My beloved friend Shannon had a birthday last week, so I made her my triple chocolate cake with a special twist. Instead of frosting it with (American) chocolate buttercream frosting, I opted for a chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.
Swiss meringue buttercream is incredibly light and fluffy, so it complemented the dense and rich chocolate cake so well. I’d spread this frosting on everything.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Author: Connie Choi
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites
- 1¼ cup granulated sugar
- 12 ounces (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, diced into small cubes
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
Instructions
- With an electric hand mixer on medium speed, mix the egg whites and sugar in a glass or steel bowl over simmering water until the egg white mixture reaches 160 degrees F.
- Take the bowl off the heat. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whip the egg whites until they become fluffy and double in volume.
- Allow the egg mixture to cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Using an electric mixer again, whisk the egg mixture over medium speed and slowly add the cubes of butter, a few at a time.
- Add the vanilla extract and cocoa powder. Whip until the buttercream is stiff and very thick. If the mixture is too runny and/or won't thicken up after 8 minutes, place the bowl in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, then re-whip until it comes together (do not over chill in the refrigerator as the frosting will solidify and become difficult to spread).
- Use immediately.
