Italian Meringue Vanilla Buttercream

This Italian meringue buttercream is hands down the best frosting recipe I know. I learned how to make it while I was in pastry school in Vancouver back in 2004 - thank you Chef Carleigh! 

In most of my recipes I encourage improvising and say measurements aren’t that important. But for this recipe, you really have to measure correctly and use a candy or digital thermometer. You’ll also need a standing mixer and should read the recipe before starting!! You could maybe get by with a hand held electric mixer but I don’t recommend it because there’s about 15 minutes of whipping, some of it while you’re simultaneously adding boiling hot sugar syrup.

This buttercream is made with Italian meringue, where a hot sugar syrup is added to the beaten egg whites to “cook” and stabilize them. The other types are Swiss, French and German - all slightly different. It’s light and fluffy, despite the pound of butter (no you can’t leave out some of the butter or it won’t work). I add vanilla but you can flavor it with different extracts or add food coloring if you like. Make a full recipe for a layer cake or a half recipe for a small cake or a dozen cupcakes. I like to make my sugar syrup at the same time I whip the egg whites and sugar. 

Last note, make sure your egg whites don’t have any yolk in them and that your bowl is clean. Any fat that gets into the meringue will make it fall. Once it’s stabilized with the hot sugar syrup though, you can add the butter. At first it will look like it’s getting wet and falling, but as you keep adding the butter, it will thicken back up at the end. If for some reason it doesn’t, keep beating another 3 minutes. If it’s still soupy, add a tablespoon at a time of extra soften butter until it firms up. It will look like it’s curdling, and then all of a sudden will be perfect buttercream texture.

Vanilla Butter Cream with Italian Meringue 

• 4 egg whites 

• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water 
• 4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1. Place egg whites in very clean bowl of standing mixer and turn to medium speed. Once it gets very frothy, slowly add 1/2 cup sugar. Add salt, turn to medium high, and whip until stiff peaks stage. Once they get to the stiff peak stage, turn the machine down to the lowest setting so they don’t over whip. Over whipped whites will start to look chunky instead of smooth and glossy. 

   
   

2. While egg whites whip, make sugar syrup. Add remaining cup of sugar and 1/3 c water to a heavy bottom small sauce pan. Heat on medium high until sugar dissolves and syrup reaches 240 F on a thermometer (soft ball stage.) Turn heat off. At this point your egg whites should be at the stiff peaks stage and the mixer going on low.

    

3. While mixer is on low, slowly and carefully add hot syrup in a steady stream down the side of the bowl. Bowl will get very hot so be careful. Once all the syrup is added, turn setting to high and let the meringue whip for about 5 minutes.

   
   

   4. Once bowl is no longer hot to the touch but just warm, add the room temp butter a few tablespoons at a time. Meringue will start to look very wet but by the last addition of butter should firm up. It will look almost curdled for a minute. Keep beating and it will smooth it. Add vanilla or desired flavoring. If you want to add food coloring, do it now.

   
   

   At this point your buttercream is ready to use. If you want to whip out any remaining air pockets (especially if you’re going to use a piping bag), you can switch over to the paddle attachment for a minute or two, or use a rubber spatula to mix it fast, and that should smooth it out. 

   
   

   Butter cream freezes well. To use, defrost and place in bowl of standing mixer with paddle attachment. Beat until soft peaks form.