This Fluffy White Frosting is a soft, pillowy marshmallow-esque frosting that can be spread onto cakes, mounded on cheesecakes, or piped onto cupcakes!
In old cookbooks this fluffy white frosting is called “Seven Minute Frosting,” because it takes about seven minutes to cook the sugar syrup and then beat the meringue with a hand mixer. You can still make this recipe based on time but it is risky when you start making larger or smaller batches. I prefer to use a thermometer as you would when making Italian Meringue Buttercream.
You can use this frosting anywhere you might use my Marshmallow Frosting! The only difference is the fluff frosting is a Swiss Meringue and is less stable than this one. I tested this Fluffy White Frosting for a month in the refrigerator and also in the freezer, and it NEVER started to separate!
Consider my mind blown.
Reasons Why Fluffy White Frosting Is the BEST
In culinary school we made 5 different types of buttercream, but Italian Meringue Buttercream is my favorite, which is what makes this fluffy white frosting! It has a lighter texture and taste than Swiss Meringue and German; it doesn’t taste like pure butter like French Buttercream; and it isn’t saccharine, tooth-achingly sweet like an American Buttercream. I actually think IMB is easier than Swiss Meringue Buttercream. That's right, I said it! {All you Swiss Meringue lovers, let's have a heart-to-heart.}
I love this fluffy white frosting because it is light and airy but simultaneously rich and creamy. It is also magically stable and will keep for months in the freezer! So stable, in fact, if you think you totally messed it up, take heart, it’s probably totally fixable!
So let’s not pretend like what I did with this fluffy frosting is a surprise. Mmmkay?
Y’all know me by now.
I made cupcakes. #obvi
Fluffy White Frosting - Italian Meringue Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup Water
- 3 Egg whites
- ⅛ teaspoon Cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small sauce pot, stir together sugar and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, brushing down the sides of the pot with a clean pastry brush dipped in water. (You can also use a paper towel that has been folded several times.)
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks. Try to time the whites arriving at stiff peaks to the sugar syrup reaching soft ball stage (238-240°F). You can always turn the mixer down if the syrup needs a minute to catch up.
- You can also test the syrup using the traditional soft ball sugar method where you drop a bit into a bowl of ice water and when the sugar forms a soft, pliable ball, it is perfect!
- With the mixer on high, slowly pour the syrup into the whipping whites, trying pour in one line down the side of the bowl and avoiding hitting the whisk at all costs! No hot, sugar syrup flying at your face, please!
- Continue to beat until the meringue is stiff, shiny and cooled, about 7 minutes!
Notes
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