I have a family member who cannot have dairy. Usually if I know he will be at a family gathering I'll go with the standard ABC made with shortening....but now that I know the smooth creamy deliciousness of SMBC I would like to broaden my dairy free options. So if I made a egg and sugar meringue and added shortening or say maybe some coconut oil, would it work? Or does anyone have any other dairy free frosting options they use?  

Hi sykescakes, this site has a pretty good dairy free smbc posted :http://www.pumpkinspantry.com/2011/06/swiss-buttercream-dairy-free-refined.html

It is indeed a substitution of shortening for butter. The overall method is almost the same as traditional SMBC. Let us know how it comes out.

Frank