Italian Meringue Buttercream is a wonderful, silky-smooth frosting with a sophisticated flavor profile that is buttery and not too sweet.
This recipe takes all the guesswork out of Italian Meringue Buttercream. I'll guide you through each step with crystal-clear instructions, share pro tips I've picked up from both commercial bakeries and my own kitchen, and explain the why behind the method so you feel confident while whipping it up. If you want the silky smooth texture and luxurious flavor that meringue buttercream recipes bring, but have struggled making them before - this version will make you fall in love!
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Italian Buttercream Recipe
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- How to Make Italian Buttercream
- Troubleshooting
- Adding Flavor to Italian Meringue Buttercream
- How to Store Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Italian Meringue Frosting FAQs
- How to Use Italian Meringue Buttercream
- More like this Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe:
- Recipe
Why You'll Love This Italian Buttercream Recipe
- The texture is silky smooth
- The flavor is elegant and not too sweet
- It pipes like a dream and spreads smoothly onto cakes
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Egg Whites - It's best to use freshly cracked egg whites, rather than the carton egg whites as the fresh eggs will whip up better. The carton eggs will do in a pinch though. You can save the egg yolks for another recipe, like my Custard Cake.
- Sugar - You want regular white sugar for this, superfine is even better.
- Cream of Tartar - This will add stability to the meringue. If you can't find it you an substitute for an equal amount of lemon juice.
- Butter - Definitely use unsalted butter for this buttercream as the butter flavor really comes through in the frosting.
- Vanilla - To add a delicious base flavor to your buttercream, use pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. You could also swap this for other extracts or flavorings to taste.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
- Candy Thermometer
- Saucepan
How to Make Italian Buttercream
Whip Egg Whites
Whip the room-temperature egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for a few minutes or until it starts to get frothy.
Add Sugar
Once the egg whites start to froth, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed.
Take the ⅓ cup (66g) sugar and start gradually adding it to the egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time, whipping for 15 - 30 seconds in between each addition.
Make Sugar Syrup
Meanwhile, add the 1 cup (200g) sugar to a small saucepan with the water and put it over medium heat until it starts to boil. Do not stir it as the sugar dissolves.
If you have a candy thermometer, use it to track the temperature.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 240°F, (115°C) it's ready (see notes if you don't have a candy thermometer).
By this point, the meringue in your mixing bowl should be at the soft peaks stage.
Pour Syrup into Egg Whites
Remove the sugar syrup from the heat and immediately pour into the mixer in a slow, steady stream. Try to avoid hitting the side of the bowl or the whisk as you pour. Also, it's best to turn the mixer down to low speed as you add the syrup - this will keep it moving without splashing the syrup around the bowl.
Once the sugar syrup is all into the meringue, the bowl should feel hot to the touch. Continue whipping on high until the bowl feels cool and you have glossy firm peaks.
Add Butter
When the bowl feels completely cool, you can begin adding the butter, one small chunk at a time. The butter must be at room temperature or it won't incorporate properly. Keep whisking the meringue on high speed while adding the butter. Let it mix in completely before adding the next chunk.
About halfway through adding the butter, your frosting is going to look awful and you will think it is ruined. Don't panic! This is normal, just keep going.
Add Vanilla
Once all the butter is incorporated, add the vanilla and salt, then whip for another minute.
You should now have a wonderful, silky smooth, buttery frosting! See the troubleshooting section above if you have any problems.
How to make Italian Meringue Buttercream without a thermometer.
If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can still make Italian Meringue Buttercream! When boiling your syrup, watch out for the mixture to turn completely clear - this means all the sugar granules have dissolved. There will be bubbles all over the surface of the syrup.
To double-check, take a little bit of the syrup and drop it into some cold water - if it turns into a soft, malleable ball of sugar then the syrup is ready. If it dissolves, it's not hot enough yet, if it turns into a hard piece of candy then it got too hot. This is known as the soft ball stage.
Troubleshooting
While this is a simple recipe, there are a few things that can go wrong. With buttercream, the issues are usually related to temperature.
-How to fix runny Italian meringue buttercream - If your buttercream is soupy and liquidy then either your butter was too soft when going in or you didn't wait long enough for the meringue to cool before adding the butter.
Either way, just put the buttercream in the fridge to set up for 20-30 minutes then try again, whipping on high speed for a few minutes.
How to fix curdled or split Italian meringue buttercream - If your buttercream appears curdled or split then your butter may have been too cold when adding it to the meringue. The two different temperatures can cause it to split.
Don't worry you can still save it! Put your bowl of buttercream over a double boiler (put the bowl on top of a medium saucepan with a small amount of simmering water in it, on low heat) and continue to whisk it by hand until it comes together into a smooth mixture again.
Remove from the heat and put it in the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes, then put it back into the stand mixer and whip on high speed for a minute or two - it should be a lovely smooth buttercream again.
Adding Flavor to Italian Meringue Buttercream
It's very easy to add different flavors to Italian Meringue Buttercream. Here are a few ideas:
- Pistachio - Add a few tablespoons of pistachio paste to make Pistachio buttercream, like in my Pistachio Cupcakes.
- Strawberry - Add some strawberry puree to make Strawberry Buttercream like in my Chocolate Strawberry Cake
- Coffee - Add some espresso powder dissolved in a splash of hot water to make coffee Italian meringue buttercream, try layering it onto chocolate cake like my Chocolate Espresso Cake.
How to Store Italian Meringue Buttercream
If you aren't using the buttercream right away, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Before you use it, bring it back down to room temperature on the countertop, then whip it for a minute or so in your mixer to bring back the lovely texture before you spread or pipe it.
You can also freeze Italian meringue buttercream in a Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. When you take it out of the freezer, let it thaw out in the fridge or on the counter, then whip it up for a minute before using.
Italian Meringue Frosting FAQs
Italian meringue buttercream is made by whipping egg whites and pouring hot sugar syrup in.
Swiss meringue is made by heating the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler, then whipping up to stiff peaks.
French meringue buttercream uses the same method as Italian meringue, except with egg yolks instead of egg whites.
Yes! Italian meringue buttercream takes on color really well. I recommend adding a few drops of gel food color at the same time as the vanilla extract.
Yes, the heat from the sugar syrup cooks the egg whites, so there are no raw eggs in Italian meringue buttercream.
Technically, since Italian meringue is cooked, it is safe to leave it out at room temperature. This means you can frost your cakes and cupcakes, and leave them out for a few days (if they last that long!), instead of keeping them in the fridge which could lead to dry and stale bakes.
How to Use Italian Meringue Buttercream
Try pairing this Italian Meringue Buttercream with some of these desserts:
More like this Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe:
If you love glossy frosting recipes, you might like some of these:
Recipe
Italian Buttercream Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Large Egg Whites 160g (room temperature)
- ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar 200g (for the sugar syrup)
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar 66g (for the egg whites)
- ⅓ cup Water 80g / 80ml
- 3 sticks Unsalted Butter 340g (room temperature, but not too soft)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 pinch Salt
Equipment
Instructions
- Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a stand mixer on high speed.4 Large (160 g) Egg Whites, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Cream of Tartar
- Once the egg whites start to froth, take the ⅓ cup (66g) sugar and start gradually adding it to the egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time, whipping for at least 30 seconds in between each addition.⅓ cup (66 g) Granulated Sugar
- Meanwhile, add the 1 cup (200g) of sugar to a saucepan with the water and put it over medium heat. If you have a candy thermometer, use it to track the temperature. Do not stir the sugar, just let it dissolve.⅓ cup (80 g) Water, 1 cup (266 g) Granulated Sugar
- Remove the sugar syrup from the heat and immediately pour it into the mixer in a slow, steady stream. Try to avoid hitting the side of the bowl or the whisk as you pour. Also, it's best to turn the mixer down to low speed as you add the syrup - this will keep it moving without splashing the syrup around the bowl.
- Once the sugar syrup is all into the meringue, the bowl should feel hot to the touch. Continue whipping on high until the bowl feels cool.
- When the bowl feels completely cool, you can begin adding the butter, one small chunk at a time. The butter must be at room temperature or it won't incorporate properly. Keep whisking the meringue on high speed while adding the butter. Let it mix in completely before adding the next chunk.3 sticks (340 g) Unsalted Butter
- About halfway through adding the butter, your frosting is going to look awful and you will think it is ruined. Don't panic! This is normal, just keep going.
- Once all the butter is incorporated, add the vanilla and salt, then whip for another minute.1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 1 pinch Salt
- You should now have a wonderful, silky smooth, buttery frosting! See the troubleshooting section above if you have any problems.
Nills
Hi,
Can I apply the frosting to the cake and store it in the refrigerator for one day? I am planning to make the cake for my son's birthday!
Kimberly B
I followed the directions to a T and the buttercream came out perfectly! I added strawberry purée! Thank you!
Chris Radwanski
Silky smooth and delicious! This frosting is far better than the sugary, sickly sweet frosting I grew up with. The mouth feel is on another level!
Patty pesce
Can this be made in a larger round baking pan. And can heavy cream and mascarpone cheese used for frosting?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Patty,
I'm not sure if you meant to post this question on a different recipe, but this is a buttercream recipe so that doesn't really apply. Which recipe were you wondering about?
Jules
Bruce A Levitt
"Serves 1 Batch", how about how many people, or "Yields 1 - **" cake"?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Bruce,
Thank you for your comment.
You're absolutely right. This makes enough to fill and frost an 8 inch cake or 24 cupcakes.
I tend not to share that in the recipe card as people are often using this as part of other recipes where I will specify using 1 batch, 2 batches or a 1/2 batch of this one.
Also my 8 inch cake may be a totally different height than someone else's and some people like thicker frosting than others, so I try to avoid disappointment this way. But it will give you roughly enough for this.
Hope that helps!
Jules
Jessica
If I use this frosting on my cupcakes should I put cupcakes in fridge so frosting doesn’t melt or should it be good room temperature?
Sophia
This frosting looks delicious!
I want make it for my girl’s b-day. ow long in advance I can make this frosting, can it be stored and can food coloring be added?
I know theres a lot of questions at once, but I hope you can help me.
I can’t wait to make it!!
Thank you.
Cori
Hi Jules! I love your site! I've tried this Italian buttercream a few times. Each time (*eye roll*) I've dumped all the sugar in the pot, only to realize later on that you save a third for the meringue. For forgetful people like me, could you add 'separated' to sugar in the ingredient list?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Cori,
Thank you for the kind words and for trying my recipes. This is really great feedback, I'll put this on my to do list for this week and get it updated.
This post is actually due to have a massive overhaul anyway so I'll be adding much more information to it soon. Thank you for pointing this out!
Jules