Fancy sounding, but simple to make, Italian Meringue Buttercream is smooth, velvety and buttery-rich. One taste and you’ll agree it’s not the sugary-sweet, make-your-teeth-ache buttercream icings of kid-dom.
After boiling, a simple sugar syrup whips into stiff egg whites, creating a fluffy meringue foundation and delicate sweetness. Soft butter melds in to create a satiny mouth-feel buttercream frosting. Very versatile, Italian Meringue Buttercream blends well with citrus curds (Lemon Curd 1.0 and 2.0), chocolate, fruits, and coffee. Tinting this recipe will produce a mellow color with a soft-yellow hue.
Italian Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Subtly sweet and smooth, Italian Meringue Buttercream takes a little more work to make than traditional buttercream icings. But one bite of this velvety, light-as-air icing and you’ll never go back to the sickeningly-sweet stuff!
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 7 Minutes
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 8 Cups 1x
Ingredients
1/2 cup water
2–1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup egg whites (about 10–12 large egg whites)*
1–1/2 pounds (6 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cubed
1 tsp. vanilla**
Instructions
In a heavy-duty saucepan, combine the water and granulated sugar. Bring to a boil. (If necessary, use a pastry brush dipped in water to wipe down any sugar crystals forming on the pan’s sides.) Boil sugar syrup for 7 minutes.
As sugar boils, in a very large bowl whip egg whites until they reach stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Using a stand-mixer fitted with the whisk attachment is helpful, but not necessary.
After 7 minutes, carefully stream the sugar syrup into the stiff egg whites. Pour down the sides of the bowl to avoid flinging hot syrup with the whisk. Beat the mixture on high until the bowl is cool to the touch, about 10-15 minutes.
With the beater or mixer running on high, gradually add the softened butter piece-by-piece to the egg white mixture. Once all butter is incorporated, turn mixer to low and add vanilla. Continue whipping until light and fluffy. If mixture looks “curdled” continue to whip as it will smooth out again.
Add additional flavor mix-ins*** if necessary, and use.
In an air-tight container and refrigerated, Italian Meringue Buttercream can be stored for up to 2 weeks. To re-use, let buttercream come to room temperature and re-whip.
Notes
*Using pasteurized, store-bought egg whites is not recommended. Because they have already been cooked, they may not reach stiff peaks necessary for this recipe. However, adding the boiling sugar (240-245 degrees F) to the egg whites in this recipe cooks them to safe standards.
**Other extracts may be used.
Variations:
Lemon: Fold in 1/4 cup lemon curd for every 2 cups of Italian Meringue Buttercream. (See Lemon Curd 1.0 and 2.0.)
Chocolate: Stir in 2 to 3 ounces melted (about 100 degree F) semi-sweet chocolate for every 1 cup of Italian Meringue Buttercream.
Coffee: Dissolve 2 tbsp. instant coffee powder in 2 tbsp. hot water. Use for every 3 cups of Italian Meringue Buttercream.
Fruit Flavors (I.e. blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, apricot, etc.): Fold in 1/4 cup puree for every 2 cups of Italian Meringue Buttercream.
IMNPB
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