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How to make Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream

VEGAN, NO-EGGS, NO-DAIRY! This post teaches you how to make Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream, with some tips and tricks to make for the most creamy, light, silky smooth buttercream for icing cupcakes, cakes and more!

What is Swiss meringue buttercream?

Swiss meringue buttercream is super easy to make and is ultra-light and creamy. It’s much like Italian Meringue, in the sense it uses aquafaba (chickpea brine) in its method. The aquafaba is a vegan alternative to eggs.

This buttercream is made using dairy-free butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and aquafaba. Whip the butter until light in colour and creamy, add in the icing sugar and vanilla, whip until light and fluffy then add in the aquafaba. Whip for a further 3-5 minutes and the buttercream will become airy and shiny. 
It’s a lot easier to make than Italian meringue buttercream, and is a lot lighter in texture than the classic ‘American style buttercream/frostings’.
This buttercream can be whipped up in under 10 minutes (literally whipped up, haha).

Why I love this buttercream:

  • It’s light and airy
  • It’s not overly sweet like American / traditional buttercream
  • Perfect for piping or spreading
  • It’s easy to make
  • Versatile
  • Perfect for icing cakes and cupcakes
  • This 4 ingredient buttercream can be made into whatever flavour you fancy.

Different variations:

Chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream: Add 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Chocolate orange: Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and swap out the vanilla extract to an orange flavouring. 

Biscoff: Add a tablespoon of Biscoff spread.

Coloured buttercream: Add 1 drop of vegan-friendly food gel (not liquid colours as this can heavily affect the texture and may curdle the buttercream).

Funfetti: Add an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract along with 2 tablespoons of vegan sprinkles.

Use the code: LITTLEVEGAN15 for 15% off your order on Fancy Sprinkles.

Check out their vegan sprinkle range here! I use their products all the time and their range of vegan sprinkles, edible glitter etc is amazing! 

Tips and tricks for making Swiss meringue buttercream

  • Make sure to sift the icing sugar into the butter. If you skip this step, it can create lumps in the meringue which is what you don’t want.
  • Try to find a thick, vegan blocked or thick butter. I highly recommend ‘Naturli Organic Vegan ‘Butter’ Block’ for making all types of vegan buttercreams. This goes for classic American and meringue styles.
  • Slightly chilled butter workes better than room temperature, so take the butter out of the fridge 5 minutes before using.
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up close image of whipped swiss meringue buttercream

How to make Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream


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Description

How to make the BEST Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream in MINUTES! There is not wonder why this is so popular!


Ingredients

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 250g of dairy-free butter (I use Naturli)
  • 300g of icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 70ml of aquafaba (chickpea brine)

Instructions

Method (swiss meringue buttercream)

  1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
  2. Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla extract and whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.
  3. Pour in the aquafaba and whip for 5 minutes until it turns light and creamy. Don’t over whip it or it can become too soft. If it does, just add in more icing sugar until it’s thick and creamy.
  4. Your Swiss meringue buttercream should be thick, very creamy and silky smooth. It’s now ready to use on cakes, cupcakes, or other confections.
  5. If you would like to store this buttercream for icing another day, add it into a sealed container and place into the fridge. Use within 2 days of making.
  6. When you come to use the buttercream, re-whip it then transfer it into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle and pipe a swirl on top of each cupcake or spread into stacked cakes.
  7. Serve these cupcakes/cake fresh or store in a sealed container in the fridge. The buttercream will firm up in the fridge.

Notes

Store: Use immediately to frost cakes / cupcakes or transfer into a sealed container and store in the fridge until ready to use. Whip again before use.

Swiss meringue buttercream will stiffen up when chilled, so before serving, allow it to come to room temperature.

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Category: Basics
  • Method: No-Bake
  • Cuisine: American
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5 Comments

  1. Unknown
    June 25, 2021 / 2:10 pm

    Is this able to be stored in the freezer for a month or so like my regular buttercream?

  2. Unknown
    July 14, 2021 / 10:08 am

    Hi does it matter if the chickpea water contains salt?

  3. Nika
    May 30, 2022 / 1:09 pm

    Can this buttercream be used in the neapolitan celebration cake from your book?

  4. Pavi
    April 26, 2023 / 4:46 pm

    Do you think this buttercream can be used to pipe flowers?

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