Italian Meringue Buttercream {Step-by-Step Instructions}

Italian Meringue Buttercream Is My Favorite Frosting

If you've ever had the pleasure of eating Italian Meringue Buttercream, you already know why I love it so. If you've never had it, you're in for a treat!

I'm typically one of those people who eats the cake and leaves the frosting behind. Even as a child, I remember scraping the frosting off slices of cake and cupcakes because it was just too sweet. 

So, when I made Italian Meringue Buttercream for the first time (over 25 years ago!), it was a total revelation to me. Because, I love this stuff. I mean.... genuinely LOVE it.

What Does Italian Meringue Buttercream Taste Like?

Like a cloud.

That's what one woman told me the first time she tasted it. "I don't normally like frosting, but this is like eating a cloud." 

I think she's right.

• Classic Italian Meringue is simply whipped egg whites that are sweetened and stabilized with hot sugar syrup.
• Italian Meringue Buttercream takes this one step further by incorporating butter {lots and lots of butter!} into the meringue.

It's not overly sweet, holds up well, and is a dream to frost and decorate with.

Making Italian Meringue Buttercream is Easier Than it Looks

Italian Meringue Buttercream might seem a bit complicated at first glance. But, please trust me when I say – it’s really not.

It requires only 4 ingredients:

• Sugar
• Eggs
• Cream of tarter
• Butter

And the actual hands on time is minimal. The first time you make Italian Meringue Buttercream, it might feel all complicated and difficult. But trust me. Once you've made it a couple of times, you probably won't even need the recipe. 

Having said that, Italian Meringue Buttercream is finicky when it comes to temperature and how the ingredients are incorporate. Stick with me.

I'm going to walk you through the process step-by-step. Plus, I've included some things you can do to recover a batch if it doesn't quite go to plan, and thrown in some fabulous tips that readers have shared with me over the years. 

What tools do you need?

1. A 2 or 3 quart saucepan
2. A candy thermometer
3. An electric stand mixer

As you will see, temperature is everything with this recipe. Having a candy thermometer that tells you exactly when the sugar syrup is ready to pour into the egg whites is essential.

It's also important to have a standing mixer. I'm not saying that you can't make Italian Meringue Buttercream with a hand held mixer, but it will be risky and challenging.

Once you add the sugar syrup to the meringue, the frosting must beat until it cools, which can take between 20 - 30 minutes. After that, you need to be able to beat in a LOT of butter. (They don't call it buttercream for nothing!)

With a standing mixer, you just let it do it's thing and get on with your day. But with a hand held... well, that's a long time to stand there holding a mixer. Also, a lot of hand held mixers simply don't have enough power to fully incorporate all that butter.

I recommend using a 6-Quart KitchenAid mixer. However, I have had readers tell me they've made this recipe using a 4 & ½ or 5-quart standing mixer and it's worked out fine. So, use what you have.

One word of caution if using a smaller stand mixer: The egg whites will beat up into a gorgeous, fluffy meringue that might threaten to spill over the sides of a smaller mixer's bowl. Just use a spatula to gently push the meringue back down into the bowl, and you'll be good to go.

How to Make Italian Meringue Buttercream

Italian Meringue Buttercream is essentially meringue that's "cooked" by pouring very hot sugar syrup into it while it beats. Once the cooked meringue cools, simply beat in plenty of butter, creating an emulsion that's extraordinary rich and creamy.

Step #1: Heat sugar and water

Add 1 & ¼ cups (251g) sugar and ½ cup of water (118ml) to a 2 or 3 quart saucepan and set it over high heat.

You might be tempted to use a small saucepan. Please don't. As the sugar cooks, it will bubble up and might spill out over the top of a small saucepan. Cleaning up burnt sugar is no fun.

After giving the sugar and water a very brief stir just to make sure all the sugar is moistened, you want to leave it alone. Do not stir it again or you'll run the risk of encouraging little crystals to form in your syrup. 

Just let it boil away until it reaches 248 - 250 degrees F (120 - 121.1 degrees C).

Step #2: While the sugar cooks, beat some egg whites

Immediately after getting the sugar syrup going, crack 8 egg whites into the bowl of a standing mixer that's fitted with the whisk attachment.

Be very, very careful to not allow any yolks in the whites which can prevent the egg whites from beating up to their full potential. 

Beat the eggs on high speed until they are all frothy. While the mixer continues to beat the egg whites, sprinkle in 1 teaspoon cream of tarter (which helps to stabilize the egg whites) and ⅓ cup (67g) of sugar.

Keep beating until stiff peaks form. This means that if you lift the beater up, the egg whites will form stiff little "peaks" that won't fall over. 

At this point, if the sugar syrup isn't quite ready, turn the mixer to the lowest speed, and let it continue to run. You want to keep the egg whites moving without running the risk of overheating them.

Step #3: Pour the sugar syrup into the beaten egg whites

When the sugar syrup reaches 248-250 degrees (120 - 121.1 degrees C), remove it from the heat, stop your mixer and quickly pour about ⅓ of a cup of the syrup int the egg whites.

Immediately turn the mixer to to the highest speed and continue to pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites in a slow, steady stream. 

As you pour, keep the stream of sugar syrup super close to the edge of the mixing bowl. Doing so will help you avoid pouring too much on the beater itself.

Once all the sugar syrup has been added, turn the mixer down to medium-high and let it beat until the meringue is completely cool. This will take somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. 

To check that the meringue is cool, touch the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl. If it feels cool to the touch, your egg whites are most likely cool as well.

Step #4: Incorporate the butter

This buttercream isn't messing around. There is a LOT of butter in there - 6 whole sticks (24 oz; 678g). Don't be afraid. This recipe makes a lot of buttercream and you're going to smear it all over a cake or over quite a few cupcakes.

It's called buttercream for a reason. Embrace that buttery deliciousness with no regrets. 

A couple of things that are important here: The butter must be at room temperature, and you want to add it slowly, a couple of tablespoons at a time.

The goal here is to create an emulsion, which is essentially the blending together of two ingredients - fat and water - that don't really like each other all that much. 

Adding the butter to the meringue slowly while the mixer beats continuously, causes all those little fat molecules to evenly distribute and suspend themselves throughout the meringue, creating that dreamy, creamy gorgeousness we call buttercream.

For Successful Italian Meringue Buttercream Temperature is Everything

If there's one word I can't stress enough when it comes to Italian Meringue Buttercream it's temperature.

• The sugar syrup must be heated to 248 degrees (120 degrees C) before added to the beaten egg whites.
• The meringue must cool down before you add the butter or the butter will melt instead of combining with the meringue.
• The butter must be at room temperature or it won't incorporate into the meringue at all.

Common Problems and How to Fix Them:

When adding the butter to the meringue, if everything's not at room temperature, the buttercream will "break", meaning that rather than combining into a creamy emulsion, the butter and eggs stubbornly remain separate ingredients sharing the same bowl.

If this happens, in many cases, the buttercream can be saved.

• If you add the butter before the meringue is completely cool and see that the butter is melting rather than blending into the meringue: Stop adding the butter, turn off the mixer, and put the whole thing - bowl and whisk, into the refrigerator or freezer. When the bowl feels very cold, remove it from the refrigerator and resume beating. If the butter you've already added begins to incorporate into the meringue, go ahead and slowly add the rest of the butter.
• If you try to add butter to meringue that's too cold, it will stay in little clumps and not incorporate into the egg whites. Once again, if you see this happening, stop adding the butter and bring the remaining butter to room temperature by heating it in the microwave at 50% power for 10 seconds at a time. To help the butter that's already in the bowl warm up enough to blend into the meringue, soak a kitchen towel in hot water and hold it around the mixer bowl while it beats. 

To fix a broken buttercream, beat and beat and beat some more

Remember that you're creating an emulsion, a process that requires constant beating. If the buttercream is soupy because some of the butter has melted, put the bowl in the refrigerator to cool it down and then beat and beat and beat.

If the buttercream is lumpy because the butter was too cold and won't blend in, hold a hot towel agains the bowl and beat and beat and beat some more.

Genius Tips from Readers:

If your kitchen is too hot.... One reader who made this buttercream in her California desert home in the middle of the summer wrote in to tell me that she presses ice cubes to the bowl of the mixer to cool down the meringue and as she beats in the butter. She loads up a kitchen towel with ice cubes and presses them around the bowl.

If your kitchen is too cold... Another reader wrote in to tell me that her kitchen is much colder than the rest of the house, causing the butter to not want to beat into the meringue. She put about one cup of the not-coming-together buttercream in the microwave for about 30 seconds until it melted. Then she turned the mixer on high and quickly poured the melted buttercream into the mixing bowl.

"It was like a magic trick.  Faster than I could see it happen, it immediately became incorporated into beautiful buttercream!  I have made the buttercream two more times since and both times I had to do this to get it to incorporate."

How to Store and Reconstitute Italian Meringue Buttercream

You can make the buttercream ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for a week or even freeze it for up to 2 months. Just make sure to allow time to bring it to room temperature before using it.

Because of the high butter content, Italian Meringue Buttercream becomes quite firm when chilled. If you make it ahead of time, which I often do, I’ve included instructions for reconstituting it to its proper creamy, spreadable state at the end of the recipe.

How To Make Different Flavors of Italian Meringue Buttercream:

One of the greatest things about Italian Meringue Buttercream is that it is extremely easy to incorporate all sorts of different flavorings. It's a very welcoming kind of frosting. Kindhearted. Considerate. Generous. Your basic humanitarian... in frosting form.

Once the Italian Meringue Buttercream is complete, you can beat in melted chocolate, fruit curd or jam, extracts, marmalade, coconut cream, coffee, salted caramel... the flavors of Italian Meringue Buttercream are only limited by your personal tastes and imagination.

I've included quite a few flavoring options below, but don't be afraid to get creative.

Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Try it on my favorite Vanilla Cake or Gluten Free Vanilla Cake!

Add 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract to every 2 cups of buttercream. I often also add a few drops of lemon extract to my vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream because it accentuates the vanilla flavor.

Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Delicious on Champagne Cake!

Pour 1 cup champagne into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer until the champagne is reduced to ½ cup. Allow to cool completely and then slowly beat into a prepared batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream. 

Strawberry Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Delicious on Champagne Cake!

Follow instructions above to make Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream. Add ½ cup fresh strawberries, stems removed, to a blender and puree (you should have about ⅓ cup).

Remove about ⅔ of the buttercream from the mixing bowl. Add the pureed strawberries to the remaining buttercream and beat until completely incorporated. 

White, Dark or Milk Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream:

So good on a sinfully delicious Devil's Food Cake!

For every 2 cups of buttercream, beat in 4 ounces of melted chocolate that has cooled to room temperature. Adding a teaspoon of vanilla can accentuate the chocolate flavor.

Pistachio Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Beat one 8-oz jar of Pistachio Paste into one recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream until combined.

Marmalade Italian Meringue Buttercream:

For every 2 cups of buttercream, beat in 1 cup of marmalade.

Espresso Italian Meringue Buttercream:

For every 2 cups of buttercream, add 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder to 2 teaspoons boiling water and stir to dissolve, then beat into the buttercream.

Coconut Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Delicious on Coconut Cream Cake!

Beat 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and 2 teaspoon coconut extract into one finished batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream. Taste and add more coconut extract if you want a more pronounced coconut flavor. 

Coconut Maple Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Delicious on mini coconut cakes!

Beat 3 tablespoon pure maple syrup, and 2 teaspoon coconut extract into one finished batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream. Taste and add more coconut extract if you want a more pronounced coconut flavor. 

Fresh Berry Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Try it on this Lemon Layer Cake!

Puree raspberries, blackberries or strawberries until very smooth. If using blackberries, strain out the seeds. Add about ⅓ of a cup of berry puree to every 2 cups of buttercream, adding the puree a little at a time and beating well after each addition. 

Lemon Curd Italian Meringue Buttercream:

For every 2 cups of buttercream, beat in ⅓ of a cup of lemon curd. 

Liquor Flavored Italian Meringue Buttercream:

My favorite liquors to add are Frangelico and Kailua. Add about 2 tablespoons of liquor to every 2 cups of buttercream. Add the liquor slowly and taste often. Add as much or as little as you like.

Salted Caramel Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Perfect for classic Caramel Cake or Gluten Free Caramel Cake.

You have two good options if you want to create a salted caramel version of Italian Meringue Buttercream.

1. Purchase store bought caramel sauce (1 ½ - 2 cups), stir in salt to taste (1-2 tsp), and beat as much (or as little) as you like to the basic buttercream.
2. Whip up a batch of homemade salted caramel sauce and beat that into the buttercream. Start by beating in 1 & ½ cups, taste the buttercream, and add another ½ cup if you want a stronger caramel flavor.

If you've never made homemade caramel, I encourage you to try it. It's sublime and much easier than you might think! 

Chai Latte Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Delicious on Chai Latte Cupcakes!

Add 11 oz melted white chocolate, ⅓ cup honey, 2 teaspoon vanilla, and 2-3oz powdered chai tea latte drink mix to buttercream after fully incorporating the butter. Beat until all ingredients are combined. 

Mojito Italian Meringue Buttercream:

Follow the instructions in this recipe for Strawberry Mojito Cupcakes to make a batch of Mint Lime Curd.

Slowly beat 2 cups of lime curd and ⅓ cup white rum into a batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream until fully incorporated. Depending on the temperature of all the ingredients this could take 5-10 minutes.

If it doesn’t look like it’s coming together, just keep beating. If the ingredients are too warm, or the room is too warm, and the frosting seems runny, just put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so before beating to bring it all together.

Have fun experimenting with different flavor combinations and colors!

Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream is fabulous with a tablespoon or two of Frangelico. Add a bit of coconut cream or melted and cooled white chocolate to Lemon Curd Italian Meringue Buttercream. This frosting recipe is only limited by your imagination.

To color Italian Meringue Buttercream, gel food coloring works best.

Use Italian Meringue Buttercream to Make These Cakes:

• Champagne Cake
• Mini Chai Cupcakes
• Caramel Cake and Gluten Free Caramel Cake
• Lemon Blackberry Layer Cake
• Coconut Cream Cake
• Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes
• Strawberry Pistachio Cake
• Strawberry Mojito Cupcakes
• Perfect Vanilla Cake and Perfect Gluten Free Vanilla Cake

More Buttercream Recipes:

Italian Meringue Buttercream is a Building Block Recipe

Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. > Scroll through all Building Block recipes.

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.