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Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Shanna
Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream Makes enough to frost an 8” layer cake or 2-3 dozen cupcakes (Approx 8 cups)
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Ingredients
  

  • 6 egg whites from large eggs
  • 1 ½ c sugar granulated, not raw or superfine
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 ½ lb butter 6 sticks thawed slightly, cut into tablespoon sized pieces
  • 3 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or 2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • Set a pan with about 1 ½ of water over medium high heat on a stove. Bring to a simmer
  • In a stand mixer bowl whisk together the egg whites, sugar and salt. Set over the pan of simmering water and whisk for 5 minutes until the mixture is hot and foamy, approx 185 deg F.
  • Immediately place the bowl on the stand mixer and snap into place. Using the whisk attachment slowly raise the speed to high. Whip for about 7 minutes or until the bottom of the bowl is not hot to the touch, but cooled to warm room temperature.
  • Lower the speed slightly and add in the butter one tablespoon at a time, allowing a few rotations of the whisk blade to go around before adding in the next. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed. Once all the butter is added, whisk on high for 2 minutes and the buttercream will thicken up. Add in the vanilla bean paste (or extract) and whisk again on high for one more minute. Remove the bowl and scrape the buttercream off the whisk. Stir the buttercream with a spatula to remove any big air bubbles. If using same day, leave at room temperature. If using at a later date, transfer to an airtight container. Let sit out at room temperature to thaw and then whip with either a hand mixer or stand mixer to get it light and fluffy again before using.

Notes

This is my go-to frosting. Its really a lot easier than it seems. My ratio is 1 egg white : ¼ cup sugar : 8 tablespoons butter. It's a lightly sweetened buttery frosting that smooths out perfectly on cakes and pipes beautifully on cupcakes. Any flavor variation is possible. This is just my base recipe making it extra vanillaey with the vanilla bean paste. You can use vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds scraped from 1-2 vanilla beans if you don’t have paste. Or just just vanilla extract.