Chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream recipe

Top your chocolate cupcakes with this velvety smooth chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. This sweet buttercream is made from just four main ingredients; dark chocolate, egg whites, caster sugar, and butter. 

This chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream makes enough to top 12 regular-sized cupcakes. You can choose to ice your cupcakes with a piping bag and nozzle or to simply spread with a palette knife. For more advice and expert tips on how to ice cupcakes, see our handy guide.

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• 250g (8oz) caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 300g (10oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 200g bar dark chocolate, melted
• Large piping bag fitted with star piping tube tube

Method

1. Firstly, make a batch of chocolate cupcakes using our chocolate cupcake recipe and leave them to cool completely before decorating. Tip the egg whites into a bowl and add the sugar and salt.
2. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the sugar dissolves completely, and when you put your fingers in the mixture you can't feel any grains of sugar
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk the mixture, preferably using a table-top mixer, until it becomes a thick meringue and whisk in the vanilla extract.
4. Cut the butter into chunks and whisk it in - the mixture may collapse and go runny, but keep whisking it at full speed and it will combine together to give a fluffy buttercream.
5. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate.
6. Fill the piping bag with the chocolate buttercream and pipe a swirl onto the top of each cupcake.

Top tips for making chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream

This chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream is best enjoyed within two days of making. If you’re storing it in the fridge it will last up to five days. Any leftover buttercream icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to three months.

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