I know my last post was all about how I didn’t love Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but I’ve had a change of heart.  Actually, I just tried again, and this time it was great.

After my last post, Sara from Matchbox Kitchen, left me an awesome comment with some tips for trying again.  It wasn’t an issue of recipe, more of technique. When Matchbox Kitchen tells you SMBC is awesome, you try it again.  So I did and this time, I used her tips.

I’m happy to say, it turned out awesome.

I sort of think dulce de leche had a lot to do with it, but either way, it turned out great.

So new confession: Swiss Meringue Buttercream is pretty tasty (especially when dulce de leche is mixed into it).

It’s still very buttery but this time, I think the dulce de leche masked some of the butter taste and it was great.   Here’s the recipe, that incorporated some of Sara’s comments regarding technique…

Dulce de Leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 sticks of butter, softened
1/4 cup dulce de leche*

Whisk together egg whites and sugar in your stand mixer bowl.  Place over a pot of boiling water (make sure water isn’t touching the bowl), stir it every so often until the egg whites become hot and you can no longer feel the sugar granules.

Transfer to the mixer and whip until they’ve formed stiff peaks.

Remove the whisk attachment and change to the paddle attachment for your mixer.  Add vanilla. Then start to beat in butter.  Once the butter is nearly incorporated, add in the dulce de leche.  Beat until it’s smooth.  Then it’s ready to frost.

I put mine in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes to firm up a bit before frosting, but the texture and flavor was a million times better this time.  This will make enough frosting to frost and fill a 6 inch cake or just frost the outside of a 9 inch cake.

*To make dulce de leche, boil a can of sweetened condensed milk for about 3 hours.  Make sure the can is completely submerged in water (if not, it might explode).  You can also probably find it in most latin grocery stores as different names (dulce de leche, cajeta, arequipe, etc).

I used this Dulce de Leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream to frost a banana cake with chocolate and dulce de leche filling.  It was a hit.

I took this dessert to the desert

This cake traveled with me from Oakland to the Palm Springs area.  It barely survived the long drive and the heat, but it made it.   It didn’t look as pretty as this when I served it, but it got eaten up.

 

This cake is definitely on my list of cakes to make again.  It was delicious, and the buttercream is way easier to make than excepted (probably because you don’t have to sift powdered sugar, which is always a pain).

I guess I’m a fan of swiss meringue buttercream after all.

What’s your favorite way to frost a cake?