fondant

Oyster Shell Ocean Cake Tutorial

March 15, 2022 By Ashley Leave a Comment

I’ve been wanting to make a cake with oyster shells for a while, so while planning tutorial content, I had to put this oyster shell ocean cake tutorial at the top of the list. This tutorial features multiple techniques, including fondant marbling, rice paper waves, wafer paper sea foam, sugar pearls and making and painting realistic gum paste oyster shells.

Supplies:

6″ and 8″ tiers, fully covered in ganache or buttercream

White fondant

White gum paste

Gel Color – brown, gray, black, sky blue

Rolling pin

Silicone mats for rolling fondant and shaping waves

Exacto knife

Prepared gum paste oyster shells

White chocolate, melted

Freeze spray

Piping gel

Craft tweezers, for applying pearls

Marbled Fondant

My goal for the fondant was to create more of a linear marbling, rather than a fully dispersed, swirled mixed marble. For this technique you will need to panel your cake. I start by making the colors of fondant I want to use. I left some fondant white, but colored some ivory with the ivory gel color, nude with just a smidge of brown gel, and light gray with a smidge of black gel. You will need to make a panel for the 6″ tier and the 8″ tier and also the rounds for tops of both tiers.

I rolled out each color into rope shapes and place them tightly together.

Roll the fondant together with your hands to form a long, thick rope. Twist the rope to blend the colors.

Roll the paste into a snail shape.

Stretch and lengthen the snail shape and roll into another longer, thick rope.

Once again, roll the fondant into a snail shape.

Roll the fondant out to fit a 6″ panel. Panel the cake with the fondant, do not cut the excess paste off the top yet. You’ll do this after adding the top panel.

With the leftover marbled fondant from this panel, roll into a rope shape, then into a snail shape.

Flatten the snail shape and roll until about 1/4″. Cut out a 6″ round for the top of the tier.

Place the top panel of the cake. Cut off the excess paste and smooth the fondant and seams with a fondant smoother.

Repeat the steps for the 8″ tier.

While the fondant is still pliable, press sanding sugar and white nonpareils into the the cake in random areas. Don’t add too many, just enough to give the cake some texture.

Rice Paper Waves

Rice paper can be found in most grocery stores, or Asian markets. Rice paper is used for spring rolls. Soaking them in water softens them and makes them pliable. They can be shaped and will become firm once dry. For my waves, I added a small amount of sky blue to a pan filled with room temperature water. Only a small amount of color is absorbed into the rice paper, so color the water a shade or two darker than the shade you’re aiming for. I prepared the shaping forms for my rice paper by wrapping silicone mats around 6″ and 8″ dummy tiers.

Place a sheet of rice paper into the water, making sure it’s fully submerged. Let the paper soak for 20 seconds. Flip the paper over and and let it soak until fully softened.

Remove the rice paper from the water, letting the excess water drip off.

Form the rice paper on the silicone mat, leaving some creases and folds.

Taper the end of the wave a bit. Once you like the shape, leave to dry completely. I made 6 waves total. Reserve the remaining blue water for the wafer sea foam.

Once the waves are dry, use a dry paintbrush and dust the waves with pearl luster dust.

Wafer Paper Sea Foam

To achieve the sea foam look, you will need to fry the wafer paper. This technique is commonly used to make wafer paper lace, but for the foam, the goal to get it to bubble, not to create a lacy texture. I used a standard wafer paper thickness, but you can use what you have on hand. Any will work well for this.

Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat.

While the pan is heating, tear the wafer paper into 4-6 pieces. I used 2 sheets of wafer paper to have a variety of shapes to choose from. You will also be able to shape the wafer paper to the desired size after it has cooled from frying.

Quickly dip the wafer into the reserved blue water and lay it flat into the frying pan. The paper will shrink and bubble. Watch closely to prevent any browning. Reduce the heat a bit if you’re seeing any browning.

Once the paper has bubbled and appears dry, remove the wafer and let it cool on a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper.

Repeat the steps for the remaining paper.

Sugar Pearls

Make sugar pearls with the gum paste by rolling different size balls. Be sure to keep the pearls one the small side. They tend to look a bit unnatural on the cake if they’re too big. I made about 20-30 pearls to have some extra on hand. When the pearls are dry, place them into a tiptop bag. Sprinkle a little bit of the luster dust into the bag and seal the top. Shake the bag to fully coat the pearls with luster dust.

Oyster Shells

There is a full tutorial for these oyster shells here. There you will find the supplies used, how to make them, and a detailed step by step on how to paint them.

Assembling the Cake

The primary focus to this cake is off to the right hand side. The waves should come off and away from the cake. I used 3 waves per tier. There a few ways to attach rice paper waves to the cake. My favorite way is to attach them at the base of the waves with melted white chocolate and freeze spray. Freeze spray dries the chocolate instantly. No slipping or falling waves.

Tear or shape the wafer sea foam into mid size pieces. You can attach the foam with piping gel and (optional) freeze spray as mentioned above. Attach the foam at the bases of the waves. This will cover the ends of the rice waves but also keep the design a bit more seamless. Overlap the foam pieces so that they don’t look to separated. Think of it as trying to keep the design as seamless as possible.

Place the oyster shells onto the cake. Again, I used melted white chocolate and freeze spray to attach. I place the oyster shells along the bottom tier, along the 6″ tier and at the top of the 6″ tier.

With a set of craft tweezers, attach the sugar pearls with piping gel along the edge of the design in clusters, with a few random pearls being placed an inch or two away from the edge of the design.

If you make a cake using any of the techniques within this oyster shell ocean cake tutorial, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your bakes and creations.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more tutorials, check out these posts:

Still Life Flowers Cake

Floral Piped Royal Icing Cake Tutorial

Under the Sea Cake Tutorial

Vintage Gilded Buttercream Cake Tutorial

Still Life Flowers Cake: Mini Tutorial

February 21, 2022 By Ashley Leave a Comment

One of my biggest inspirations in creating sugar art, is art itself. I’m not limited to any type of art, as I find inspiration in art of all kinds, but I do especially love the Dutch masters paintings of still life, particularly flowers. This cake is inspired by such art. If you check out my portfolio or Instagram feed, you’ll see sugar flower arrangements that I have made based on still life art as well. For my Still Life Flowers cake, I wanted to capture the moodiness of those paintings, as well as the vivid, often haphazard floral arrangement, in a variety of colors.

The Fondant

I started with a charcoal/dark eggplant colored fondant. I made my own marshmallow fondant for this project – Sugar Geek Show’s recipe, with 1 tbsp of black gel color. Within the past couple years or so, I’ve really been on a crusade to have less than perfect fondant for all of my cakes. After creating perfect wedding cakes for so long, I’ve embraced imperfection, which 9.5/10 time is a success. Texture, and imperfection is KEY to art and creating.

So, when making this fondant, I didn’t fully melt the marshmallows. I was curious to see what the texture would be like, and weird as it may be, it didn’t disappoint. It created little pockets that the color couldn’t fully saturate, giving the fondant a rough, sort of concrete-like texture when applied to the cake. And so I went with it.

Coloring the fondant

As for the color, many brands of black gel food color tend to have either a green or purple undertone, and I chose one with a purple undertone to achieve the color. To give the tiers a vignette look, I brushed along the bottom and top edges of each tier with a mixture of eggplant, charcoal, and black petal dusts.

Texturing with Stencils

For more texture, and to impart a filigree-like design for a little elegance, I used a stencil and black royal icing. I stenciled each tier, only about 1/2-2/3 of the way around, and alternated which side I stenciled to give the tiers a staggered look. I didn’t perfectly stencil the tiers, I left some gaps and sort of trailed off the stenciling so it didn’t end so abruptly. If you’re unsure about the direction a design is going, proceed with the design as planned, but do it with intention. It makes all the difference.

Placing the Flowers

Once the stenciling was dry, I placed the flowers. I wanted the floral arrangement to be a bit off kilter on the cake. I knew the floral arrangement would be the star, but still wanted the stenciling and bas relief (more on that soon), to really show as well.

I always start with the largest and heaviest sugar flowers first – the peony and David Austin type rose. It’s good to do this so that you can really anchor and secure them in the cake. Placing these flowers also act as a lead for placement for the remaining flowers.

Arranging Sugar Flowers

Then I placed the mid-size one off flowers – the anemone, ranunculus and rose. I only made one of each and wanted them to be seen. Then I placed the iris’, one placed within the arrangement off to the side, then one coming up off the top of the arrangement. I placed the chocolate cosmos – check out my post on chocolate cosmos for a FULL TUTORIAL for those. I added the sugar apricots to the lower left, and the blackberries and blossoms to fill any unflattering negative space.

Lastly one of my favorite additions to any floral arrangement, adding floral components that appear to come off from the cake or give the arrangement any movement. I added some vines with some small leaves and blossoms to give the arrangement some whimsy and flow. I decided not to add any additional leaves and chose to just focus on the flowers for this cake.

Still Life Flowers Cake Finishing Touches

Often times, I will add final cake details after I add the florals, so that those details flow with, or are accentuated by the arrangement. I used the same fondant I used to cover my cakes and some floral moulds I had on hand to create some shallow bas relief. I placed the bas relief around the florals, taking care to not make each tier look too similar. I had no plan for adding the bas relief. I just added it where I thought it would look nice. Avoid symmetry when placing them.

To accentuate the bas relief, I dusted them with a little bit of bronze petal dust. I like how it sort of ages the bas relief and gives it more of an antique look. I totally love the bronze on black and feel like I need to revisit this look in the future on another cake.

So there you have it, a mini tutorial on how I made this cake. If you make a cake using any of the techniques within this Still Life Flowers tutorial, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your bakes and creations.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more tutorials, check out these posts:

Floral Piped Royal Icing Cake Tutorial

Under the Sea Cake Tutorial

Vintage Gilded Buttercream Cake Tutorial

Halloween Wafer Paper Mummy Cake Tutorial

October 16, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Not only is this Halloween wafer paper mummy cake is super cute, it is also super easy to make, only requiring a few supplies. Even kiddos can help make this cake. This mummy cake is perfect to impress your guests for any Halloween event.

wafer paper mummy cake with fondant eyes

Supplies:

3 tier cake (I used 6×5, 8×5 and 10×5 tiers), stacked and covered in white/off-white fondant

Fondant: bright green, white and black (alternatively, modeling chocolate will work here too) – I used Satin Ice

Circle cutters: 1 1/2″ (38mm), 1″ (25mm), 5/8″ (16mm)

Piping tip #3 OR piping tip #4

Wafer paper

Piping gel

Plastic Wrap/clingfilm

Light brown petal dust ( I used Spanish Moss)

Dusting brush

Small brush for piping gel

cutting out white fondant with circle cutters for the eyes

Making mummy eyes

I opted to go with more of a cartoonish look for my mummy eyes. Super creepy eyes would also be fun here. To make the eyes, you need a few different size round cutters, as well as black, white and green fondant. Plastic wrap is also needed. This helps to make the eyes have more rounded edges and more of a puffed look.

Roll the white fondant out to 1/4″ thick. Lay the plastic wrap over the fondant. Cut out two rounds with the largest, 1 1/2″ cutter over the plastic wrap. Set aside.

Roll the green fondant out to 1/4″ thick. Lay the plastic wrap over the fondant. Cut out two rounds with the medium sized, 1″ cutter over the plastic wrap.

Brush the back of the green circles with a small amount of piping gel. Place the green circles onto the white rounds. I placed mine on randomly.

Roll the black fondant out to 1/4″ thick. Lay the plastic wrap over the fondant. Cut out two rounds with the smallest, 5/8″ cutter over the plastic wrap.

Brush the back of the black circles with a small amount of piping gel. Place circles onto the green rounds. Again, I placed mine sort of randomly.

Thinly roll out some white paste. Use a piping tip size 3 or 4 to cut out 2-3 small circles for each eye. One of the circles goes on the black round, or pupil, and the others are placed the randomly on the green part. Use just a tiny amount of piping gel to attach.

With a dusting brush, lightly dust brown petal dust over the white parts of the eye. Add very little at a time. You want just a little bit of color.

Now, the black background for the eyes needs to be placed on the cake before attaching the eyes.

Cut out a section of fondant in the center of the middle tier, that is just a little bit bigger than the size of the eyes.
Roll out some black fondant the same thickness as the fondant on your cake, and place into the hole. Cut off any overhanging black fondant.

The idea here is to make the black fondant flush with the cake, rather than adding an additional layer of fondant on top. Adding an additional layer makes it look a bit too bulky and the black will show more through the wafer paper more once they’re attached.

Brush the back of the eyes with piping gel and place them onto the black fondant.

Wafer Paper Strips

I’ll admit, I thought this part of the cake was going to take me a while. But once the strips are cut and dusted, it takes no time to put them on the cake.

Cut the strips on the long side of the wafer paper with a pair of scissors, cutting them from 1/2″ to 1″. I didn’t measure my strips at all so no need to be exact, nor do they need to be perfectly straight. No worries if the wafer rips, or is damaged in any way – use it! I used 15-20 wafer sheets for my strips, but this amount will vary from person to person.

close up photos of the eyes on the finished cake

Assembling the mummy cake

With a dusting brush, on the rough side of the wafer paper, lightly dust random areas of the strips with the light brown petal dust. Make sure to keep a variety from strip to strip. You don’t want them to all look the same. I kept my dusting pretty light, but if you’re wanting more of an aged, deeper, darker and dirty mummy, use a darker shade of brown petal dust (or 2) to dust on the strips as well.

I tried to hide most of the ends of the wafer strips, so it has more of a wrapped look, and doesn’t look so segmented.

Tuck the ends of the strips as you place them onto the cake. You can definitely keep some of the ends revealed as I did in some areas. Also note that you do not have to cover every inch of the fondant. A few areas peeking through is no big deal. It still blends in and looks cohesive.
Once all the strips are on the cake, go back with your dusting brush and add some more color to the strips if you would like. Also, dust over the exposed fondant so that it blends in more with the wafer paper.

side view of completed cake showing eye and wafer strips detail

Some notes on serving

Wafer paper is edible, but people don’t generally want to eat it. It’s dry and tasteless, like, well, paper. It’s also a bit of a pain to try to cut through. Before serving this cake, I recommend removing the wafer as you slice and serve it. Also, because wafer paper is easily effected by humidity and water, I would not refrigerate this cake once it’s done. Add the wafer just before delivering the cake if it is for a client or friend.

I hope you guys love this super cute Halloween wafer paper mummy cake like I do! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below or on social. If you make this cake, tag me on Instagram – I would LOVE to see it!

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more Halloween themed tutorials, check out these posts:

Black Cocoa Sugar Cookies + Decorated Pumpkins Tutorial

Easy Halloween Ghost Sugar Cookies

Halloween Rice Paper Ghosts Tutorial

Bloody Rose Halloween Cake Tutorial + Edible Fake Blood Recipe

Floral Piped Royal Icing Cake Tutorial

September 3, 2020 By Ashley 8 Comments

I’ll admit, piping techniques on cakes are not my strongest skill set. I can pipe all sorts of borders, sure, but any sort of piped design, lambeth techniques or flowers, count me out. I’m most definitely a work in progress with those techniques, but with this cake, I discovered a piping technique that I love. Not only is it easy, but it doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect. A little whimsy is preferred here. This easy floral piped royal icing cake is easier than you think and the options with this technique are endless.

Supplies

Fondant covered cakes (My cakes are 6×5, 8×5, 10×5 and 12×5)

Royal icing – stiff and piping consistencies, either white or light yellow

Edible gold dust

Clear high proof alcohol, or clear extract

Fine detail paint brush

#2 piping tips

Piping bags

Edible marker

Ascending bead mould

Variety of petal cutters – your preference (I used peony cutters)

Circle cutters (I used 1/2″ and 1″ cutters)

Plotting out the space for the piping and the beading designs

Before creating the flower design and piping, measure the out the space where the piping, and the bead design will go.

For the 6″, measure 3 1/2″ across the middle of the tier with a ruler, and used an edible black marker to make a small mark the middle, at 1 3/4″. Use the marker to then draw a little line at 0 and 3 1/2″. Now the top tier will be the guide on centering all of the other tiers. You can see an example of my lines in the upper right corner of the photo below.

For the 8″, place the ruler up to the center mark on the 6″, vertically, so that the ruler is straight up and down against the 8″ tier as well. Mark a small dot on the fondant to note the center of the 8″. Place the ruler horizontally onto the 8″ tier now, placing the ruler on the center dot at 2 1/4″. Place another small dot at 0 and 4 1/2″.

Repeat the same process for the 10″ tier, marking small spots with the marker at the center at 2 3/4, and on either side at 0 and 5 1/2.

Repeat the same process for the 12″ tier, marking small spots with the marker at the center of 3 1/4″, and on either side a 0 and 6 1/2″

The center mark keeps the design centered down each tier, and the marks to either side indicate the size space of the design, and also indicates where the bead design will go.

Impressing the cake with petal cutters

I decided to use (2) peony petal cutters to make the general floral pattern. I wanted to use the peony petals to match the large peony that I created for the floral topper arrangement. I also like the frilliness of the petals. You can use any cutters that you prefer. Note that the fondant on your cake to still be soft enough to be able to make an impression. In addition to using the peony cutters, I used (2) small circle cutters as well to indicate the flower centers.

Impress the flower centers first. Use a light hand, and only just make a faint outline. Place a full flower here and there if you wish, but make it look more organic by only impressing parts of flowers. Be sure to cover the center mark with the flowers, but do not impress beyond the two outer lines on the tier. Remember, this is where the beaded design will go.

Floral piped royal icing

Once you have made the faint petal impressions, prepare your piping bags for the floral piped royal icing technique. Make one icing bag with piping consistency royal icing, and another with stiff royal icing. Set the stiff bag aside, and fit the piping consistency bag with a #2 tip. Outline the flower petals with the piping royal icing. Add extra frills to the edges if you like, just remember it doesn’t have to be perfect. If you make a mistake, use a toothpick to scrape off the icing. Make some veining lines in the centers of each flower petal, coming from the center of the petal or from the outer edge. Be sure to not overlap the side lines. Stay within the designated area or you will be scraping off dry royal icing later.

After piping the flower petals, pipe the centers. Fit the stiff royal icing piping bag with a #2 piping tip. Pipe little dots in the centers. Go beyond the circle to create more imperfect circles. Overlap some of the dots to give the center a bit more of a pop and some depth. Let all the piping dry completely before painting.

How to make the beading effect

An ascending drop string of beads mould is needed to make the beading. You can find them at Michael’s Craft Store and Iron Orchid Designs (find a retailer near you, or a retailer online on their website – the Acanthus mould). I used the IOD mould for this cake. The string of beads on this mould are exactly 5″ so I used one full string on each tier, on either side of the piping, to create a straight line on both sides. Make (2) for each tier, and let dry for 10 minutes so they’re not too soft. Adhere the beads to the cake with water, in ascending order, with the largest bead at the bottom of the cake tier.

Design the rest of the beaded design on a silicone mat so that you have a guide, and can make them all identical. Since the moulds are going to be a bit different depending on what mould you have, it’s best to use the photos in this post as a guide to make them as similar as possible.

Painting the royal icing

Create a gold paint by adding alcohol to the gold dust until a thick paint forms. You don’t want this too thin, as it could drip and won’t have much coverage, but not too thick, that clumps of gold are left behind. You can also use Edible Arts gold paints as a substitute. Use a fine paintbrush to carefully paint the royal icing.

So, this is a do as I say, not do as I do sort of moment. I painted the gold BEFORE adding the beads. Oof. Spare yourself the mess of gold dust flake off, by painting the icing gold AFTER adding the beads.

Finishing touches

Leave the cake as it is, in its elegant simplicity, or with a sugar flower arrangement on top, as I did. To get remove any excess flour from the fondant or any random gold dust, lightly steam the cake with a steamer. You don’t want the fondant to appear wet or get warm, so just a little bit of steam will do the trick. The tutorial for my peony featured on this cake is listed below.

I hope you love this tutorial as much as I have loved creating it. Any questions, be sure to leave them below or DM me on Instagram. If you use any of these techniques in this floral piped royal icing cake, I’d LOVE to see your creations. Tag me on Instagram!

Ash xx

For more cake decorating tutorials, check out these posts:

Under the Sea Cake Tutorial

Vintage Gilded Buttercream Cake Tutorial

Woodland Tree Stump Cake Tutorial

Gum Paste Peony Tutorial

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

March 4, 2019 By Ashley 38 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.

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.

Some common questions and concerns:

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.

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.

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.

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!

Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

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: buttercream, frosting, swiss meringue buttercream

Servings: cups

Equipment

Electric Stand Mixer

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.