For months, I’ve been mulling over the idea of making a sugar free Swiss meringue buttercream, but every time it would cross my mind I would worry that the xylitol wouldn’t work in the meringue and that the whole thing would be a flop.
However, an interesting thing happened. I noticed that, in recipes I made which required the sugar (xylitol, in my case) to be whipped together with whole eggs until they were at the ribbon stage, the xylitol performed as well or better than regular sugar. These experiences gave me enough evidence that I finally decided to attempt a sugar free meringue buttercream.
Oh, my goodness. I don’t normally describe food as gorgeous, but this buttercream is truly a thing of beauty. Again, I find myself wondering what took me so long to try a recipe idea. Honestly, I cannot tell that this is sugar free, as it tastes almost identical to a buttercream made with cane sugar. And the texture, well, it’s silky, smooth, and … drool. I can’t express how excited I am that this worked out, because having a base recipe for something so versatile will finally allow me to get away from the sub par “quickie” buttercreams that I’ve tried using sugar free confectioners’ sugar recipes. They never did taste quite right.
Swiss meringue buttercream is all about the technique, but it’s actually not difficult at all once you get the hang of it. Your mixer does most of the work. The key is to make sure that the meringue is completely cooled before you start adding the butter. If you do that, then you should be good to go!
Notes: If you aren’t sugar free, then you can replace the xylitol 1 for 1 with cane sugar.
Ingredients
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup xylitol (or sugar)
10 ounces (2 ½ sticks) of butter, cubed and at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Add egg whites and xylitol to the bowl of your mixer and place over a pan of boiling water. Lightly whisk the mixture constantly (no need to whip yet) until the xylitol is completely dissolved, about 7-10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and move the bowl to your stand mixer (you can use also use a hand mixer). Using the whip attachment, whip the eggs and xylitol on medium until a stiff peaked meringue is formed and the mixture is completely cool. Your mixing bowl should be completely cool to the touch before you go to the next step.
3. Switch out the mixer’s whisk attachment with the beater attachment, and start to beat on low speed. Slowly add the softened butter, one piece at a time, and wait until the current piece is completely incorporated before adding the next piece. At some point in the process, the buttercream may start to appear somewhat curdled, but it will eventually come back together, so please don’t fret and think that you have to start over. Just keep adding that butter!
4. Add the vanilla (or your flavoring of choice) and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost cakes, cupcakes, etc. immediately, or store in the refrigerator to use at a later time. If you chill the buttercream, be sure to allow enough time for it to come to room temperature before you use it to frost anything.
Posted in Alternatively Sweetened, Cakes and Cookies, Desserts, Food, Gluten Free | 13 Comments »
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posted: May 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pmHi there, I was searching for blogs to link to from my current post and stumbled upon your sugar-free swiss meringue buttercream! I guess great minds think alike.
Yours looks so fluffy and delicious! Mind if I link you on my sidebar? So nice to see someone else working with xylitol.
posted: July 5th, 2009 at 4:41 pmwow… this looks pretty good! My mom was just told she’s borderline diabetic so I’ve been looking around for sugar free frostings. I can’t wait to try this.
posted: October 9th, 2009 at 8:45 pmYum! This looks SO tasty!
posted: December 21st, 2009 at 5:54 pmyou’re awesome! I’m a baker and I wanted to try to make this. I was to scared that it wouldn’t work so I never tried. I can’t wait to try this!
posted: April 29th, 2010 at 5:44 pmHi. I tried this recipe for the whoopie pies. It was delicious, but not firm enough. I had to serve/use it cold. We’re dairy free, too, so maybe it was the Earth Balance instead of butter that made the difference. The taste was amazing, though, so I am determined to get the consistency right. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. The whoopie pies were great! Just like I remembered them tasting; so glad I found a GF version that I could share with my daughter.
posted: June 27th, 2010 at 9:59 amTonya – I can’t say for sure, but the Earth Balance vs. butter may have made the difference in the consistency. Yes, please keep me posted! Glad to hear that you liked the taste, though!
posted: June 29th, 2010 at 2:26 pmI am so excited to try this! I’m a baker and I have been asked so many times about making sugar free cakes and I never knew how. I never knew about xylitol (just ordered some from Amazon) and I LOVE Swiss Meringue buttercream! Thanks for the info!!!!
posted: October 27th, 2010 at 11:43 pmDo you think i can substitute shortening for butter. I wanna keep the color white
posted: April 21st, 2011 at 5:09 pmKristen, did Tonya ever get back to you on her Earth Balance texture experiment? I too am dairy free, and though I make regular Swiss Meringue Buttercream for others, I of course cannot partake of this silky, lovely icing! I am going to try this, and also use some melted dairy free white chocolate added at the end. My thought is that the chocolate will make the finished product firmer. Will let you know!
posted: June 1st, 2011 at 11:38 amRobin – I haven’t heard back from Tonya, but I’ve been thinking about trying the recipe with palm shortening instead of butter to see how much that would change the final texture. Please keep me posted on your results if you give it a shot. The white chocolate idea is a fantastic one!
posted: June 1st, 2011 at 11:56 amI made this frosting following your directions completely except for using Ideal for the sweetener (xylitol + splenda) I was terrified as I do not have a stand mixer but it worked perfectly. The flavor is out of this world spot on! I am so thrilled! I hate to make a recipe and it not be as described but this one surely is
posted: March 1st, 2013 at 8:36 pmI made this for my daughter’s birthday cake the other day and it worked perfectly! It was 2 layers and I covered it with flowers using a large tip, so my only complaint was that there wasn’t enough to cover and fill the whole cake. Next time, I’d probably double the recipe and throw what I don’t use in the freezer.
It’s so nice to have a sugar-free version of buttercream. Thanks!
posted: July 1st, 2014 at 4:36 pm