For a stable and silky smooth buttercream that pipes like a dream, you need to try this Italian meringue buttercream recipe (IMBC). It’s deliciously rich from the butter but still light and airy from the meringue. It’s not too sweet, and you can flavor it in so many ways!
While the sugar syrup may seem intimidating, this IMBC recipe is worth making. It’s such a smooth and creamy frosting that will melt in your mouth. It’s super versatile and is perfect for frosting cakes, cupcakes, piping roses, and other decorations.
Did you know Italian meringue (same recipe without the butter) is incredible on tarts and baked Alaska! So, if you can make Italian meringue, you’re only a step away from this delicious buttercream!
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Eggs — I highly recommend using fresh eggs instead of carton egg whites for this buttercream recipe, as it whips up much better. Save your egg yolks for another recipe, such as my easy lemon curd recipe!
Sugar — make sure you use regular granulated sugar for the sugar syrup. It also has to reach 240F to ensure that the sugar is stable enough to be whipped into the meringue buttercream.
Butter — Make sure to buy unsalted butter, not salted. The butter must be at room temperature as you’ll end up with lumps of butter that you cannot whip out if the butter is cold.
Cream of tartar — Cream of tartar helps stiffen the egg whites and gives the egg whites more volume as it whips up. If you do not have any, you can try to substitute an equal amount of white vinegar or lemon juice. However, if you would like to omit it entirely, I’ve done so, and it’s turned out fine as the sugar syrup helps stabilize the Italian buttercream as well.
How to Make Italian Buttercream
1. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
2. Beat the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, then slowly add in ⅓ cup of sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
3. While the eggs are getting whipped, add the remaining sugar and ⅓ cup of water into a medium pot over medium-low heat. Stir until sugar melts and becomes clear and maintain at medium-high heat until temperature reads 235-240F.
4. Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately. At this point, the meringue should be at the soft peak stage.
5. Run the mixer until the meringue is cool.
6. Switch to a paddle attachment and add room temperature butter into the running mixer one tablespoon piece at a time. Add the salt and vanilla if using and beat until butter is combined and the mixture has reached a silky consistency.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Eggs are easier to separate when cold, but egg whites whip up easier when closer to room temperature. I recommend separating them in advance if you have the time. In addition, allowing the egg whites to sit gives them a chance to relax, which improves their elasticity during the whipping process.
- It is essential to have a clean and dry bowl for whipping the egg whites. The egg whites cannot contain any egg yolk whatsoever. If the bowl is not completely clean or yolk-free, it prevents your meringue from setting up.
- If your equipment or bowl has grease on it, wipe down everything with lemon juice or vinegar.
- Monitor the temperature of your sugar syrup closely, you don’t want it to get too hot.
- Make sure you are using a medium pot as the sugar mixture will bubble as it heats up and will overflow out of a small pot.
- If you loved how my IMBC looked in my brown butter orchid cake, check out my how to decorate a cake post for lots of helpful tips and a full how-to video on decorating!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should my buttercream look?
After adding the 240F sugar syrup to the mixture, your meringue will look very silky, white, feel marshmallowy, and not warm when you touch it. As soon as you add the room temperature butter into the mixer, the consistency of the buttercream will change, and it will deflate a bit. Don’t worry, that’s fine! Just keep adding all of the butter in and whip. If it’s still soupy, you can pop it in the fridge or freezer to cool down for 10 minutes, then keep whipping, and it should be fine!
How does this taste?
Italian buttercream is less sweet but more buttery compared to American buttercream frosting! You can always add more sugar syrup to your meringue to sweeten it a bit further.
What flavoring agents can I add?
I love flavoring my buttercreams with a high-quality vanilla extract, but don’t feel limited to vanilla. Orange blossom water, rose water, fruit reductions (make sure they’re strained and cooled before adding), other extracts, and chocolate (melted and cooled) make for great flavoring agents. When adding flavorings to this Italian buttercream recipe, I suggest doing this as the very last step.
Can I make this Italian buttercream without a candy thermometer?
While it’s much easier to use a thermometer when making Italian meringue, you can make it without a thermometer. You can use a glass of cold water to check if your sugar’s temperature is hot enough. This is called a soft ball test.
When the sugar is approaching the softball stage, you’ll notice the bubbles start getting bigger and bubbling more slowly. Use a spoon to drop some of the hot sugar into the glass of cold water. If the sugar dissolves, the mixture is not hot enough. If the sugar forms a hard ball in the water, the mixture is too hot. If the sugar forms a soft ball that feels like sap in your fingers, it’s ready to be added to the buttercream!
What’s the difference between buttercream and Italian meringue buttercream?
Italian buttercream is meringue-based and very light, creamy, and less sweet than American buttercream. American buttercream is sweeter but has the advantage of being quick, easy to make, and sturdy.
Can I make this ahead of time?
You can! This Italian buttercream lasts a week in the fridge. You can even freeze it for up to 2 months. Due to the butter in the buttercream, you will need to bring it to room temperature and re-whip it before using it.
How do I add color to Italian buttercream?
If you just add food coloring to meringue-based buttercream, the color will not be as vibrant. A little trick I picked up is taking a tablespoon of the buttercream and microwaving it in a little bowl with a drop or two of food coloring for 8 seconds. Then, mix this colored buttercream into the rest of the buttercream. The color will be much more saturated than adding the food coloring directly into the buttercream. I usually use gel food colorings to color my buttercream; they are more concentrated than the liquid ones you get at the supermarket.
What are the three types of buttercream?
The three most common types of buttercream are Italian meringue buttercream, Swiss meringue buttercream and American buttercream. French buttercream, which uses egg yolks for a custard-like frosting, and German buttercream are also delicious options I would urge you to try out.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
How to Make Italian Buttercream
Video
Equipment
- Mixer
- Medium pot
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites large, room temperature
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar (267g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt optional
- 16 ounces unsalted butter (454g) room temperature cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract optional (4.9mL)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (0.84g)
- ⅓ cup water (79mL)
Instructions
- Beat the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar, slowly add in ⅓ cup of sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
- While the eggs are getting whipped add the remaining sugar and ⅓ cup of water into a medium pot and place on medium-low heat.
- Stir until sugar melts and becomes clear.
- Maintain at medium-high heat until temperature reads 235-240F.
- Drizzle the sugar into the mixer immediately. At this point the meringue should be at the soft peak stage.
- Run mixer until meringue is cool/tepid.
- Switch to a paddle attachment. Add room temperature butter into running mixer one tablespoon piece at a time.
- Add the salt and vanilla if using.
- Beat until butter is combined and mixture has reached a silky consistency.
Notes
- Eggs are easier to separate when cold, but egg whites whip up easier when closer to room temperature. I recommend separating them in advance if you have the time. In addition, allowing the egg whites to sit gives them a chance to relax, which improves their elasticity during the whipping process.
- It is essential to have a clean and dry bowl for whipping the egg whites. The egg whites cannot contain any egg yolk whatsoever. If the bowl is not completely clean or yolk-free, it prevents your meringue from setting up.
- If your equipment or bowl has grease on it, wipe down everything with lemon juice or vinegar.
- Monitor the temperature of your sugar syrup closely, you don’t want it to get too hot.
- Make sure you are using a medium pot as the sugar mixture will bubble as it heats up and will overflow out of a small pot.
- If you loved how my IMBC looked in my brown butter orchid cake, check out my how to decorate a cake post for lots of helpful tips and a full how-to video on decorating!
Tom says
Awesome recipe. Followed your written instructions and the frosting was perfect. Just made 1/2 load which was plenty for the cupcake recipe, which was also awesome. Made these for my wife just because. She loved them.
Side note, I’m an amateur ice cream/frozen custard/frozen yogurt maker and my frozen yogurt bible uses the Italian meringue as the the sugar base which gets folded into the Greek yogurt Which is the final base then you go nuts with flavorings/add ins. Seems the Italian meringue has a number of uses.
Something this good shouldn’t be this easy to make.
I’ll be trying some of your other recipes.
Thank you again
jkanell says
I’m so happy you liked it and I might need to try that frozen yogurt!
Cristina says
I made it tonight and added caramel for flavor. It is exquisite! Like you ‘I’m in love!’ I was scared something will go wrong but it helped that Inplayed your video while I was making it. Thank you! Looking forward to try some more of your recipes!
John K. says
Hey Cristina,
I’m glad the the video helped! It sounds like the buttercream turned out great. I’m sure it was so delicious!
What will you bake next??
Best,
John
Minda De Castro says
Hi, thanks for shsring your Italian buttercream. And I find all your videos amazing. I only have one question, is it also good and stable to make roses? Thank you so much, John!!! God bless you more.
John K. says
Hi minda,
Yes, you can pipe roses with this Italian buttercream. 🙂
Best,
John
Annette Dixon says
Thank you John for this recipe. It is fabulous! It’s everything you said it would be.
John K. says
Hello Annette,
It always makes me so happy when someone thinks Italian buttercream is as fabulous as I think it is; and for that, it is my pleasure!
Best,
John
Annette Dixon says
John can you share your go to recipe for yellow cake layers. I’m looking for one that makes moist not dense layers. The recipe I currently use is the Swans Down 1-2-3-4 layers. It’s touch and go. Sometimes the layers are super moist and have a great texture that’s not crumbly. Can you help? I make a red velvet that is consistently moist. It might be my timing. I realized when the middle of those layers were sinking I wasn’t keeping them in the oven long enough. I’ll take recipes and suggestions. Thank you!
Marily AH says
you are simply great! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks
John K. says
Hello Marily,
You are very kind! Sharing all of the recipes is my pleasure.
What have you made that you enjoyed the most??
Best,
John
Zoe says
Thank you for this! It is definitely my new favorite frosting! Quick question — I noticed in another recipe with Italian buttercream you used 5 egg whites and only 4 in this recipe. What difference will that make in the end product? Is one sturdier for piping than the other? Many many thanks!
jkanell says
I think the 4 egg whites might be stiffer but 5 is a bit lighter.
Mark says
Help!
I’m sure my technique is wrong..when I add the butter…it turn liquidy…like moist cottage cheese!
I repeated making sure the meringue was cool and the butter just at room temp. The eggs whites soft peak before the sugar syrup added in steady stream.
I using an instant read thermometer yyo bring the sugar syrup up to 240 degrees.
Also…I’m using a rather large kitchen aid stand mixer…is it too big?
Help!
jkanell says
I’ve never had a clumping up like that. The standard problem is it becoming liquidy, which you can fix with a short trip to the fridge. I wonder if the whole thing was too cool and the butter had trouble mixing in?
Mark says
The temp of my house is about 64…the butter was too cold…should the butter be softish, but not l iquidy?
If too warm…then pop it in the fridge for a bit?
Kristina says
Hei John!
I’m making a three layered cake for my sons birthday, and I want to cover the cake with this amazing looking buttercream. Will the receipe be enough to cover a 30-40 cm high cake?
Greetings from Norway
jkanell says
Hi Kristina! It should be enough for 3 six inch layers. Not sure what pan size you are using. Hope that helps!
Kristina says
I used pan size 22 cm, and it was more than enough ☺️ However, the taste was a bit more buttery than what I’m used to (nonetheless amazing to decorate with). I see you’ve mentioned to add more sugar sirup if that is the case. What is the ratio for supplementing water with the sugar? Can I just add more sugar and maintain the water measure of 79ml or should I add more water as well?
Thank you for taking the time to answer me, and thanks for sharing your recepies ?
Kristina says
?
I’m BTW raring this receioe with 5 stats ?
Kona0105 says
Goodness John! Your recipe is so easy to make. I’ve picked up baking as a hobby recently and tried two other buttercream frosting but yours is simply the best! I will try the cheap butter to get a whiter frosting ☺️
John K. says
Hi Kona,
Thank you so much! I LOVE Italian buttercream, I’m glad you got a chance to try it!
The cheaper butter really helps keep the buttercream as white as possible.
Best,
John
Kona0105 says
Can I whip the butter separately to a more whitish Color before adding it to the meringue? Ever tried that?
Megan says
Would you suggest a triple batch of this frosting for a 3 layer, 10in cake? It feels like a crazy amount of butter so I want to check before buying so much. Thank you in advance!
jkanell says
I would yes! You might have some left over but it depends on the decoration scheme you have in mind.