Aquafaba Swiss Buttercream Recipe - Gretchen's Vegan Bakery (2024)

FAQs

What are the disadvantages of Swiss meringue buttercream? ›

As it does with egg whites, adding a stabilizing ingredient improved the structure of whipped aquafaba. In sweet recipes, we usually used sugar. But there's another ingredient we often whip into egg whites to add stability: cream of tartar.

That's right - you NEED the vegan butter to be room temperature before you start working with it. If you've ever made vegan buttercream and it's split or gone grainy, this is most likely the reason why. Get it nice and soft, then whack your vegan butter in the stand mixer and beat like crazy until smooth.

Your ingredients were too cold or too hot

If you use vegan butter straight from the fridge, you might end up with small lumps of it throughout your buttercream. This can also happen if you add cold (vegan) milk at the end. Similarly, adding fat or milk that is too warm can cause buttercream to curdle.

Swiss meringue buttercream is a favorite among many cake decorators because of its smooth finish on the outside cakes and its ability to hold piping detail.

Maybe the meringue whipped too long, cooling to well below 75°F (24°C). Maybe the butter came straight from the fridge. Maybe your buttercream was even frozen in advance, but didn't fully thaw. Doesn't matter why—if your Swiss meringue buttercream looks dense and greasy (or even tastes that way), it's simply too cold.

Aquafaba will freeze well for about 3 months. You will need to defrost the Aquafaba overnight in the refrigerator before using. Always smell your Aquafaba before using it. It will smell like spoiled beans (not pleasant) if it is no longer good.

However, like whipped egg whites and heavy cream, you can over-whip aquafaba. Once stiff peaks have formed, no matter how many minutes it took, stop whipping. Whipping too long can cause them to deflate.

This happens if you add cold butter (or even butter that still holds a chill) to your room temperature meringue mixture. The more butter you add the more 'split' it will look with the butter forming small lumps throughout the mixture. It will also lose all its initial volume and become quite 'wet'.

Can you over beat buttercream? ›

Yes, this is absolutely correct. The longer you beat, the more air you incorporate in your buttercream, thus, it will have lots of holes or air-pockets, it will also make the colour lighter. If you will use your buttercream primarily for filling or maybe as simple swirls, then this is ok.

Yes. Swiss meringue buttercream can be whipped for too long. This usually happens when the mixture becomes too cool, and it will start to look curdled and greasy. To fix this, simply place the bowl of buttercream over a pot of simmering water for a few seconds at a time, mixing constantly.

That means the butter in your Swiss meringue buttercream is too warm. Now you've likely formed a stable emulsion because it looks hom*ogenous and not split. The problem here is that the fat based ingredient (butter) is liquid. In baking and cooking we can use butter in both its states: liquid and solid.

Two good options for this recipe would be Earth Balance sticks and Country Crock Plant Butter (my personal preference). If you have another butter that's at least 79-80% oil/fat though, it should be fine.

– SMBC does taste more buttery than American buttercream, but it shouldn't taste like you're eating butter! Firstly, check the quantities you have used carefully. Secondly, make sure you're whipping your SMBC long enough after adding in the butter.

The most stable of the buttercreams, Italian buttercream is made from a meringue made bystreaming hot sugar syrup into egg whites as they're being whisked.

The egg whites are cooked, and the buttercream contains a fair amount of butter and sugar, which is generally safe to store at room temperature. If you are uncomfortable with that, feel free to pop your frosted cake in the fridge. The buttercream will get super firm in the fridge (after all, it is mostly butter).

Swiss meringue buttercream

Pros: Smooth as silk and melt-on-your-tongue delicious. Works beautifully as a cake finish and when creating details like flowers or borders. SMBC is a very stable frosting and is commonly used to fill and finish fine wedding cakes. Works like a dream under fondant.