For those who read my blog regularly, you would have noticed that I almost always use Swiss Meringue Butterream (SMBC) to frost my cakes and cupcakes. It is the buttercream I prefer for it is easy to pipe and it holds up really well in the hot and humid weather of Singapore.
The first time I made a SMBC, I was super nervous.
No matter how many times I read the recipe, I was still worried that I may get it wrong. Although by now I have made so many pots of buttercream that I can probably make it in my sleep, I still remember how nerve-racking the process can be.
So I made a Red Velvet cake about a week ago and a traditional American cream cheese frosting to go with it. While the frosting was pretty good, it was impossible to frost it the way I like because cream cheese frosting does not behave very well.
So I was pretty determined that I was going to squeeze in some time this week to make a SMBC version. I had already bookmarked a recipe to try (after having read god knows how many recipes) and I was pretty confident that this would work.
As with a regular SMBC, I started by cutting the butter into cubes and setting it aside.
My kitchen is pretty warm, so I find that cutting the butter just before I start making the buttercream works really well for me.
In a mixing bowl placed over a pot of simmering water, I whisked together the egg whites and sugar until the sugar had melted. If you are unsure, rub some of the meringue between your fingers and if it does not feel gritty, it is ready.
I placed this on my mixer, and using the whisk attachment, I whisked this until a stiff-peaked meringue was formed. This may take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on your mixer.
This is how the meringue should look like when it is ready.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that the meringue is no longer warm before you add the butter!!
Once the meringue was cool, I swapped the whisk for the paddle attachment and added the butter, beating all the while at medium speed.
When all the butter had been added, I up the speed, and continued beating.
The mixture may start to curdle.
It is okay. Just keep beating.
Eventually, the mixture will become smooth.
If you find that the mixture is not going anywhere even though you have been mixing and mixing, then place it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes and beat again.
If you have reached this stage, then congratulations – you have made SMBC!
So now, I placed the cream cheese into another mixing bowl, and using the paddle, I beat it until it became light and fluffy. You will need to scrape the bowl a few times with a spatula to make sure this is thoroughly whipped.
I added the SMBC to the cream cheese in a few additions, and beat on medium-low speed after each addition.
After all the SMBC had been added to the cream cheese, I continued beating on medium-high speed until the frosting was like stiffly whipped cream.
I added a pinch of salt and the vanilla extract.
That’s it! Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream to frost my Red Velvet Cake!
I much prefer this to the original frosting.
It is way easier to work with, and a lot less sweet.
It also makes a cake that is way prettier!
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup (225g) caster sugar
- 1 1/2 cup (337.5g) unsalted butter, cubed
- 12 oz (340g) softened cream cheese
- A pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
- Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water and heat the egg white-sugar mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is hot to the touch, about 160˚F (71.1˚C).
- Attach the bowl to the mixer base and beat the mixture with the whisk attachment on medium speed until foamy, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until you get a stiff-peaked meringue. If the meringue is still warmer than room temperature, reduce the speed to low and stir until completely cool.
- Meanwhile, cut the unsalted butter into cubes and let it come to room temperature while the meringue whips. The butter should be a spreadable consistency and not melty in any way.
- Add the butter, cube by cube, to the meringue, stirring on low speed. The meringue will fall and start to look curdled, but keep adding the butter and stirring and it will come together into a fluffy frosting.
- Scrape the frosting into a different bowl and set aside.
- In the mixer bowl, whip the cream cheese until very light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl several times with a spatula to make sure it is thoroughly whipped.
- One spoonful at a time, gradually add the SMBC to the whipped cream cheese, stirring on medium-low speed. Once combined, the frosting should be like softly whipped cream. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is like stiffly whipped cream. Add a dash of vanilla and a pinch of salt. You can use the frosting right away, or chill it to firm up a bit (re-whip before using).
- If you have never made a SMBC before, I would advise that you master SMBC before attempting to make the cream cheese version as it is a bit more tricky to make.
- The buttercream can be stored in air-tight containers and left at room temperature overnight, in the fridge for 3 weeks and in the freezer for up to 3 months. If chilled or frozen, thaw in the fridge and bring to room temperature before whisking the cream to buttercream consistency before using.
- Swiss Meringue buttercream can be used to frost cakes/cupcakes in advance and the cakes/cupcakes can be left in an air-conditioned room. The buttercream will hold.
- Swiss Meringue buttercreams must be eaten at room temperature.
- You can add any food coloring to the buttercream then whisk to incorporate.
- If the buttercream looks like it had curdled, just keep mixing and it will come together and become smooth.
- If the buttercream is too runny, place it in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes, then continue mixing.
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helpful step by step pictures! I did smb before, the first two times were okay and i remember the 3rd time was a failure, cldnt remember why..
Lena, it happens sometimes. This is not an easy buttercream. I think once I panicked too but after placing the bowl back into the fridge for a while and whipping again, it was alright. PHEW!
Thank you so much for this! I just tried making it yesterday and it tasted great! However, I can’t seem to get the smooth texture like yours. Mine turns out abit lumpy. This seems to be a consistent problem when I make buttercream. Wonder what might have went wrong. Could it be my hand mixer?
Andrea, yes it could well be. I won’t make this with a hand mixer – it’d take way too long!!
Thanks Diana!
i tried to mix cream cheese into IMBC before and it was a disaster. it became curdled. yours is the other way around. is it firm enough for piping?
yep for sure!!
Hi Diana! I’ve been following your blog through facebook and I think u r really talented! I’ve tried making Woodland Bakery’s SMBC before and their recipe calls for granulated sugar AND icing sugar. It worked very well and everything but it was Waaaay too sweet for me. I doctored it with lots of coffee and cocoa powder AND salt. But then, I can’t be making ONLY mocha SMBC right? So I was very happy to come across your SMBC recipes! thank you so much!
But I have a few questions which I hope can help me with:
1) your SMBC does not contain icing sugar, can I pipe rossettes etc with it? And how well does it stand in our tropical heat, for example, will it melt indoors, without air-conditioning?
2) my son asked for strawberry whipped cream cake for his birthday. Do u have a recipe for stabilised whipped cream that is able to withstand our tropical weather?
Thanks very much Diana!
Best regards,
Ellie
HI Ellie I have tried the Woodland recipe before. The thing i hate most in the kitchen is sifting icing sugar so I abandoned that recipe pretty quickly LOL.
Here are your answers:
(1) Yes you can pipe rosettes. It will not melt as long as you place in an air-conditioned room.
(2) Unfortunately, I have no whipped cream recipe that can even remotely tolerate this heat.
Hope this helps!
thanks for your prompt reply Diana! Truly appreciate it. God Bless. And my condolences to you and country for your recent loss.
Hi there may i ask how many cupcakes can we frost for this recipe? If its 12.. is there anyway i can divide the recipe by half to make only for 6 cupcakes?
Hi you can frost about 24 cupcakes. You can adjust the portions accordingly if you want to reduce the amount of buttercream.
Could you add 4 oz of chocolate to make this a chocolate cream cheese SMBC?
You can try, but I am concerned that there may be too much liquid which means the buttercream may not be as stable.
Hi can I make this a day before and chill it in the fridge? If yes, the next day do I need to whip the cream up again in order to use it for frosting?
The buttercream can be stored in air-tight containers and left at room temperature overnight, in the fridge for 3 weeks and in the freezer for up to 3 months. If chilled or frozen, thaw in the fridge and bring to room temperature before whisking the cream to buttercream consistency before using.
Hi Diana, I tried this out just now.. The buttercream was fine, until I started adding in the cream cheese.. They don’t seem to be able to be incorporated.. And there’s a yellow liquid in the mixture. I’ve tried putting it into the fridge and mixing again but it doesn’t work.. May I know if there’s anyway to salvage this?
This is a tricky buttercream to make. You can try chilling and whipping again, if that does not work I am afraid you will need to start all over again 🙁
I chilled it for about 30mins, added some more butter, and whipped it again! Took about 45 mins, but it worked..
Same thing happened to me. The SMBC was good, but I did not whisk the creamcheese long enough, so it curdled an broken. Feel like crying. *sobs*
I did try Adeline’s trick by adding more butter, it helped but still not as good as it should be, I think.
May I know how much butter you added ?
Thanks.
Hi
Can i know what size cake and with how many layers will this measurement frost and fill or just frost?
Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Mel
3 layers for 6-inch, 2 layers for 8 and 9-inches. Fill and frost!
Hello Diana!
May I check with you, once the buttercream is frosted onto the cake, how long can the cake can be kept outside?
in a cool place (air-con room) you can keep it for a whole day.
Thks for sharing this great recipe, my first attempt to make CCSMBC ( nvr make SMBC before) , your instructions and pics are very clear and I manage to get the texture and it’s a hit with my family
Kiky that is awesome! Now you have mastered CCSMBC you can make any SMBC!! 😀
This stuff is AMAZING!!! :)))
Seriously, I just made it, was my first attempt at cream cheese SMBC and I totally love it. I’m the kind of person that loves baking but is constantly cutting back on sugar everywhere (I like sweet but I hate the predominant of supersweet) and this is just perfect, it is so not your usual almost disgustingly oversweet frosting, it has a real nice balance, you can taste the sugar, the fats, the tangy edge of the cream cheese (genius!) and the flavoring (in my case maple). Thank you so much for your post, my life will never be the same again! 😉
Wow, Sigrid, I am really happy you liked the CCSMBC! I am the same – I cannot tolerate anything too sweet. I think the topping of maple syrup would have been perfect! Thanks for leaving me a comment 🙂
I’ll be making a red velvet cake covered with fondant,can i use this CCSM buttercream as outer layer before i cover my cake with fondant?
hi yes you can!
Thanks for your quick response,I’ll give you an update once I’m done with the cake.Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe
May I know how many grams are 4 egg whites?
Pls see https://www.nigella.com/ask/weight-of-an-egg-white
Hi there! Is 1 cup caster sugar also 1 cup of granulated sugar?? Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Hi Jess yes it is. 🙂
Hi hi , may i knw when beating the SMBC @ the 2nd stage which u needa change whisk to paddle . If i do not have a paddle can i cont with the whisk attachment? Will it affect the whole CCSMBC ?? Thank you
Hi You can try – in theory it should work ok but I have yet to try!
Hi, I made the SMBC for the first time and when I was whipping the cream cheese my husband (who hates buttercream) tried de SMBCand love it! I didn’t mixed the cream cheese because he was so happy with the SMBC! I used as a topping for a carrot cake that my son asked as a birthday cake! Was a success. I will try the cream cheese version soon! Thank you a lot for the recipe. Nina
Hi Nina I am really happy that you succeeded!! 😀 Thanks for trying the recipe and good luck with the cream cheese SMBC!!
Hi Diana! I have made SMBC several times and they were all ok. But i can never seem to make cream cheese SMBC! Whenever i add SMBC into the cream cheese it becomes watery. Is it because I over whip or under whip the cream cheese? I know the SMBC is ok. Appreciate your thoughts! Thanks!
CCSMBC is very tricky. Maybe you can try chilling the mixture and beat again?
Hi Diana, can I ask that this cream cheeese smbc recipe is able to frost how many cupcake?
about 24! 🙂
Hi! I would like to check, if I’ve got existing buttercream and would like to add cream cheese, do you know the proportion to it? Example 200g of buttercream to XXg of cream cheese. Thank you!
Hi Joanna I am afraid I don’t have the formula. You can try by adding a bit a time and beat until you get the consistency you want.
Hi Diana! I want to try this SMBC but I am curious if can just use the plastic container for mixing or must be the stainless one?
for mixing plastic is ok. For heating will need metal.
Sorry about asking this (somewhat!) again… I can make ahead and keep it in the fridge or freezer and then beat to buttercream consistency before use. Got that.
Do I add the cream cheese before chilling/freezing or after when whipping to consistency?
Hi I would add it before. once made you can freeze it.
Hello.
Would the frosting firm enough to pipe flowers?
Thanks!
Hi! This is a bit on the soft side so I don’t recommend piping with it.
Is it super buttery before you add the cream cheese?? I mixed mine with a hand mixer and wasn’t able to get the stiff peaks with the meringue.
What do you mean by “super buttery”? It should be a thick meringue with no sight if any butter..
Hello! I tried making this last night, the smbc was fine ( have made it before ) but when i added it the cream cheese it cuddled and broke..I tried putting it in the fridge but nothing. Can you share any other secrets I may have missed? I think the cream cheese was a bit cold when I combined them. Should it be at room temp? Also I have read that if you put too much buttercream in it, maybe it curdles and brakes too.
Hi Nafsika this is the most difficult SMBC to get right. Yes, your cream cheese should have been at room temp and you should add the SMBC slowly and once you have achieved the right consistency, stop adding any more SMBC. Good luck!