This is the best recipe I've found for Swiss Meringue Buttercream - John from Preppy Kitchen shows us how to do it properly on his YouTube channel which really helped me out when I first started making this recipe. He's easy to understand and easy to follow! You can find his youtube video below!
Author: John Kanell
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
5 egg whites at room temperature
2 cups of unsalted butter (roughly 425g) at room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g)
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method
Add egg whites, sugar and salt in a bowl.
Give the mixture a brief whisk.
Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl.
Whisk the egg whites occasionally while it warms up. When the mixture has warmed, whisk it constantly. You will heat the mixture until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or until it's not grainy between your fingers.
Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer, mix with a whisk attachment until you get room temperature glossy peaks.
Switch to a paddle attachment and while the mixture is running on low, add tablespoon sized dollops of room temperature butter making sure to let the butter incorporate before you add the next piece.
Once all the butter is incorporated, go ahead and add the vanilla extract. You can transfer it to a piping bag or to a ziplock bag to store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes:
To reactivate the buttercream after it has been frozen, allow it to come to room temperature then whip it.
If you start adding butter and the mixture becomes soupy don't panic!!! It will be soupy until ALL the butter has been added.
Don't get fat in your bowl, make sure it's clean (I actually give mine a quick rub with a lemon then wipe with a paper towel)
Don't let any yolks get into your whites when you separate the eggs. The easiest avoid yolks is to separate the eggs one at a time into separate bowls and then pour the white in as you go along.
I add flavourings at the end, especially if I'm making a batch of chocolate SMBC, where there's a considerable amount of liquid going in.