Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 6 extra-large egg whites
  • at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (not powdered
  • it won’t work)
  • 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or white vinegar
  • 4 sticks (1 pound) butter
  • plus more as needed
  • softened

Instruction

  • Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment
  • Start the machine on medium-slow speed and whip until the eggs begin to get frothy
  • Turn the speed to medium
  • Slowly add the sugar to the whipping egg whites, dropping the lemon juice in about halfway through the process
  • When all the sugar is in, speed up the mixer and whip until stiff peaks form and the meringue is smooth and super shiny
  • Turn the speed to medium-low and begin adding the butter
  • Add it bit by bit so the meringue doesn’t slop over the sides of the bowl
  • At this point, the meringue will fall and look ruined and broken
  • It’s not
  • This is what happens and it’s okay
  • If the meringue doesn’t fall, add a little extra butter until it does
  • Turn the speed back up to medium-high and walk away
  • Come back in 10 minutes
  • Does it look like buttercream? No? Walk away and repeat until it does
  • If it still doesn’t look like buttercream after 30 minutes, add more butter until it does
  • Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week
  • Warm and rewhip the buttercream before using it if refrigerated
  • There are a few things to be aware of with any meringue-based buttercream: -- You can store it at room temperature for 24 hours; more than that and you need to keep it in the fridge
  • -- If you’re not using it directly after making it, you always want to rewhip it right before use by beating it in the mixer with a whisk attachment and adding a bit of heat from a kitchen torch until it looks right
  • -- If you’re planning on using the buttercream that has been kept cold, pull it out of the fridge about 2 hours before you intend to use it, whip and heat it, and then you’re ready to go
  • -- Sometimes you’ll see people dip a spatula into hot water before icing a cake
  • This is wrong
  • If you heat the buttercream to the correct workable temperature, you won’t need a warm, wet spatula
  • Swiss buttercream keeps for about a week in the fridge, but it’s always good to just make what you need when using an egg product
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