How to make the BEST cake frosting EVER! Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe 

We hope you try out this buttercream, it's truly to die for! As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Amazing teacher! Very thorough. I watch a lot of tutorials usually to find different, helpful tips on each concept/ technique and have done so for baking and decorating for few years. U r so thorough here that it makes me want to come to watch urs first when I need to get to it without wasting a lot of time. The u for sharing ur talent and gift

I’ve watched about 4 other professional popular videos and you mentioned specific things that are really important! Dripping in the sugar Not against the mixing bowl, watching the sugar for slow boiling bubbles and also the timing for everything. It’s real time so thank you!!!!

Terry From Australia Your Italian meringue buttercream recipe is good, you are good at it. More cake recipes

I've never had Italian buttercream. My concern was, being able to decorate with it. I followed your detailed instructions and it came out perfect. On top of that Italian buttercream is now my favorite buttercream. Thank you so much!

Thank you beautiful Amanda for the recipe, but especially for the techniques. You explain everything so clearly and in great detail. Thanks again.

This tutorial is very thorough. Thanks a lot!! 💜

Thank you Amanda for your recipe of the Italian Meringe . I m gonna try it.

This is a great video. Super informative, lots of extra details about the why and the how, love the added in troubleshooting here and there, and the comments section answered any additional questions I had. I adore that you come back and actually answer the comment section. I cannot wait to try this out. Thanks so much for this vid.

Love your video. Looking forward to preparing this frosting for a cake for my grandson's Communion.

Wonderful Italian buttercream, thank you for the tutorial!

I’ve just made this and it’s turned out perfect 👏👏. Absolutely beautiful😋. Thank you so much for sharing and providing clear instructions. 🌈💗🌈

Just made this amazing Italian meringue buttercream!! Thank you so much for the recipe love the video!!! Will be enjoying with friends and family. I was a nervous this was my first time making Italian meringue buttercream but it came out perfect thank you so much!!!

Thank you so much I will try this now😍💖

Second time making it! It takes me a long time, but I’m getting used to the process. Thank you so much for taking the time to help us all.

OMG! I was laughing so hard at my first batch of boiled sugar- it turned into an opaque mountain of solidified sugar! I was so focused on frothy egg whites, I over cooked the sugar water! Thank goodness I salvaged my beautiful frothy egg whites. I followed the recipe and the buttercream frosting is DELICIOUS! I got so confident, I made another batch that was absolutely perfect! No sugar mountains this time. I had a good laugh and a good time making this frosting. Thank you so much for the recipe! Delish! Blessings.

Love this!! Going to try it

Best instructions! so easy to follow.

You are a very good teacher 🙏

Thanks for your recipe.

She is so beautiful!

This is the best buttercream I have ever made and eaten. I have made it atleast 3 times and its perfect. The most thing I like about it, is that is very lightly sweetened not over powering at all. Love it!!! Thank you

Brilliant tutorial! I am so happy I came across this video. I have recently been making ''the BEST cake frosting EVER! It is well worth the extra effort learning how to make a refined and high quality buttercream.Thanks for sharing this Amanda, you are a true professional.

I have loved every cake I have brought from oakleaf

Love the details

I love this video! Thank you! Also, you look like a fairytale princess. Just beautiful! 💖

Thank you! 👍😍❤️😍👍

it's like a dream of mine to work here! I'm just starting out with cake decorating. definitely going to try making this at home

Hello, Italian buttercream is one of the most difficult buttercreams to make;however, you explanation is so perfect that I am sure everyone is going to be able to make it without any problem. I love how you explain every detail. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

THIS IS MY TO-GO BUTTERCREAM FOR ALL MY BAKED CAKES OR MUFFINS. EVERYONE LIKES IT BECAUSE IT IS SO DELICIOUS AND NOT TOO SWEET! THANK YOU SO MUCH! GOD BLESS!

The best step by step, well explained video I've seen for Italian Buttercreme. Watching this didn't make me feel intimidated especially when I have a 6 quart KitchenAid mixer. Most recipes are small batches which makes it difficult to use the 6 quart because the whisk doesn'treach the all the way to the bottom and not wisking properly. I love egg whites in the mixer versus cooking egg whites in double boiler risking making scramble eggs. This recipe seems attainable. Well done. Thank you.

I like your style.

Excellent presentation

Thank you for the step by step process of making Italian merengue butter cream. I just made it and it is very light and creamy and just delicious. I’m making a half a sheet cake for my friends birthday and this is the frosting I will use. Thanks again and keep on baking from my kitchen to yours!

Thank you.

good explanation.

Absolutely nothing I did with this buttercream did it go on the cakes smoothly. Luckily, I wanted a rustic type cake frosting, and it worked, but it was so frustrating that I couldn't even get the first crumb coating to go on smoothly. But everybody loved the frosting flavor. And I couldn't believe it. I took it out of the freezer on a Tuesday, then frosted the cake. Left it in the fridge and took it to the destination wedding on Thursday. where it sat overnight in the garage and put it out on a table in the full sunlight (on a Friday), and the frosting did not melt, and it tasted really good. 4 days and the cake inside was just as moist as possible so that frosting really held in the moisture in for the cake and worked really well for the wedding. I wish there was a way to add a picture to this.Because you'd see the cake really did turn out beautifully.

First I would like to say WoW thank you. It worked great and everyone thought it was awesome. I just found you a few days ago and gave you a sub right away. I do have one question at the end of the mix all was well and then for about 20 seconds the frosting seemed to break apart and separate. Almost like curdle and milk droplets and small streams of milk formed on the inside of the bowl, obviously from the butter giving off its milk. I panicked and started to swear and my Wife said just keep going and about 15 to 20 seconds later all was perfect again. It was smooth creamy and no loss of volume is this normal or did I do something wrong? This is the first frosting I think I ever made and it was fantastic thanks again. I have a small 4.5 qt mixer so I reduced the recipe to a 3/4 load for my stand mixer and it worked fine. Small Recipe for 4.5 quart mixer. 3/4 Batch 3/8 cup water 1 and 1/8th cup sugar 250 F 3/4 cup egg whites room temp 3/4 tsp. Cream of tartar or "lemon juice tbd” 1/4 cup + 1.5 Tbsp sugar to egg whites 1.125 lbs "4.5 sticks" unsalted butter 3/4 Tbsp vanilla + 3/4 tsp vanilla extract I was doing the math on the fly the day I made the recipe and I just should have added 1 Tbsp vanilla for the 3/4 batch.haha One more thanks and my next attempt will be chocolate.

Hi Amanda, I just saw you on chronical. I live in the same state as you.

OMG, I love your hairstyle, I struggle with my long hair while working. Btw, this video was so useful for me👍

Just made this. Literally the best frosting I’ve ever had. There were so many moments where I thought I had gone wrong but thank goodness for all of her cues about texture/consistency, etc. Only down side is now all of my kids want me to make cake for their bdays instead of store bought 😂

I actually just made it. Let my egg whites cooled for 20 mins but it turned out perfect and delicious. Thanks for the step by step tutorial. Just have one question Should I frost my cake even though I’m not using it till Sunday. Today is Friday.

Thank you for this great tutorial! Your instruction was very clear, love the helpful tips too! This is the first time I've made this and I've made two batches - both came out perfectly! I love the sweetness level, and the texture,but I was wondering if it's possible to use less butter, (for personal taste, not calories haha) or will it compromise the texture?

I will try this meringue. I’ve done American buttercream it never comes out right I’ve followed all steps I always get a grainy texture and not good for piping. Thanks for the video. 💗💗💗

Great job! Can’t wait to try this. I’m very new to cakes, and I have a question: Will this frosting work well for the cake-comb technique, where you create stripes with two colors of buttercream?

Dear Bakers, The frosting sounds AMAZING! I would love to make this for my granddaughter's cake! I was wondering- does your recipe make enough to frost a 14 inch and 10 inch cake? I was wondering in case I need to double the recipe. Thank you for the video.

Thank you Amanda! Will try for the first time ,but Please what kind of butter is used in italian buttercream ?

Does the mixing on low cool it down..? This is so educational because you show and explain everything..I am impatient at learning but this is so valuable ...My cat seems to agree..Thanks I will try it on cupcakes.

My dogs are getting grazy as soon as I want to watch your video's. It's The Whistle!! Can't you leave it out? I love your video's anyway ;-)

Thank you for the recipe! I love how detailed you are in the video, very informative. I want to make coconut Italian meringue buttercream and I was thinking of adding coconut milk/cream to the mixture. Do you think this would turn out okay? How much coconut cream should I add?

Wow so many things I did wrong I was following another recipe that said bring the sugar mixture up to 235-240 and I blow out my mixer because the recipe had me starting the eggs at the same time you start the sugar

I like this recipe. I use half butter half shortening tho, for stability 🤙🏻🌈

Wrapping an Ice pack around the bottom of the bowl helps cool the meringue

Thank u for sharing one question would this melt if the climax is very hot I live in S.A it's very hot over here we normally use royal icing but I like to try out new stuff

I absolutely love this recipe! Thank you so much for the very detailed video. Truly changed my cake decorating. I have one question please. How can I make this recipe chocolate flavor? What kind of chocolate How much of it should I put?

Hello, just watched your video from Paris :) I loved it, thanks a lot! I'm really exciting to try out the recipe! But as we use only grams here, I wondered if you can convert the recipe into grams unit for me...? Pleeease ^^' there is a lot of different mesures of cups, teaspoon, etc depending on the website, and I want to make sure it'll work for me... Thank you 🙏🙏🙏🙏

I plan on making a cake the night before with this frosting...Would it be better to leave the cake out (covered) or refrigerate it? The party will be at 2 in the afternoon, so I will have plenty of time for it to come to room temperature the next day if you think that is best.

Can I use any type of egg whites from a carton? Do you have a brand you like? I tried using carton egg whites (with cream of tarter) to make a Swiss meringue frosting and it wouldn’t even form soft peaks!

Hello great tutorial..is this amount enough to ice a 12×18 cake sheet?..😊

Is it possible to half the recipe? The full recipe is too big for my mixing bowl. LOVE this buttercream, thank you so much for sharing it.

Would this icing be stiff enough to make flowers?

I read a similar version where the paddle attachment replaces the whisk attachment when reaching the "Adding butter stage" What are your thoughts about switching to the paddle and mixing in the butter?

Hello, I was wondering if this is a good frosting to use for an ombré cake?

This is the first time watching one of your videos and I want to say, first, that you are so sweet and easy to watch! Now, on another note, I see nothing wrong with having a pound or so of butter a day, but my doctor screams otherwise! On a more serious note, I am 65yo and yet have never made IMBC!! I am SO intimidated by this frosting! My biggest concern is this...what IF the syrup and the egg whites are NOT done at the perfect time? I mean, is there a bit of play there? Can you keep beating the egg white mixture until the syrup just gets to that 250? OR, can your syrup sit at 250, temporarily, while the egg whites are NEARLY done? I am sure after making this for a while it becomes second nature, but, I'll tell you, I sure am afraid to take that leap of faith and take it on. I have been searching for something to pipe flowers that holds its shape better than ABC. I've been told that IMBC is the way to go for that. How do you feel about all of that? Does this color well? Thank you so much for your video! I appreciate any and all information and help you can give me. God bless...

Great Vid! how much white chocolate is sufficient in the meringue of this proportion?

I tried twice and yes soup I'm I being inpatient? On adding the butter?

After applying this frosting on cake do we have to keep our cake in fridge or it can stay at room temprature As I live in hot country While delivering a cake does this frosting drip on side n make a messy look??? Plz reply

Thank you for this video! I just want to double check that it is okay to use egg whites in a carton? I have read elsewhere that they don't work as well as fresh egg whites from an egg. I would much prefer to use those from a carton, since I am not good at separating eggs. Thank you.

I made the meringe, it's so beautiful and tasty. I am waiting for room temperature. can I put vanila flavor on the meringe stage, or only on the buttercream stage. Because I want to try meringe only for cupcakes and also another batch just as buttercream just to see which one I want to use more for cupcakes from now on. Can I put the meringe in the fridge after it's done? and then I pipe on the cupcakes? I decided to use meringe the first time to avoid the butter cream step when I wanted to avoid the colesterol. Since I exist, I always discriminated meringe for cakes, maybe because of the raw egg white? maybe I ate the wrong one not so well done. I always wanted frosting from fresh whipped cream, but it's hard to hold, it has more colesterol and it's more expensive, although it's delicious and so addictive. So I want to try the meringe. But I still think, am I eating raw egg whites? I need to answer this to my cupcakes buyer.

Can I use milk to melt the sugar instead of water

Great video! Nailed it on my first try (I think lol) thanks to your thorough instructions! But I do have one question...I tried adding melted (room temperature) chocolate and the buttercream split and got very soupy, runny, and somewhat curdled. What did I do wrong? It was seemingly fine before I added the chocolate. The chocolate was not high quality chocolate, just regular chocolate chips. If you could give me some advice that would be great!

So which kind of sugar? Granulated or powdered?

Hello! Will this recipe be enough to fill and frost two 9 inch cakes? Thanks!

What brand of butter and vanilla do you recommend for good quality?

How .uch is this for? Im frosting a 4 layer 9 inch semi naked cake. I want the layers thinck with strawberries buried in cream.

💕 her

Can I add powder chocolate to give it a darker color? I’m trying to make a black buttercream

Goodmorning just came a cross this video what i dont understand is the measurment of the buttet here what we have is like 250grm of butter

Can this recipe be cut in half?

Can you convert de 1.5lbs in grams. Please I like the recipe but i dont know that diference.

I followed the recipe exactly; checking and double-checking. Although this frosting was a beautiful spreading consistency; fluffy and good volume, I found the taste to be very bland and the butter overpowering. I would not make this frosting again, but the impeccable directions for the italian meringue was very useful for the future. By the way, I had to split up the italian meringue into two mixing bowls after the syrup was added and cooled because my Kitchenaid is a residential 4 qt. I weighed each mixing bowl to make sure each one had the same amount of meringue before adding the butter and vanilla. Hope this helps someone with a household Kitchenaid stand mixer.

So u can use pasteurized egg whites from carton??

I have a 5 Qt stand mixer, do you think that is big enough to make this recipe?

I made this buttercream at first it was smooth soft and spreadable but after awhile it became kinda hard and stiff and became hard to pipe or smooth.I had to use a blow torch to make it soft again and again 😭. Can you please tell me why that happened?

Can you use this under fondant?

Can i use salted butter..?

I dont need a friend i do it myself always without a stand machine

I love Italian meringue buttercream! I will let you know how it turns out for me. Keep me crossed.

What brand of butter do you use ?

How does this differ from Swiss Meringue Buttercream?

Can you tell me butter in mg please?

What about airbrushing this kind of frosting

Which Vanilla did u use?

I love Italian meringue buttercream, but every time I make it, the longer it sits out, the softer it gets and loses its shape if it isn't kept ice cold. What am I doing wrong?

Hi,What kind of cream you use for fruit cakes?

What kind of vanilla you are using?

It's lovely that you think your buttercream is the best, it's also arrogant. When it comes to cake frosting people have different tastes what you think is the best may not be the best to someone else.

Can I do this without the cream of tarter?

How can I make this buttercream chocolate buttercream?

Can I add jam or fruit purée to this?