps creates that super silky, creamy texture.

Once the buttercream has come together and is fully incorporated, add the flavorings and a pinch of salt. Don’t skip the salt – it helps to define the flavors you add to your buttercream. Swiss meringue buttercream is a blank canvas suitable for many, many types of flavorings. Jams, curds, cookie butters, nut butters, extracts, chocolates, etc. It holds flavors incredibly well so don’t be afraid to experiment.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

The mixture just after adding butter. The butter is incorporating, the mixture looks like it’s deflating and it looks like it’s curdling. Keep mixing!

Some common questions and concerns about Swiss meringue buttercream:

1. Swiss meringue buttercream is too buttery.

This is the most common concern, no doubt. In comparison to American style buttercream that is mostly sugar and the sugar taste is the forefront flavor, Swiss meringue buttercream will seem more buttery as butter is the star in this buttercream.  I always suggest to meringue buttercream beginners to try a fruit or chocolate flavored buttercream first so you can really get a since of how delicious, adaptable and amazing this buttercream truly is. Additionally, if you’re making a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, don’t skimp on the vanilla in quality or quantity. I add both vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste to my buttercream. This buttercream is more of a luxury style buttercream meant to showcase high quality flavors and ingredients. It’s the perfect vehicle for intense and concentrated flavors.

*Pro tip: If you love the texture and taste of Swiss meringue buttercream but want it a bit sweeter, add 1/2 -3/4 cup of sifted confectioners sugar after the butter is fully mixed in.

2. Can I make Swiss meringue buttercream in advance?

Yes, definitely. You can keep your Swiss meringue buttercream at room temperature for up to two days. If you’ve let your buttercream sit for a couple days, it will seem kind of spongy if you try to use it as is. Place the buttercream back into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low for 5-10 minutes until smooth. You can also refrigerate and freeze the buttercream. Again, you will need to mix again on low speed to smooth out the texture. The buttercream must be room temperature before mixing otherwise, it will separate. I always make my Swiss meringue buttercream in advance and refrigerate it because I’m always making large quantities of it for wedding cakes.

*Pro tip: If you start mixing the buttercream and find that it is still too cold and is separating, you can help bring the separated mixture back together by using a kitchen torch to warm the buttercream. While the mixer is on, run the kitchen torch flame along the outside bottom, of the metal mixing bowl, back and forth, until the buttercream starts to come together. *Only try this technique if you’re using a metal mixing bowl.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Starting to form larger curds and looks like it’s starting to separate. But it won’t. Keep mixing!

3. Why aren’t my egg whites whipping into stiff peaks?

Your mixing bowl and utensils must be grease free otherwise the eggs won’t whip up properly. They’re temperamental like that. Wipe down your bowl and utensils with a clean cloth and lemon juice or vinegar to remove remaining fat residue. I also don’t recommend using carton eggs. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I also don’t find meringue made with carton whites to be as stable.

4. Why is my Swiss meringue rock hard after being refrigerated?

Keep in mind that Swiss meringue is made with mostly butter, so being that cold butter is hard in the fridge, you should expect your buttercream to harden similarly. This aspect of Swiss meringue buttercream though, is one of perks of using it for layer cakes. Cakes refrigerated with Swiss meringue buttercream are far more stable for transportation and for covering with fondant than a cake covered with an American style shortening based buttercream. Also, buttercream acts as an excellent insulator, keeping your cake moist while being refrigerated. Just bring your cake to room temperature before serving and it will be perfectly soft and delicious.

5. I’m adding loads of gel food color to color my buttercream but it’s still not the dark color I want.

Swiss meringue buttercream is oil (butter) based. Gel food color will not allow you to achieve the deep, or vibrant colors that can be easily achieved with shortening based or American style buttercream. To be achieve dark and vivid colors with Swiss meringue buttercream, you need food coloring that is suitable to chocolate, one that is oil based. I like to use Artisan Accents Chameleon Colors.

6. Swiss meringue buttercream costs more to make, takes longer to make and can be more difficult to make. Why would I want to make Swiss meringue buttercream over my go-to American buttercream that is inexpensive, fast, and easy?

Just like some people find Swiss meringue buttercream to be too buttery, some people find American style buttercream to be grainy, greasy or overly sweet. When it comes to taste and texture, it all comes down to personal preference. It’s also important to consider workability as well, especially if you want to make professional looking cakes.

The main reasons I find Swiss meringue buttercream to be worth trying and is my preference for my cakes, is for stability and versatility. If you make layer cakes or tiered cakes, it’s important to have a base buttercream that is stable for layering, stacking and transporting. Swiss meringue buttercream, as well as Italian buttercream, chills firm allowing for a smooth and stable foundation for fondant or rolled chocolate.

I also find that the support from using a meringue style buttercream, or ganache is important for supporting sugar flowers well in a cake. Buttercream that is more loose, doesn’t firm in the fridge (like a shortening based buttercream) just doesn’t have the stability of a meringue buttercream or ganache. Using Swiss meringue allows me to get sharp, clean edges on my cakes and stays firm while I am decorating, stacking, and transporting the cake.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

The mixture has come back together from it’s curdled state and is starting to look creamy and silky, but there’s lots of air pockets still. Keep mixing on low speed!

Some tips for successful Swiss meringue buttercream:

*Use a candy thermometer or and instant read thermometer to make sure your temperature just reaches 160F. 160F ensures that all the bad bacteria is killed off in the egg whites. However, be sure to bring the temperature of your egg/sugar mixture up slowly and don’t overcook your mixture. Rushing this process will result in scrambled and cooked egg whites.

*Swiss meringue buttercream can hold quite a bit of flavorings. When adding liquids, such as fruit purees and other liquids, mix in a little at a time. The liquid needs to be able to emulsify into the buttercream. Another reason you want to add a little bit of liquid at a time, is that adding too much liquid can cause the buttercream to become unstable. I recommend reducing your fruit purees into concentrates before adding to the buttercream. You can also use pulverized freeze dried berries for fruity variations of Swiss meringue buttercream.

*If your finished buttercream appears loose and more pudding-like, it’s possible that the butter was too warm when you added it to the meringue. Pop the bowl into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes then mix again.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Perfect texture! Look at that silky and creamy Swiss meringue buttercream.

The recipe below is for vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream. But the flavor options are endless. Here are a few popular flavors to experiment with. Adjust the quantities to suit your taste.

*Chocolate – Add 3 cups (600g) of bittersweet chocolate, melted, to a batch of buttercream

*Fruit flavors – Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups reduced fruit puree, preserves or curd per batch

*Nut Butters, Cookie Butters, Caramel- Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups per batch

*Boozy – Add 1/4 – 1/3 cup flavored liqueur such as Bailey’s, Champagne, or Amaretto per batch

If you try this Swiss meringue buttercream recipe, let me know! Leave a comment in the comment area below and be sure to snap a photo and tag it #littlevintagebaking on Instagram. I love seeing your Little Vintage Baking creations!

Swiss meringue buttercream
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Silky, creamy, and stable Swiss meringue buttercream perfect for piping, filling and icing cakes
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Mixing20 mins
Total Time15 mins
Course: Dessert
Keyword: swiss meringue buttercream
Servings: 10 cups

Ingredients

  • 9 (300g) large egg whites
  • 2 1/2 cups (500g) granulated sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups (793g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp pure vanilla bean paste

Instructions

  • Weigh out egg whites and granulated sugar together in a non-reactive bowl, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the bowl and place over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water, whisking constantly and gently until temperature reaches 160F. 
  • Using a sieve, strain the egg white sugar mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Mix on medium speed with the whisk attachment until the mixture is glossy, reaches stiff peaks and the outside of the bowl is no longer warm. You cannot add butter to the bowl if it is warm or the butter will just melt when added. 
  • Once the mixture reaches stiff peaks, you have Swiss Meringue (Yay!) but we’re going for buttercream here, so onward. Switch out the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment and begin mixing on low speed. 
  • Add the softened butter cubes, a couple at a time, until incorporated. 
  • Now, just let it mix. It might curdle or look lumpy but that’s ok. Keep mixing. This could take some time. The buttercream is ready when it is smooth, satiny and creamy.
  • Keep mixing on low and add the salt and flavorings. Mix until everything is fully incorporated.  

Notes

This recipe can be halved or doubled. One full recipe will fill and frost a 8" cake that is 4" or 5" tall. 

 

 

Filed Under: Frostings and Fillings Tagged With: buttercream, fondant, frosting, layer cakes, meringue, Swiss meringue buttercream, tiered cake

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Hi, I’m Ashley! Welcome to the Little Vintage Baking blog – where you will find recipes, tutorials, resources and more for the baker, cake decorator and baking business owner.
Click here to learn more!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Subscribe by E-Mail

Never miss a new recipe or a tutorial! Enter your email to be notified of new posts!

Categories

Copyright © 2020 The Little Vintage Baking Company. All rights reserved.

Privacy and Copyright Policy