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Italian Meringue Buttercream is silky, smooth, and airy. Use it to frost smooth, professional looking cakes or pipe on cupcakes! It is also a lot easier than it seems! I am here to give you all the professional techniques and troubleshooting tips to set you up for success!
I love Italian Meringue Buttercream 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! I will give you all the troubleshooting advice below.
It is perfect for building professional layer cakes like I did in this layer cake assembly tutorial using this devil’s food cake or piping on cupcakes like these lemon coconut cupcakes.
Table of Contents
- Why you will love this Italian Meringue Buttercream:
- What is Italian Meringue Buttercream?
- How is Italian Meringue Buttercream different than other types?
- Professional Tips for Success:
- Ingredients Needed
- How do you flavor Italian Meringue Buttercream?
- How do you color Italian Meringue Buttercream?
- How to Make Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
- How to refresh refrigerated Italian Meringue Buttercream?
- How to fix Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Storage
- Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe
- Before You Go
Why you will love this Italian Meringue Buttercream:
- It is less sweet than American buttercream. If you don’t love the sweetness of frostings then you will love IMB. It is creamy and just the right amount of sweet.
- Versatile base: This of this recipe as your white canvas ready for your masterpiece! Add melted chocolate, salted caramel sauce, lemon curd, Nutella and anything else you can think of!
- Stability: Italian meringue buttercream is the most stable of the meringue buttercreams. It holds up to heat better than Swiss meringue, but it will still melt over 70 degrees F.
- Professionally tested: This is the buttercream that I used in my former life as an Executive Pastry Chef and currently use for custom cake orders. I have made it close to a thousand times. You can trust that it is going to work.
What is Italian Meringue Buttercream?
Italian meringue buttercream (IMB) seems complicated at first; it’s definitely the most sophisticated of its peers. Simply put, it is made by whipping egg whites to stiff peaks while simultaneously cooking sugar to the soft ball stage; you then slowly pour the sugar into the whipping egg whites; and, finally, add butter.
How is Italian Meringue Buttercream different than other types?
Italian Meringue Buttercream is made using an Italian meringue as the buttercream base as the name suggests. It has a lighter texture and taste than Swiss Meringue Buttercream and German; it doesn’t taste like pure butter like French Buttercream; and it isn’t as sweet as American Buttercream.
Professional Tips for Success:
- Go at your own speed. There is no rule that you have to whip the egg whites on high while you cook your sugar, so if they have reached stiff peaks and your sugar syrup is stubbornly stuck at 220˚F (been there), just turn down the mixer to low. Don’t stop that mixer! I didn’t say that! I said LOW.
- Pour your sugar in with the mixer on HIGH. Do you want scrambled eggs on your cupcakes? I didn’t think so. Turn that mixer up!
- Pour the sugar down the side of the bowl. Don’t hit the whisk because 235˚F syrup in the face is unpleasant. Don’t be that person. You will know if you did it right because there will be one little lava trail of cooled sugar down one side of the bowl.
- This sounds obvious but I’m going to say it anyways: cook your sugar to 235˚F. Soft ball syrup is a range. But, if you shoot for 235˚F, then by the time you get from the stove to the mixer, if the syrup has inched up a few degrees, no love has been lost. You will know if you overcook your sugar because there will be a pool of cooked sugar in the bottom of your mixer.
- When you start adding your butter, you want it to be soft but still a little cool. If it’s not totally soft enough, add it a little bit at a time and squeeze each piece before tossing it in. That’s right, squeeze your butter! It’s kinda fun. And kinda gross at the same time.
- If your buttercream gets soupy, switch from the paddle back to the whisk and beat it on high. All is not lost. Trust me. More tips below.
- If your buttercream breaks (looks curdled) when you start adding the butter, take heart, it will come together. Add the butter in little pieces and squeeze each one to soften it. If you have a kitchen torch you can torch the outside of the bowl with the mixer on high, but keep the torch moving! You want to warm the bowl not melt the buttercream.
Ingredients Needed
- Granulated Sugar: The granulated sugar in the meringue is here for stability as well as sweetness. The more sugar in the meringue, the more stable and the less volume.
- Water: Unlike when making a wet caramel the amount of water in a buttercream matters. In a caramel all the water will evaporate before caramelizing but that is not the case in an Italian meringue. Be sure to measure your water for the best results.
- Egg Whites: For the best results use separated egg whites. The stabilizers and foaming agents in liquid egg whites keep them from being as stable. They will curdle more easily when the syrup is added. Use the egg yolks to make lemon curd. Mix it into your buttercream for a fun lemon twist!
- Kosher salt: Kosher salt is optional but it will balance the sweetness slightly and also add stability to the meringue.
- Cream of tartar: Cream of tartar will also stabilize the meringue. It is optional but why not stack the deck in your favor.
- Unsalted butter: Use a good quality unsalted butter for the most stable buttercream. If you use salted butter, your buttercream will be salty! Eww.
How do you flavor Italian Meringue Buttercream?
- Lemon: You can use lemon extract (I only use Nielson Massey lemon extract), lemon paste (again only Nielson Massey lemon paste), lemon zest mixed with the sugar for the meringue, or lemon curd.
- Strawberry: Strawberry puree will break the buttercream. Use strawberry jam such as my strawberry jam without pectin, or dehydrated strawberry powder.
- Berries: For all other berries I prefer using jam.
- Peanut Butter: For this recipe as written, add ½ cup smooth peanut butter. You could also use chunky for texture, but I would add crushed salted peanuts as a garnish instead.
- Nutella: Add ½ cup Nutella or another chocolate hazelnut puree.
- Chocolate: Add 200 g (approximately 7 ounces) of melted and cooled chocolate to the finished buttercream. Use milk chocolate, semi-sweet or unsweetened to your taste.
- Vanilla: Add up to 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or 2 split and scraped vanilla bean pods. Save the pods for vanilla bean anglaise or vanilla bean pastry cream!
How do you color Italian Meringue Buttercream?
You can use gel food colorings. You could also use natural colorings like dehydrated strawberries or beet powder.
How to Make Italian Meringue Buttercream
Prepare your ingredients:
Step 1: You want to make sure that you have everything measured out and ready to go. This step is critical. In the professional kitchen it is called mis-en-place. This recipe is simple but it does require seamless execution.
Step 2: Prepare your tools. Be sure that your mixing bowl is clean and free of any residual fat, or your meringue will not whip up and there will be sadness abound. You also want to make sure that your pot is clean. Dirty residue can cause the sugar to crystallize.
Prepare the Italian meringue:
Step 3: Mix half of the sugar with the water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir just until the sugar dissolves. When the pan heats up, brush around the sides of the pot with a clean pastry brush dipped in water to dissolve any sugar crystals adhered to the sides of the pot. You can also use a paper towel that you roll up or your clean finger in a pinch.
Step 4: When the sugar syrup starts to bubble begin whipping your egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. You can add a pinch of salt and/or cream of tartar for stability if you wish. When your eggs begin to look frothy, slowly begin adding your reserved sugar, whipping constantly on medium-high.
Step 5: Continue whipping your egg whites until they form stiff peaks (photo 1 above). Ideally your meringue should reach stiff peaks at the same time that your sugar syrup reaches 235˚F.
If your egg whites are whipping too fast, reduce the mixer speed to medium or even low. You can also adjust the heat on the sugar syrup to make it cook faster or slower. Just be aware that turning the heat on the sugar syrup too low will cause it to crystallize. I know. It’s frustrating but we can do this!
Step 6: To test your syrup you can either use a candy thermometer or you can do it the old-fashioned way, which is what I did here. Take a tiny bit of the syrup on a spoon and dip it into ice water, reach in and grab the sugar. If it dissolves, it isn’t close to ready; if it forms a little malleable ball, it’s ready!! I don’t have a photo of this stage because if I had taken the time to snap a photo, my sugar would have over cooked.
Step 7: Turn your mixer up to high and SLOWLY pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl as in photo 2 above. Be very careful not to hit the whisk. Ideally you pour it in one solid stream down the edge because it will solidify where it hits the bowl, so if you pour it in three different places, you will be losing sugar. Sadness.
If you look closely at the above photo you can see where my sugar hit the side of the bowl. One little stream. No excess sugar lost. Go ahead, take a closer look…This is what perfection looks like. ๐
Finish the buttercream:
Step 8: Keep whipping the Italian meringue on high until it forms stiff peaks like in the first photo below, but what is more important than the stiffness of the meringue is the temperature of the meringue. Before you begin adding the butter, the bottom of the bowl should feel barely warm (picture 2).
There is so much sugar in this meringue that it will not over-whip before it cools appropriately. Even though my meringue had reached stiff peaks in photo 1, I still needed to whip it another few minutes for it too cool.
Step 9: When the bowl feels just slightly warm, switch to the paddle attachment and begin adding your butter a piece at a time like in picture 3. I take my butter out of the fridge when I begin measuring my ingredients. Before adding each piece squeeze the butter. I do this to finish warming it and to make sure it is the right temperature. It isn’t necessary. In full disclosure, I stopped doing this years ago as my comfort level grew.
Step 10: Continue to beat the butter in on medium-high until the buttercream is smooth and there are no remaining pieces of butter. The buttercream in photo 1 above is still a bit lumpy. Not there yet!!! Photo 2 is smooth and creamy. At this stage I switch back to the whisk, add any desired flavorings and beat it until it is light and fluffy. You are now ready to frost!
Step 11: Add any flavorings such as extracts, lemon curd, salted caramel sauce, melted chocolate, jam or nut pastes.
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
The biggest take-away here is that you are in control! You control the heat of your sugar and how quickly it cooks; you control the speed at which your egg whites whip; and you control the temperature delta of your butter and meringue. If one is getting away from you, adjust and keep going!
How to refresh refrigerated Italian Meringue Buttercream?
- To refresh refrigerated buttercream: Throw it in the mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until smooth; then switch to the whisk to whip it up until light and fluffy.
- To refresh frozen buttercream: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, let warm slightly at room temperature and then proceed with the refreshing refrigerated buttercream instructions above.
- Speed it up! You can speed up the refreshing process by warming the bowl over a gas stovetop flame or with the kitchen torch. Just be careful because you don’t want to melt your buttercream.
How to fix Italian Meringue Buttercream
It will look curdled if it is too cold. This is most common when trying to refresh or rewhip cold buttercream. The easiest way to fix it is to gently heat the bowl with a kitchen torch while beating it with the paddle attachment. Keep the torch moving so you don’t melt the butter. You can also just let it mix on medium-low speed with the paddle attachment until it warms itself up enough and comes together.
It is soupy if it is too warm. The meringue was too warm for the temperature of the butter that you added. You can add slightly cold butter to warm meringue but adding perfectly room temperature butter to warm meringue will lead to soup. To fix the soupy buttercream, place the bowl, buttercream and mixer attachment in the refrigerator. Chill 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on how warm it is. Continue to mix on medium speed until it comes together. As a last resort when you have tried everything else, just keep mixing it on medium with the paddle attachment. Go do something else and come back. Sometimes, just sometimes, all she needed was time to get herself together. And I think we can all feel that.
Sadly the butter was too cold when it was added to the buttercream. You can try to fix this by gently warming the entire bowl with a kitchen torch while beating the buttercream with the paddle attachment. Most likely in order to get rid of the lumps you will have to make the whole buttercream too warm to use. Pop it in the refrigerator and then beat it again with the paddle attachment once cool. Alternatively, you could just use it with some butter pieces because continuing to heat it you run the risk of melting all your butter and ruining your buttercream. Cover the cake in sprinkles and no one will notice. And that is my professional opinion.
Unfortunately this is the one mistake that you cannot come back from. If you start adding the butter and you see it melt in the meringue, stop adding butter. Keep beating and allow the meringue to cool before continuing to add more butter. A little melted butter is okay; all the butter melted is ruined.
Storage
Store Italian Meringue Buttercream at room temperature for 2-3 days or refrigerated for 2 weeks. It can also be frozen for 3 months. Before using, mix cold buttercream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium until it comes together. It will look curdled first. Don’t stress, just keep mixing!
If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Italian Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar divided
- ⅔ cup water
- 5 large egg whites
- pinch kosher salt optional
- pinch cream of tartar optional
- 2 cups unsalted butter cubed, cool but not cold
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- You want to make sure that you have everything measured out and ready to go. This recipe is simple but it does require seamless execution. You also want to make sure that your mixing bowl is clean and free of any residual fat, or your meringue will not whip up and there will be sadness abound.
- Mix half of the sugar with the water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir just until the sugar dissolves. When the pan heats up, brush around the sides of the pot with a clean pastry brush dipped in water to dissolve any sugar crystals adhered to the sides of the pot. You can also use a paper towel that you roll up (I did because I forgot my brush at school.)
- When your sugar starts to bubble begin whipping your egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. You can add a pinch of salt and/or cream of tartar for stability if you wish. I only used salt in the photos you see. When your eggs begin to look frothy, slowly begin adding your reserved sugar, whipping constantly on medium-high.
- Continue whipping your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Ideally your meringue should reach stiff peaks at the same time that your sugar syrup reaches 235˚F. If your egg whites are whipping too fast, reduce the mixer speed to medium. You can also adjust the heat on the sugar syrup to make it cook faster or slower.
- To test your syrup you can either use a candy thermometer or you can do it the old-fashioned way, which is what I did here. Take a tiny bit of the syrup on a spoon and dip it into ice water, reach in and grab the sugar. If it dissolves, it isn’t close to ready; if it forms a little malleable ball, it’s ready!
- Turn your mixer up to high and SLOWLY pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl. Be very careful not to hit the whisk. Ideally you should pour it in one solid stream down the edge because it will solidify where it hits the bowl, so if you pour it in three different places, you will be losing sugar. Sadness.
- Keep whipping the Italian meringue on high until it forms stiff, but what is more important than the stiffness of the meringue is the temperature of the meringue. Before you begin adding the butter, the bottom of the bowl should feel barely warm.
- When the bowl feels just slightly warm, switch to the paddle attachment and begin adding your butter a piece at a time. I take my butter out of the fridge when I begin measuring my ingredients. Before adding each piece squeeze the butter.
- Continue to beat the butter in on medium-high until the buttercream is smooth and there are no remaining pieces of butter. Add the vanilla extract or other flavorings. At this stage I switch back to the whisk and beat it until it is light and fluffy. Pipe or spread as desired!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed cake frosting recipes, or bake up my moist vanilla cake recipe to pair with them!
Came out perfect! Saw that you suggested adding a half cup of peanut butter as a flavoring, so I used half a cup of cream cheese since they’re similar in composition. The cream cheese flavor was light but present and the texture of the frosting is lovely. My only suggestion would be to specify in the ingredients list that the sugar is divided. It’s stated in the instructions so no big deal. But I did end up making a bonus batch of simple syrup after I poured water on all the sugar instead of just half.
Hi Allison! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed and thanks for leaving a comment! Happy frosting!
Following the suggestions it was easy to make!! Love it and now trying my own versions.
Hi Dalia! That’s wonderful to hear! Happy frosting!
i followed your recipe step by step until the end. The buttercream was a success and sweetness was just right. then I realised that i didnt used the other half of the sugar๐คฃ. still turned out well
Hi Latifah! I’m so happy it still worked for you and was a success! Happy frosting!
I have been reading your previous comments and stumbled upon one regarding piping flowers with rough edges. You mentioned that Italian meringue buttercream is not ideal for making flowers, despite its stability. I am considering switching from Swiss meringue to Italian meringue buttercream because my business makes floral cupcakes, and many customers prefer a sweeter buttercream without the buttery taste of Swiss meringue. I am choosing Italian meringue because it is sweeter and stable, but not as sweet as American buttercream. What do you mean it is not ideal for intricate designs?
Hi Francesca! I’m all about this! You’re absolutely right that IMB hits that sweet spot between stability and balanced sweetness. As I mentioned in a previous comment, Italian meringue isnโt ideal for piping layers of flowers. You can, and I have, but you have to pay attention to the temperature of the buttercream way more closely than American.
The main reason it’s not ideal for intricate flower work (like multi-layered florals) is that itโs very temperature-sensitive. Too cold, and it can tear or not pipe smoothly; too warm, and your lower petals may sag โ especially when piping roses or detailed blooms directly onto cupcakes. Youโll also need to be cautious about how much and what type of coloring you use since food coloring that you add will impact its stability.
If youโre set on switching to IMB for the flavor, you can make it work by:
-Keeping it at just the right temp โ soft but not melty
-Piping your florals in stages, chilling between layers
-Testing food colorings for stability
That said, if florals are a big part of your business, you might want to try Ermine frosting too, it is more stable than meringue-based buttercreams but lighter than American.
Let me know how it goes and happy frosting! ๐ธ
Hi there! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
“Yield โ This makes enough buttercream to frost a 2-3 tiered cake or 24 cupcakes.” This is slightly helpful, but it would be more helpful to understand how much you’re left with in volume, so I know how much to scale up or down. I’m making a 12″ square cake and only need filling and a crumb coat.
Hi Elyse! In practice, this recipe makes about 5 to 5ยฝ cups of buttercream. For a 12″ square cake with just filling and a crumb coat, youโll likely only need a little more than a half of a batch โ depending on how thick you want your crumb coat. I hope this helps with scaling, and I’d love to hear about your cake! Happy frosting!
I am taking a class where I am learning to pipe roses. We are using an American Buttercream recipe which is mixed on the “stir” speed of the mixer so that it has minimal bubbles in it. There are several people in the class who get very smooth edges on their rose petals and some like me who do not. I know some of it is skill-based, but according to my teacher, my roses look great except for the tattered edges. We have checked my piping tip (Ateco 124K) and it does not have anything in it that is impeding the flow of buttercream, and the opening of it is correct. I really want smooth edges on my roses. Will roses piped with Italian Meringue Buttercream have smooth edges on the petals? Also, is it sturdy enough so that the lower petals won’t sag? Thank you.
Hi Rachel! What a wonderful class! I don’t know about you but the lowest setting on my 5 quart kitchen aid is waaaaay faster than a stir and it also incorporates more air than would be ideal for piping roses. I am assuming you are using the paddle attachment. You could also try taking out the bubbles by hand with a silicone spatula and stirring slower than your machine. All that being said, Italian meringue isn’t ideal for piping layers of flowers. You can, and I have, but you have to pay attention to the temperature of the buttercream way more closely than American. Also the amount of food coloring (and type) that you add will impact it’s stability. I wanted to pipe bright red roses and I had to use so much gel that I could barely get 2 layers of petals piping directly on a cake. Powdered would be the best option. You can also pipe the layers of petals and then freeze the roses between. It is going to take longer and might not be worth it. All that being said, you might want to try ermine frosting (cooked flour frosting) it is more stable than meringue based buttercreams but lighter than American. I have not piped roses with it, so I don’t actually know if it will be better. The only other thing I can think of is to check your powdered sugar and the temperature of your butter for the American buttercream. If your sugar has lumps or isn’t actually powdered that will impact it and also if your butter is too cold. It might mix and spread but “tear” when pressed through a piping tip. Good luck! Come back and let me know your findings!!! ~Lindsey
Oh! I realized that I didn’t answer one of your questions in my suuuper long response! Yes, Italian and Swiss meringue pipe beautifully and will not tear the way American buttercream does as long as they aren’t too cold. Too warm and they will look wilted and will not support the weight of the upper petal layers.
Easy to follow instructions. My bowl didn’t cool down very quickly but tastes great and looks fab
Hi Bethany! I’m so happy you love how this buttercream tastes and looks! Happy frosting!
Can I use meringue powder to make this buttercream? I’m making a cake for Christmas and I want it to be impressive, but making an icing with raw eggs makes me nervous to serve to a group. Any advice on how I can get over that feeling? ๐ Or advice on using meringue powder instead?
Hi Jenn! If you like you can use meringue powder in this royal icing or my swiss meringue! For IMB the egg whites are often a part of the deal. Since they’re heated gently to 135F that removes the harmful bacteria, but you could also use pasteurized egg whites. If I were you, I’d honestly use the IMB for the stability! Happy frosting!
Thank you so much for this information! Very good to know about the heating. After posting, I tried someone else’s different IMB recipe yesterday that used meringue powder and it turned out pretty gross. Very curdled and wet/greasy. So I will try your recipe with the egg whites. Thank you again for this information and the confidence boost! ๐
Hey Jenn
I use a dash of meringue powder in mine it helps to stabilize the eggs whites and bring them to stiff peaks.
Amazing! Thanks for commenting and happy frosting!