Hi! I have to make a cake with champagne buttercream for next weekend and was wondering if I can add it to either Italian or Swiss Meringue buttercream. Has anyone tried it? And does it affect the consistency of the buttercream? I've searched for recipes but they all have powdered sugar. I really like the tastes of the Italian and Swiss buttercreams. I've also seen recipes with champagne flavoring. Any thought on this? Thanks!

With those two recipes I would substitute champagne flavoring for the vanilla. To much liquid will make the frosting to soft.

You should reduce your champagne first before adding it to IMBC/SMBC as you would need to add too much straight champagne to get the flavouring. Reduce a half cup of champagne to a 1/8 cup and add to flavour. Reduce by heating in a saucepan on the lowest setting until it reduces in quantity. By reducing you intensify the flavour.

LisaPeps, thanks for that great info.

Thanks! That is great info! Is there a certain champagne that you typically use?

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but you might also consider the method used in this video:

He replaces the water in the sugar syrup with champagne, then uses that to cook the egg yolks, Italian meringue BC style, then adds a smaller amount of champagne for flavoring. I'd be interested to know how well this turns out, since it sounds like you'd be condensing a step by reducing the champagne as part of your sugar syrup.

Interesting! I may try that! He is making a French buttercream which I'v never tried before. Is there a big difference in taste from the Italian and Swiss buttercreams which only use egg whites?