Italian Meringue Buttercream

Learn how to make Italian buttercream! This Italian meringue buttercream tutorial will teach you how to make the silkiest buttercream for cakes and cupcakes.

This frosting is perfect for sweet cakes or cupcakes since the taste of this frosting is buttery not overly sweet like you would find an American Buttercream. The flavor of Italian meringue buttercream is so buttery and creamy.

This is very similar to Swiss meringue buttercream, I based this recipe for IMB off of my SMB recipe.  Because of the egg whites, this frosting is very sturdy and great for layer cakes. If you are overly concerned about the egg whites you should use my Swiss meringue recipe as the egg whites are fully cooked in that recipe.

Ingredients

You'll need:

• Water. The water will cook with the sugar.
• Granulated Sugar. Make sure you measure your sugar correctly!
• Large Egg Whites. Make sure no trace of egg yolk is in the mixture as that will ruin the meringue.
• Unsalted Butter. Your butter needs to be softened to room temperature then cut into chunks. I cut my butter in half lengthwise then cut 5-6 pieces width to end up with about 10-12 pieces per stick of butter.
• Vanilla Bean Paste. You can totally use pure vanilla extract, I just prefer the look of the vanilla bean flecks throughout the frosting. Also, feel free to adjust to your preference, you may want a little more or a little less vanilla flavor!

Some people add a pinch of cream of tarter or splash of white vinegar or lemon juice as an acid when the meringue is first whipping with the sugar. This helps create a stronger meringue, but I have never had an issue without it.

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Instructions

Get all of your ingredients laid out and prepped and read the recipe once over, timing is important so you want to be ready to go.

In a medium to large pot add the water and one cup of granulated sugar. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly to help prevent sugar crystals while the sugar melts. After the sugar has almost all dissolved let it cook as you start mixing the egg whites, still stirring the water/ sugar frequently.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk beat the egg whites until foamy then slowly stream in the remaining ¾ cup of sugar. Then increase the speed and whip until stiff peaks form, ideally, the meringue will reach stiff peaks as the sugar reaches 238-240F.  

 I use my Thermapen but a candy thermometer would work too!

Once the meringue has gone past the soft peaks stage into the stiff peaks (the meringue will stand up tall without flopping over) and the sugar has cooked slowly stream it into the meringue with the mixer on LOW you don't want the syrup to splash back at you. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. Once the sugar syrup has been combined increase to medium-high speed and mix for 5-8 minutes until the mixture has cooled, it will look glossy.

If the mixture is still warm to the touch let the mixture sit and cool for 5 minutes or take a bag of frozen peas to place around the bowl to help it cool faster.

Next, add the butter chunks one at a time, I kind of smoosh them in my hand as I am adding them all, the mixture may look curdled and you’ll think you’ve ruined it, keep mixing and it will become a lush smooth texture. If the butter looks like is separating and looks greasy- it could be because it's too warm so place the bowl in the fridge for 10-15 minutes then start mixing again.

Once you have a smooth buttercream add the vanilla bean paste and mix again until fully incorporated. Make sure to scrape the side of the bowl so the vanilla is evenly combined.

Store frosting at room temperature for up to a day. You can store the frosting in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to a month. If frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight then place on the counter for 1-3 hours to come to room temperature and remix until you have a beautiful smooth frosting again.

I hope you love this Italian buttercream frosting.

How to freeze

Italian meringue buttercream is a great frosting to freeze and use at a later date. Once the frosting is made you can use it for up to 1 day at room temperature, unless you live in a very hot climate, then you should store it in a cool place or the fridge. 

You can store the IMB in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or you can store it in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to a month. Thaw the frosting in the fridge overnight then thaw on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours. Once the frosting has come back to room temperature rewhip it again to regenerate the silky smooth texture!

How to fix

Sometimes meringue-based butter-creams can split or break. They will look really bad, you can end up with the egg whites liquid separated from the butter solids, you'll think there is no going back but indeed there is. This is one of the beauties of Italian and Swiss meringue butter-creams.

If your frosting has split like in the photo below chances are the butter is just a bit too cold and so you need to warm a little bit up. If you are using a metal mixing bowl as I do then you can place the bowl over the burner for 15-30 seconds and try whipping, you may need to do this a couple of times depending on how cold/ the temperature of your buttercream. You could also take a scoop of the frosting out and microwave it ever so quickly, think 10 seconds, then add it back to the frosting to help bring the temperature of the whole mixture up.

If your frosting mixture is too warm and soupy then you need to chill it for a little bit. You want to find that perfect temperature that allows the meringue and butter to emulsify.

This is a picture of my Italian meringue buttercream that had been in the fridge for two days, I tried to mix it up again but it curdled, it actually got worse than this photo shows. The liquid had separated and it looked like a goner. But I warmed my bowl up a little to heat the temperature of the frosting then whipped again and voila!

More frosting recipes

For another, not super sweet recipe try my whipped cream cheese frosting.

If you love chocolate then you've gotta try my chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream recipe.

Peanut Butter Frosting is my sister's favorite, sweet and salty lovers will be so happy with this!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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