Whether French, Italian or Swiss, meringue buttercreams are a dream to work with— they take on flavor and color well, stand up to storage in the fridge or freezer and achieve a velvety texture like no other frosting can… under the right circumstances, that is.
Meringue buttercreams are intimidating to many cakemakers. Take a look into the Cake Central forums and you’ll see read horror stories of mixers full of a curdled mess. But do not be discouraged! With the right tools, ingredients and troubleshooting methods you’ll fall in love with meringue buttercream too.
What is meringue buttercream? A meringue buttercream is an emulsion of fat and liquid. (For more on buttercream emulsion, check out “Science of Baking” in Volume 4, Issue 1 of Cake Central Magazine.) I’ll leave the technical stuff to the scientists. All you need to know for now is that water and oil don’t mix unless you force them together, as in a delicious vanilla Italian meringue buttercream.
Why does buttercream break? The first potential issue is inconsistent temperature. Both your egg/sugar mixture and your butter must be at the same temperature, and I have found that just slightly warmer than room temperature works best for me. Another issue might be excess liquid. Unwanted liquid can result either from failing to cook your sugar syrup to 238° F (for Italian meringue) or from the addition of fruit or other moist flavorings.
How do you know your buttercream is “broken”? Trust me, you’ll know. If your buttercream breaks, the fat and liquid won’t emulsify, and you’ll be left with a bowl of fat globules that look like cottage cheese with soupy liquid in the bottom. Did I paint a picture of how gross this is? It’s gross. But don’t despair. It can be fixed!
The best cure is prevention. The best plan is to avoid a broken buttercream in the first place. You can do this by using a trusted and tested recipe and following the directions meticulously. This means reading through the recipe from start to finish before you even crack the first egg. Be sure to cook your syrup to 238° F, and add fruit and flavorings a little at a time. Avoid adding a lot of moisture, such as fruit juice. Instead, use extracts, oils or compounds.
The Fix. Broken buttercream happens to the best of us, even when you’ve made the same buttercream 1000 times. Here’s how to get yourself back on track:
Step 1: Try mixing it a little longer and see if it comes together on its own.
Step 2: If it doesn’t come together with additional mixing, scoop out a cup of curdled mixture and microwave 5 to 10 seconds, until melted but not hot.
Step 3: Pour melted buttercream into the mixer while on medium speed and whip until combined. This works everytime.
Alternatively, for those braver souls, you can whip on medium speed with a torch against the side of the bowl, until the outside edge of your buttercream is slightly melted. Then whip until combined.
Don’t give up. I can’t overstate the benefits of using a meringue buttercream, and I encourage you to give it a try. Check out these helpful resources to get started:
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe – SMBC
How to Ice & Smooth a Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
