With a silky smooth texture and a frosting that’s not to sweet, you are bound to fall in love with this chocolate swiss meringue buttercream. Our vanilla swiss meringue buttercream is our go to for frosting perfectly smooth cakes and a chocolate version took it to a whole new level! If you find American buttercream too sweet then you are going to love this.
How to Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Swiss meringue buttercream takes a bit more time to make than American buttercream, but it is totally worth it. You first start by heating the egg whites and granulated sugar over a double broiler. The metal bowl from your stand mixer works great for this. You can then simply transfer the bowl directly to the mixer. A candy thermometer is another important tool to have. If you don’t have one we highly recommend getting one and you can find them online for about $10-$15. Getting the egg whites to the right temperature is very important for two reasons. First, you need the egg whites to heat and fully dissolve the sugar. If you sugar doesn’t dissolve all the way then you will end up with a gritty buttercream. Second, you need to heat the egg whites enough so they are safe to consume. We like to heat the mixture till it reaches 160 degrees on our candy thermometer. It is also very important to continuously whisk the egg whites and sugar as it is heating. If not, the mixture can stick to the side of the bowl. Whisking the mixture as it heats also ensures all the sugar is properly mixing in and dissolving.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved in the egg whites and the temperature reaches 160 degrees, transfer to your stand mixer which should be fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the mixture on high for about 10 minutes until stiff peaks form. We usually set our timer to 10 minutes and let the mixer do its thing. This is the perfect time to cut your butter into cubes.
After ten minutes and once the meringue forms stiff peaks, it’s time to add the butter. With the mixer on high, add the cubes of butter one at a time. Part way through adding the butter your meringue may start to look sloppy, don’t panic, this is totally normal. Just keep mixing and adding butter and right before your eyes it will transform to a beautiful silky smooth buttercream. Once you add the last of the butter, add the vanilla and then continue to mix on high for 5 minutes.
To melt your chocolate, place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until fully melted. Make sure to stir the chocolate after each time you microwave it. Set aside to cool and occasionally give it a stir so it doesn’t start to set. After the buttercream completes it’s final 5 minutes of mixing, pour in the melted chocolate and mix until fully combined.
There you have it, the most delicious chocolate buttercream! Perfect for frosting and decorating cakes and topping cupcakes. We hope you love this buttercream as much as we do! We would love to hear what you think. Feel free to comment below and tag us on Instagram and Facebook. Happy baking!
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup egg whites about 6 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 10 ounces milk chocolate melted and cooled
Instructions
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl. We prefer to use the metal bowl of our stand mixer.
- Fill a pot smaller than your bowl with a couple inches of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn down to a simmer and set the bowl on the pot to create a double boiler. Continuously stir the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has fully dissolved or the temperature reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
- Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer fitter with the whisk attachment and mix on high until the mixture holds stiff peaks, about 8-10 minutes.
- While the meringue is mixing cut the butter into 1 inch cubes. If you have not already melted your chocolate you will need to do so at this time.
- When the meringue forms stiff peaks continue mixing on high and add the butter one cube at a time. Once all the butter has been added, mix in all the vanilla. After the vanilla has been added continue mixing on high for 5 minutes to create your silky smooth buttercream.
- Mix in the melted chocolate on low-medium speed untill fully incorporated.
Notes
- You may also use semi-sweet, dark or white chocolate if you prefer.
- This recipe will make enough to:
- Fill, frost and decorate a three layer 6 inch cake.
- Fill and frost and three layer 8 inch cake.
- Frost three dozen cupcakes.
