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Buttercream · GF (about 10 cups)
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Swiss meringue purists may get a little stressed to see me using a little less sugar in this recipe, but I’ve done it like this for the last five years and so far, so good.
10 oz egg whites (it’s okay to go a little over)
10 oz sugar
1/2 tsp salt
the scrapings from 1 vanilla bean
2 pounds unsalted butter, cut into 2” chunks, room temperature
Combine the egg whites, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean together in an clean bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of water and turn the heat on medium low. You don’t need the water to even simmer, you just want it hot enough to steam, since steam is what’s actually going to heat the whites.
Whisk frequently to prevent an egg white omelet forming on the sides, but continual mixing isn’t necessary. Aim to get the mixture to at least a 145° for food safety reasons, but reaching 150° would make for a nice margin of error. If your egg whites are at room temperature, this won’t take very long, maybe just a few minutes. Whites straight from the fridge will take longer.
When the mixture is sufficiently hot, remove from the heat and whip on medium high speed until the mixture has doubled in volume and turned snowy white. Continue whipping until the meringue is cool. Use your hands to feel the bowl itself, rather than simply testing the temperature of the meringue. You want it to feel perfectly cool to the touch with no trace of warmth. Note: if you are using a glass or ceramic bowl, even if the meringue has cooled, the bowl itself may still be quite warm and continue conducting heat into the buttercream over time. If you are using a glass or ceramic bowl, transfer the meringue to a new bowl before proceeding or continue mixing until the bowl itself is cool.
Turn the mixer down to medium-low and begin adding in the butter, one chunk at a time. If you didn’t let your meringue cool enough, this is when you’ll really regret it. By the time you’ve added all the butter, you may need to scrape down the bowl to fully incorporate any butter or meringue that’s stuck at the sides.
Finally, splash in some vanilla extract or what have you. Just keep adding a 1/4 teaspoon at a time until it suits your tastes.
The buttercream freezes beautifully. I always have a few containers in my fridge to pull out when I want to make macarons or layer cake.
Cream Cheese Variation
Replace half the butter with one pound of cream cheese that’s warmed to room temperature. At the very end, whip in the juice of 1 lemon. This gives the buttercream a gentle tang, not an overtly lemon flavor.
Peanut Butter Variation
For this variation, omit the salt in the recipe. Commercial peanut butters are salted, making additional salt unnecessary. This is obscene, but I’ve added up to 32 ounces of peanut butter to this recipe (obviously that makes a ton, but I often do so for wedding cakes, etc). Really, you can add as much or as little peanut butter as you like. After you’ve beat in the butter, add in creamy peanut butter a few ounces at a time, until the buttercream has a suitably peanutty flavor. It’s hard to over do it, in my opinion.
Green Tea Variation
Add between 1-2 Tbsp matcha with the butter. Matcha has a naturally bitter flavor, so how much you add will depend largely on how much you enjoy the contrast between the bitter green tea buttercream and the sweetness of the cake. Add a little at a time until it’s just to your liking.
For a phenomenal on-line tea source visit Essencha. They sell a mind blowing matcha sawa, which is what I use for all my matcha recipes.
Anyone in the Lexington area can buy matcha at Dong Yang Market off Clay’s Mill. Yes, I know it’s a Korean market, but they sell a good quality Japanese brand in a small container.
Yes, my recipe for milk chocolate buttercream calls for dark chocolate. Milk chocolate just doesn’t pack enough chocolate-y punch, so I supplement with a little dark chocolate. The end result though, is sweet and mellow. I used it for my brother's birthday cake. You’ll need:
8 ounces milk chocolate, cut into small chunks
5 ounces dark chocolate, likewise cut up
While the egg white/sugar mixture is whipping up and cooling down, melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave, stirring with a spatula every thirty seconds to prevent scorching. When the chocolate is about 90% melted, you can stop microwaving and just stir continually until it melts completely.
After the meringue has cooled and you’ve added all the butter, turn the speed down to low and pour in all of the melted chocolate at once. Try and move quickly, the melted chocolate can chip up against the sides of the bowl. Once you’ve added all the chocolate, turn the speed up to medium-high for a few seconds and whip until the color is uniform.
Dark Chocolate and Cinnamon Variation
Especially nice with the Chai Cocoa Cupcakes mentioned in Sweet Cuppin' Cakes. Follow the Milk Chocolate variation, using all dark chocolate. After the chocolate is incorporated, mix in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. After that, keep adding cinnamon a half teaspoon at a time, to get it where you like it. I like around a full tablespoon, but for some that is way too much.
Before making the buttercream, you’ll need to make one batch of caramel, about 16 ounces. You can actually add quite a bit more more, up to 25 ounces. But 16’s a good place to start.
Cool the caramel to room temperature. Follow the standard buttercream recipe exactly. After you’ve whipped in the butter, turn the speed of the mixer down to low and drizzle in all of the caramel. Let it continue to whip until it’s fully incorporated, adjust salt and vanilla to taste.
Any questions?
Nov 11, 2010 · 1:50 PM
A week in the fridge, or a few months in the freezer. I make b-cream every time I have extra egg whites and just freeze it to pull out during a baking emergency. So handy!! 
Feb 24, 2011 · 6:21 PM
This is a wonderful recipe! I am going to bookmark this one!
· Tammy · ildolcebacio.blogspot.com/
Apr 03, 2011 · 5:38 PM
Hi Tejeanne! Yes, it is best to re-whip it before spreading. The best way to do this is to divide the frozen buttercream into thirds. Melt 2/3 of the buttercream completely (microwave or water bath), and then put it on the mixer to whip on low speed with the remaining 1/3 that is still frozen. The melted buttercream will soften the frozen part, while the frozen buttercream cools and hardens the melted part, and the result is the perfectly creamy mixture you had before it was frozen.
If the mixture seems slightly curdled, it’s still too cold. Just take out about a half a cup, melt it, and add it back into the mix. This should warm it up to a good consistency. Hope that helps!
Apr 04, 2011 · 3:59 PM
Hello Stella!
Amazing one. Thank you for posting it. Anyway, I can’t imagine adding more sugar according to purists. Your amount works just perfect and it’s sweet enough. I made it today and added some lemon curd. Delicious.
· Slanecek · tadyjeslaneckovo.blog.cz
Apr 23, 2011 · 3:17 PM
Hi Caroline, thanks for finding me on twitter too! It definitely makes more buttercream than you need for a batch of macarons, but the recipe is very friendly to division, so feel free to adjust the recipe and make a half or quarter batch if you like.
I have given such a big recipe because for most home bakers, making buttercream is an onerous endeavor. I can’t imagine doing the work to make buttercream and only having just enough. Whether you make a huge batch or a small batch, it’s the same steps, the same amount of work, same amount of time.
Since buttercream freezes so well (six months +) it seems a shame to have make it over and over when you can just make it once and freeze the rest. Whenever I make buttercream, I divide it into 10 ounce portions and freeze it to pull out as needed.
If you do much baking at all, you’ll be surprised at how handy it is to have in the freezer, to pull out for last minute cupcakes, macarons, cake, or whatever!
May 01, 2011 · 11:20 AM
When I make PB buttercream, I use equal portions of PB to buttercream. This is evil, and somewhat unprofessional, but mind blowlingly delicious. 
you can just chuck PB into the mixer, while it’s running, until it’s peanut buttery enough for your tastes. Have fun with it!
May 16, 2011 · 12:15 PM
Hi,
I have a question? You say in your macaron recipe to use powder flavoring and either vanilla bean or extract. Did your vast experiments include vanilla paste and flavor bases or oils and if so did they not give you good results? I was just wondering and wanted to ask the macaron Guru before I start experimenting.
Thanks,
Damarys
· Little D · chef@dolceartcakes.com
May 16, 2011 · 12:29 PM
I've heard good success stories from readers using vanilla paste, and I’ve had good luck flavoring the macs with liquors, but the more liquid you add, the smaller the feet will be, so use reserve. Some types of flavoring, with high oil content, can collapse the meringue, so add them at the last moment. Good luck!
May 18, 2011 · 8:51 PM
Ohmigoodness, Stella, this recipe is wonderful! I made a whole batch and split half into matcha and half into PB to go on top of mini dark chocolate cupcakes for a friend’s bridal shower this weekend.
…I’m not entirely sure there will be any left by the time Saturday rolls around…
Thanks so much for the recipe, the tutorial, and the advice! Half buttercream, half PB may be evil, but if it is I sooooo don’t want to be good!
~Casey
Jun 14, 2011 · 12:07 AM
I was so afraid to attempt macarons until I read your posts on them! Thank you for all of the recipes and taking them down to cookie scale and making them way less scary. Love your blog as well!! @brisbakingblog
· BriAnna · briannasbakingblog.blogspot.com/
Jun 14, 2011 · 5:50 PM
@Brianna, glad I could take them down a notch, ha ha. Keep me posted if you ever make any.
Jun 15, 2011 · 1:20 AM
If, say, you were to attempt a Nutella variation…would it work?* And what ratio would you use? Somehow I suspect that doing it half and half (like the PB buttercream) might be a bit too much…or would it?
*And by “work” I obviously mean “would it retain structural integrity and not collapse from the additional oils and all that”, not “would it be delicious enough to usher in the Apocalypse”, because that’s a given. Some things must be risked.
Jun 15, 2011 · 9:25 AM
@Psyche1226, I agree. The deliciousness would, in fact, be powerful enough to cause extreme climate change and ultimately usher in the Apocalypse. No doubt.
I would say to just chuck Nutella into the mix, a little at a time, until it tasted sufficiently delicious, but of course, never becoming so delicious that any lives are lost… If you would like to be an extreme baker and make your own Nutella, I have a recipe that blows the "real" stuff out of the water. Check it here.
Jun 15, 2011 · 12:56 PM
What will the egg whites look (and smell) like when they are cooking over the double boiler? Mine got very frothy and I thought the eggs started to cook, yet they never got near 145. I tossed them and will start again – just wondering what to look for. Thanks!!
· jamimess · nightbaking.blogspot.com
Jun 15, 2011 · 1:57 PM
Oh my! I started over, went slower, and didn’t make an omelet this time (I used a different thermometer as well). I just made 1/4 recipe to test, and did half chocolate and half peanut butter. To die for! So silky! Thanks!!
· jamimess · nightbaking.blogspot.com
Jun 15, 2011 · 5:25 PM
@jamimess, oh wow! I’m so proud of you, you got yourself totally straightened out before I could even see your comments. They do get a little egg-white smelly, but you solved the problem, cook a little lower and slower. Congrats! The peanut butter version is a personal favorite.
Jun 29, 2011 · 4:24 PM
HI! I, similar to the others, am so grateful for this website. Your baking advice is so thorough, I think I might even try to make the infamous macaron! Question, have you ever made an Earl Grey tea buttercream? I have tried a few recipes, and don’t want to just throw the tea leaves right in (although I may have by the time you read this!) but have never gotten a really Earl Grey-y flavor.. Any suggestions? Thank in advance!
Jun 29, 2011 · 5:33 PM
@Grace, steep 4 or 5 Eart Grey tea bags in about 3 oz of water for 5 minutes. Then remove the bags and use the concentrated tea to flavor the buttercream. If it’s not Earl Grey-y enough, steep another round of bags and repeat. Don’t steep longer than 5 minutes or you’ll just make the tea bitter. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the site, thank you so much for your kind words. Let me know how the buttercream turns out!
Jul 11, 2011 · 5:53 PM
I am so glad to have found this site. My first macarons were pistachio with pistachio buttercream — fantastic and they freeze really well. But the absolutely best, best, best was your Nutella recipe that I tried first. I cannot come up with sufficient words to describe how good it is. Never buying it in a jar again. Now to use it for my next batch of macarons. What would be the best macaron flavor to pair it with? Not a fan of peanut butter.
Jul 12, 2011 · 1:21 PM
@Sherry, with pistachio/pistachio under your belt, you might try hazelnut Nutella. Just use hazelnuts instead of almonds in the macarons and whip some Nutella into the buttercream. So glad you tried making your own!! The stuff from the store just seems lame in comparison now.
Jul 29, 2011 · 2:51 PM
@Diana, it would mask two, 3 layer cakes. Good question! Also, fresh, frozen, carton, whatever, these whites don’t care. I’ve used whites I froze myself, thawed six months later. No biggie! I used carton whites at a job a looooong time ago, they did swell.
Aug 06, 2011 · 8:02 AM
@Emily, it depends on the size of your eggs, but usually between 8-10.
Aug 27, 2011 · 4:50 PM
Thanks for easily breaking this down for us and including the many different variations. I am actually going to attempt to make this today for the first time with the addition of pulverized freeze dried strawberries! Quick question – I am planning on making the huge full size batch so that I can freeze a bunch for later use (such a brilliant idea – thank you!). After portioning out the amount I will use today, can I freeze the rest of the unflavored buttercream and then flavor it (with extracts, peanut butter, coconut, whatever) after I take it out to use it? Or is it better to flavor it before freezing? I’m assuming I can do it either way, but not sure if one method creates a better texture/flavor. Thanks!
Aug 27, 2011 · 7:04 PM
@Jayne, yes, you can portion and freeze it unflavored, then flavor post thawing. Really, whatever is most convenient, the texture and flavor will not be affected either way. It’s so nice to have a batch or two stored away and waiting for emergency caking.
Sep 12, 2011 · 3:44 PM
Totally BUZZED, Stella! Love these. Great that they are wheat free. Rice flour can be cool…nice crumbly texture. YUM. Thanks
· Chocolate Chilli Mango (Viviane Buzzi) · chocolatechillimango.com/
Nov 03, 2011 · 9:44 PM
I’ve just started making macarons and figured out a lot of these things for myself (except that I don’t have to dry them out! What a time saver! My second batch was still tacky after being left out overnight, and I had to resort to putting the sheet trays on the stovetop with the oven on)…
But I’m one of those people with no kitchen scale and not enough patience to wait to get them. So I guess what I was wondering – having a goal to make at least 4 different kinds of buttercream for macarons with this one recipe – was how many oz the total recipe yielded. (Or how many 10 oz batches I could get from this one preparation.) Thanks!
I should note: My first macarons were made with walnuts, and I didn’t know anything about what to fill them with, so I used lychee honey and fresh peach whipped cream! My second batch were made with pumpkin seeds (salted! Sounds weird, but they came out lovely!) and had a chestnut buttercream and more ground chestnuts, adhered with some agave nectar. All were hits.
Nov 05, 2011 · 9:51 PM
@mindymayhem, This is a pretty big batch of buttercream, it makes right at 50 ounces. So you could definitely whip up a batch to satisfy your buttercream experiment with just a little to spare. I’ve made pumpkin seed macarons many a time, doesn’t sound weird at all! Great minds, right?
Nov 10, 2011 · 6:51 PM
Hi there – how many eggs roughly would 10oz of egg whites be?
· gibble · www.bakelife.com
Nov 10, 2011 · 7:05 PM
@Gibble, There is no universal answer to the question- hence my deep love for baking by weight. The amount of whites per egg really depends on the size of egg, but for “regular” (not large or jumbo) I find they yield about 1 1/4 ounce each; so around 8.
Nov 17, 2011 · 10:51 PM
@Jess, oh no! Two quick questions, are you using a scale to measure the ingredients? And, is your butter room temperature or are you microwaving it?
Sometimes microwaved butter is ultra soft or slightly melted and this will affect the buttercream’s final texture.
Leaving those aside, since butter is a solid at room temperature, the only way for it to become liqiud-y is for it to come into contact with something warmer than itself. This could be from two things. The first would be that the meringue is too warm (so even though it may have cooled it may not if fact be cool, ie room temperature), but that seems unlikely since you said you’ve beat it until cool. The other is that your mixing bowl is retaining warmth from the water bath. So, for example, if you tested the meringue by sticking your finger or a thermometer in it, it would seem quite cool. But if the bowl is still warm (especially if you’re using a ceramic bowl) it will keep conducting warmth into the meringue and could end up melting your butter.
Let me know if any of those sound like the culprit, or any other information you can. I hope we can get to the bottom of this! If you still have that buttercream, it’s possible to save it. You’ll have to refrigerate it overnight as the first step, so if you still have it, let me know and I’ll walk you through the rescue process.
Nov 18, 2011 · 8:57 AM
@jess, if you use any kind of glass or ceramic bowl (or any bowl with a thick wall that will retain heat), that’s a great idea. If you’re using a stainless bowl, then that’s probably not the issue.
It’s my plan to write a full post about how to thaw buttercream/ save a bad batch, but to recap: after you’ve refrigerated it until it’s hard, melt 1/3 of the buttercream completely. Either in a water bath or microwave. Then, while mixing the melted part continuously at medium speed with a whip attachment, begin adding in the solid buttercream a small chunk at a time, until you’ve added it all. It sounds crazy but works every time!
Nov 19, 2011 · 10:56 AM
@jess, Oh that’s so awesome!! I’m glad we found the problem. I’ll make a note in the recipe advising people to do the same if they’re using a non-stainless bowl. Thanks for the wonderful feedback!
Dec 05, 2011 · 8:49 AM
I found your website last week and want to make everything! I am excited to try out the flavoured butter cream! I’m not used to this type of buttercream so I will try a smaller batch first! Love your blog, thanks so much!
· Natasha · CupcakeDarling.wordpress.com
Dec 05, 2011 · 3:10 PM
@Natasha, I’m so glad you’re going to try it out! You’ll have to let me know what flavor you ended up with and how you liked it. For me, this kind of buttercream can’t be beat, it’s so incredibly creamy. Good luck!
Dec 07, 2011 · 3:23 AM
Hi Stella – how do you usually freeze the buttercream, ie. in containers are fine in your 10oz portions? Many thanks!
· Gibble · www.bakelife.com
Dec 07, 2011 · 3:25 AM
Oh – and one more question, how does it keep in the fridge? I am thinking of making up some tonight, freezing most and keeping a 10oz portion for this weekend in the fridge as I’m going to attempt your macarons!
· Gibble · www.bakelife.com
Dec 07, 2011 · 9:08 AM
@Gibble, so glad you’re planning to freeze some. It’s so nice to pull out in a pinch when you need buttercream without having to make any at the time. Actually, I don’t even bother with containers when I freeze the buttercream. I stretch out a sheet of plastic wrap, place a dollop of buttercream in the center, and wrap it like a package (the way you would wrap cookie dough or something. Then I double wrap it in another sheet of plastic and write the date on the plastic with a Sharpie. Then just pop it in the fridge or freezer.
The buttercream should be fine in the fridge for about two weeks. Have fun macaron making!
Dec 10, 2011 · 9:47 AM
Thanks Stella I made my first macaroons today! Made 4 trays in total – but I think the batter was slightly over mixed? It was runny and piping was tricky – though maybe I used too big a piping tip – what size do you usually work with?
The first tray was okay – nice feet, but the macaroons didn’t rise that much – quite thin, but nice and chewy. Second tray – cracked (maybe I didn’t remove the bubbles thoroughly before popping into oven). Third tray had no feet, were slightly over cooked (quite brown and ‘hardened’ looking), but didn’t crack, and fourth tray were good like the first tray.
I found the buttercream texture after defrosting wasn’t as great as when I had made it the other night – was soft and didn’t whip up to the same consistency. Any ideas why this might be? I live in a very humid climate (Singapore) and wasn’t sure if I had melted too much of the portion or maybe not whipped it long enough? Probably about a minute… any advice? Would love to show you the pics of my macaroons, as I’m curious as to how to get them to rise better?
· gibble · www.bakelife.com
Dec 10, 2011 · 11:57 AM
@gibble, if the batter was runny, then the macarons were definitely a bit overmixed. Now that you know how overmixed macaron batter looks, next time, try to stop shy of that. It’s okay if you err too far on the side of undermixing. The most important part of macaron making is knowing what over and undermixed macarons look like. So you’ve got overmixed under your belt, you’re halfway there!
Given the wild differences between all of your trays, I’d say your oven temperature might also be playing a role; it doesn’t sound like it’s giving you even, consistent heat. For future batches, you might try giving the oven ten minutes between trays for the heat to regulate after opening the oven door.
Also, re: the buttercream you definitely have to whip it a few minutes to restore the texture. If it was too soft or slightly runny, you may have melted it too much. When I rewhip thawed buttercream, I usually give it five minutes on medium speed with a whisk attachment. Hope all of that helps, good luck!
Dec 14, 2011 · 1:46 AM
Hi there! I just made a 1/2 batch buttercream following your recipe. I weighed my ingredients neurotically, made sure the egg white mixture was cool/cold (bottom stainless bowl cold) before beating in butter. (*I did NOT use a scraped vanilla bean; I left it out and tried to add vanilla extract at the end AND I used salted butter because I like salt.—could these have been the culprit?) BUT, when I added the second butter stick, as I was beating with the hand-held mixer, it began to separate and get chunky looking. By the end of the pound, it was whipped butter consistency (like thick and spackly, not smooth like frosting)—like I had never had any egg whites to begin with. I wanted to make coffee flavor and added about 1-2 T super strong coffee but it did not blend. The coffee oozed out from between the butter blobs.
Any ideas what I screwed up? I’m a little worried because I was planning to attempt your macarons tomorrow.. And here I botched the buttercream! I might try your refrigerator “save” trick you mention above.. The butter was on the cooler room temperature side to begin with so maybe it didn’t incorporate properly? The problem is I mixed it for a really long time hoping it would blend but the more I mixed, the more it seemed determined to separate.
Thank you so much!
· cheyenne · ginandbutterflies.etsy.com
Dec 14, 2011 · 9:46 AM
@cheyenne, the butter temperature is definitely the culprit; butter that’s not perfectly soft/creamy just doesn’t have the texture needed to emulsify the mixture. It’s easy to save though! No need to ditch it.
If you’re taking the mixture straight out of the fridge, you can try zapping it in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Keep microwaving at 15 second intervals until the buttercream starts to melt around the edges. The biggest thing to remember is if you’re melting it in the mixing bowl, that your bowl will retain heat, so keep in mind that once your done, it will keep melting a bit more.
(Alternately, you can start semi-melting it in a bowl over a water bath.)
Once about 1/2 of the buttercream has become soft, start beating it with a hand or stand mixer (wire attachment) until it’s soft and fluffy. (I often say to melt 2/3, but it’s better to err on the side of caution when you’re just learning the technique, I think.)
In the future (or to anyone else reading!) if this happens to you, just set the bowl of curdled buttercream over a pot of simmering water. Leave it there just until it starts to melt around the edges. Then resume whipping. It should come together nicely, and pretty fast. If not, melt just a little more.
As a sidenote: I am the world’s biggest fan of salty desserts, but this buttercream is not very sweet to begin with and I fear you may not enjoy your salted butter version. Hope it works out though!
Dec 14, 2011 · 1:10 PM
Hooray—thank you so much!! I’ll do this today. I was a little worried about how I would re-purpose a batch of coffee-flavored sweet butter
One more quick question if you don’t mind: Your Champagne & Roses version of the macaron recipe calls for 3oz reduced Champagne added to the buttercream. Is this for a full 50oz recipe as above? Or is it 3oz added to a 10oz macaron-batch-sized amount of buttercream? Thank you again!
· cheyenne · ginandbutterflies.etsy.com
Dec 14, 2011 · 6:07 PM
@cheyenne, whew, I’m glad you don’t have to waste it either! Coffee buttercream sounds awesome, let me know how it turns out in the end!
Also, you’re on the right track with the Champagne. It’s 3 ounces of champagne reduction for 10 ounces of buttercream.
Dec 16, 2011 · 10:48 PM
Success! I heated it maybe 30 seconds total and it beat up perfectly in less than a minute.
Macaron Attempt #1 was so-so. They tasted good, but all but maybe 10 shells out of the entire batch (4 sheets worth) cracked all over the place & maybe one foot-ish looking thing out of the whole lot.
I feel like I got the consistency okay (by maybe 35 turn/squashes, the batter was slow-flowy), possibly it was on the runny side? Videos and photos show others’ batter to be far more coarse looking than mine was but maybe that is because I used pre-ground almond flour. Now I’m wondering if I didn’t blend it evenly enough before it got to the ‘lava’ stage. I’ll see how the next batch turns out (tomorrow). I also think I didn’t smash the whites enough—the cookies were quite poofy.
Thank you again for all your advise and your excellent recipe & Macaron Myths/Commandments!
· cheyenne · ginandbutterflies.etsy.com
Dec 17, 2011 · 3:27 PM
@cheyenne, generally, I say if the batter is runny, then it’s overmixed (though other things can cause that too). Just make sure your meringue is whipped enough that it’s absolutely stiff, no softness at all. Good luck, keep me posted!
Dec 29, 2011 · 11:09 AM
@Kait, so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know how it turned out for you. I love making extra batches for freezing, so handy to pull out for cupcake emergencies.
@Gail, Always reach for granulated when a recipe calls for “sugar.” Granulated sugar is considered the default for sugar. Powdered sugar or icing sugar, is made from granulated sugar so it’s a secondary type that will always be called by its “full name,” so to speak.
My buttercream recipes all use granulated sugar and the macaron recipe uses both; granulated sugar with the egg whites and powdered sugar with the nuts. I hope that clarifies things. Happy baking!
Jan 09, 2012 · 6:37 PM
Hi Stella this is wonderful. Altough at first I was mistaken for the measurement (blame my math, I thought 2 pounds = 250 grms how stupid I am) until I realiseD that there is something wrong as the buttercream was too runny. My buttercream will never be same anymore, yours is just too good glad I made a full batch so I’ll be able to put some in the fridge. Well now is the macarons..
Jan 10, 2012 · 2:09 PM
@Melzazky, oh no!! Well, I’m glad you got to the bottom of the issue and fixed it! So glad you enjoyed it, I love that you’re a convert now, ha! Happy macaroning.
Jan 23, 2012 · 12:17 AM
My dad sent me a link to your site months ago…I’ve been missing out! I tried making french macarons for the first time using your recipe for my pastry buffet final..worked out great. I saw you mention essencha tea house which is where I also get my matcha and is conveniently about half a mile from home. I’m now addicted to your blog.
Jan 23, 2012 · 11:02 AM
@Yin, ahh! I’m so jealous, that’s such a lovely part of Cincinnati! Though I’d probably bankrupt myself if I lived that close to Essencha, such a great place. Say hi to Tracey for me next time you visit! And congratulations on a macaron success for the pastry buffet; luckily I didn’t have to do macarons for mine. I got eclairs instead, too easy!
Feb 07, 2012 · 10:54 PM
What is an acceptable alternative to vanilla beans? When I saw the cost of them at the grocery store, I nearly choked. As much as I’d love to follow your directions to a t, I might have to reserve using beans for recipes that absolutely would not turn out without them. Please advise!
Feb 08, 2012 · 9:39 AM
@Krista, you can find vanilla bean paste at stores like Williams-Sonoma, or “gourmet” type groceries. The jar has directions for substitution. You can, of course, just use vanilla extract. But, in any case, the vanilla beans sold at the grocery are crazy expensive and really poor quality; I recommend buying them online instead. There’s a great site called Beanilla which sells vanilla beans at wholesale prices. You can get 10 Madagascar beans for 8 bucks, I love those guys!
Feb 27, 2012 · 8:10 AM
@Snow White, there is a difference! I measure everything by weight; volume for anything but water is a crap shoot.
Mar 13, 2012 · 7:47 PM
@AmandaC, try reducing the sugar by 4 ounces, then whipping in 4 ounces of honey at the end after you’ve added all the butter. Honey’s got a potent taste, so I think 4 ounces is about all you’ll need, but let me know how it works out. Sounds like a perfect match for your lavender macarons!
Mar 16, 2012 · 3:02 PM
Hi!
If you’re not concerned about food safety, is it necessary to heat the eggwhites or can you just go ahead and whip them up cold? I know you can make meringue without heating the whites, but will it work in the buttercream? I guess the heat helps you get more volume when you beat the whites but how hot does it need to be if you are just after that effect?
I guess i should add that I’m from Sweden and our eggs are perfectly safe to eat raw since our hens don’t have salmonella or whatever it is that makes you avoid raw eggs.
Mar 16, 2012 · 6:26 PM
@Lotta, the heat isn’t for food safety so much as it is for stability. French meringue (made with uncooked whites) is the least stable of all meringues and wouldn’t be suitable for buttercream. You guessed it right, the volume is much better because of the heat. For those reasons, it’s important to cook the whites and sugar in a water bath until it’s quite hot, lest it not achieve the volume and stability needed. Hope that info helps!
Apr 01, 2012 · 9:21 AM
@Diana, for the most part, the buttercream is really forgiving and will absorb just about whatever you want to put into it. That being said, plain fruit purees are often not intense enough (they have a lot of water content) and by the time you add enough puree to give the buttercream a good flavor, it will start to break/curdle due to the excess liquid.
You can get around this by using reductions rather than raw purees. Just cook your puree over low heat (you want to be gentle so you don’t give the fruit a cooked flavor) until they’ve reduced by at least half.
Apr 10, 2012 · 7:14 PM
A comment and a question:
Vanilla beans: Amazon! JR Mushrooms, an Amazon vendor, sells vanilla beans that are 8” or longer, vacuum-packed, full, plump, and moist. They make Spice Islands “vanilla beans” look like dead sticks—oh wait, they already look like dead sticks. Anyway, they’re excellent quality, sell for less than a buck apiece, and can be bought in a number of different quantities (in case you don’t make vanilla ice cream/creme brulee/buttercream/macarons every night—but why not?)
Now the question: I made a Swiss meringue buttercream per your recipe, but I find it’s a little oozey for macaron filling. I put about 3/4 tsp cinnamon into about, oh, maybe 80 g of the buttercream and filled a half-batch of cafe-flavored macarons with it. After overnight refrigeration and subsequent defrosting, it tasted divine—the high fat content really amps up the cinnamon flavor—but it squished out like nobody’s business. Co-workers were raving as they wiped the shiny remains from their lips and chins. Do you think more sugar would stiffen it up a bit? I’m in Texas, by the way, and “room temperature” around these parts is 75F in April…
I must say I’ve pored over your macaron posts and have benefited greatly from your experience. I embarked on macarons with confidence, since I’m a dab hand at chiffon pies and therefore unafraid of meringue… but after a couple of dumb-luck successes, my macarons went south and I scurried back to your blog for a much-needed jolt of confidence and myth debunking. Happy to say that the macs are now behaving themselves and meekly rising up on lovely feet. Cheers!
Apr 15, 2012 · 11:18 AM
@annabel, thanks for the recommendation! I’ll have to check ‘em out. I’m a big fan of beanilla.com, they likewise sell the beans either in bulk or by the each, more manageable batches. But the coolest part is they offer such a huge variety of vanillas (from Tahiti, Tonga, Madagascar, Indonesia, Mexico and a few others) which each bring their own flavor profile to the mix. No matter where you get them, once you’ve tried chubby, damp beans the crappy ones in the jar just seem depressing. Glad you’re a convert!
As far as the Swiss buttercream goes, it’s pretty soft at room temperature (about the same as room temp butter). Most people do have a tendency to overfill macarons, which will exacerbate the squish factor considerably. I generally pipe in a nickle sized dab of buttercream and when I press the shells together, I try to keep it from spreading out all the way to the edges. That way, even when someone takes a bite, the filling isn’t ejected from the shells, it just spreads out the rest of the way (flush to the edges).
That said, many chefs prefer a sturdier filling for their macarons, so you wouldn’t be alone in wanting something with more staying power.
Apr 25, 2012 · 3:25 PM
Hi Stella
I have just had my first (now to be of many)Swiss Meringue Buttercream. This was put on Bakewell Cupcakes.
I have never really liked buttercream previously as it always seems to feel slightly gritty (yes I used icing sugar) but the SMB is perfect!!! Thank you. Next stop – your macaron recipe. The others I have done tasted divine but didn’t look as pretty as I would have liked.
Many thanks, Nonie
Apr 25, 2012 · 4:11 PM
@Nonie, I’m so, so happy to hear you liked the SMB! I am right there with you, I absolutely hate that gritty feel in other types of frosting. You might also like my German buttercream. It’s not quite as buttery as the Swiss (some people think the Swiss is too butter) but it has a great custard-like flavor. It’s nice when you want to do something different, but still want to avoid grit.
Good luck with the macarons!
Apr 27, 2012 · 4:25 PM
@Nicolas, you’ve got it. The more liquid you add to the buttercream, the softer the buttercream will be. If you’re frosting a cake or cupcakes or something where the buttercream can have a more homestyle look, there’s not a lot to worry about. If you’re cake-decorating or otherwise need the buttercream on its best behavior, I’d not add any more than 5 ounces of liquid.
May 03, 2012 · 8:41 AM
Hi Lee! The conversion’s a snap. Just multiply the weight of every ingredient by 28.35. There are tons of online calculators which will do a great job converting if you’d rather not do the heavy lifting. I’m afraid I’m an American through and through, addicted to ounces.
May 04, 2012 · 4:35 AM
Hi Stella, thanks for your help. Some of the baking calculators totally confused me with things like density to be added into their equations. Conversion will now be a breeze. 
Was reading your reply on how we can use our extra egg yolks and you mentioned replacing egg whites in this recipe with egg yolks to make french butter cream. So do I just follow the same steps? Is there anything special I need to look out for? Thanks again!
May 04, 2012 · 8:47 AM
@Lee Cheng, oh, weird! Density doesn’t play a role unless you’re converting from weight to volume. Glad I could simplify for you!
I am posting a recipe on French buttercream very soon, but don’t have it ready quite yet. But the way I do it is very similar to Swiss (though traditionally French buttercream is made like Italian; with a hot sugar syrup). Essentially follow this recipe and replace the whites with yolks. They won’t whip up to the same volume, but just whip until cool before adding butter.
May 15, 2012 · 9:27 AM
Dear Stella,
As per Lee Cheng ‘s question, I also would like to ask about swapping egg yolks into the buttercream. You mentioned that the yolks will not give the same volume, should we add more butter to make it more stable, or do we add more sugar??? I also have the same question for when the buttercream oozing out the macaron, should I add more sugar or should I add more butter to have a Sturdier filling? Afraid to keep adding too much butter, some people dont like toomuch butter flavor. SORRY too many questions . Thank you for helping all of us homebakers out there…
May 15, 2012 · 9:37 AM
@hanh, I make the French buttercream just like the Swiss, no changes. It’s a little denser, but in a luxurious way. European buttercreams, but their very nature, are not particularly sturdy; as a macaron filling, the only way to keep them from squishing out the sides is to a) serve them cold (yuck!) or b) underfill them. 99% of the time, people overfill macarons, because they look prettier that way. But the perfect amount of buttercream will stop short of the edges after sandwiching, and thus not squish out when bitten.
For people who are a little overwhelmed by the butteriness of Swiss, German buttercream is a great option. It’s made with a custard base, rather than meringue, so it has a richer flavor, like ice cream.
May 15, 2012 · 11:32 AM
Hi Stella, I did make the yolk buttercream, I like the taste very much, indeed a bit richer than the Swiss, in a good way . I just want to make it a bit sturdier so I can feel confident giving my macaron to my friends without worrying about the buttercream melting in their cars, would you recommend adding a bit more sugar or butter to stiffen it??? if yes, which one? Again, thank you so much. You are AWESOME!
May 15, 2012 · 5:32 PM
@hanh, unfortunately, European buttercreams don’t work that way; that can’t be made stiffer with more sugar. They will only ever be as stiff as room temperature butter, it’s just their nature. 
As long as you cooked the yolks over the water bath until they were over 145° you’ll be fine. Glad to hear you’ve had such a busy baking day!
May 15, 2012 · 10:06 PM
Hi Stella, I was hoping to bring some macarons to my in-laws for a dinner get together this weekend. I am concerned that the fillings in the macarons will be melted while sitting on the dessert table, while everyone is eating away Should I just skip the buttercream altogether, and substitute with something else? I noticed people have been doing Macarons for their weddings, how do they do it? Please give me your professional suggestion . Thank you so much. Having a bitbof trouble with the macarons texture, but will try again tomorrow morning, just need to figure out this buttercream dilemma, please HELP!