If I make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, can I just pour melted chocolate in to flavor it? How much chocolate? And to make chocolate hazelnut can I just add Lorann oil? I wanted to use praline paste but that's pretty impossible to find--unless you live in France, apparently. :S. First time making SMB so not sure if I'm biting off more than I can chew....

Yes, use real chocolate. Let it come close to room temp again before you pour it.

A suggestion on the hazelnut: I use Frangelico to flavor cakes and European buttercreams. My rule of thumb is that every stick of butter can handle 1 tbsp of liqueur. So if your recipe uses six sticks of butter, you can use up to 6 tbsp of Frangelico before it gets too soft. You can also reduce the Frangelico for more intense flavor.

I use Nutella, it's super yum. One trick I do though is pour out the oil that separates in the jar of Nutella to get a more concentrated flavor.

I also use Frangelico but Nutella is much less expensive.

I do 8 oz. of melted the cooled bitter sweet chocolate to every pound of butter in my SMBC recipe.

Good luck!

Thanks, you two! There's so much useful info in those two posts! I'd like to try the Frangelico--does the 1 T. per 1/2 cup of butter hold true for cakes as well? And for Nutella--any specific ratio when adding that? I assume I add it to SMBC that's already had chocolate added so that the chocolate intensity is strong enough? Thank you both for being so generous with your knowledge!

For the nutella I go to taste, probably 1/4 cup per 1 lb butter, and no I don't add it to chocolate SMBC, I just use it by itself. It already has chocolate in it.

If you want chocolate buttercream with hazelnut add either the frangelico or hazelnut extract to your chocolate SMBC. I personally love nutella and its so yummy in SMBC on chocolate cake I leave it as is.