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Close up of chocolate drip cake with chocolate truffles

Guinness Buttercream - Swiss Meringue

Chantal
This Swiss meringue buttercream uses a Guinness reduction for a silky frosting with a pleasant stout flavour
Course Dessert
Servings 4 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 135 g Egg whites
  • 240 g Granulated sugar white
  • 375 g Butter unsalted, softened
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 Bottle of Guinness simmered till reduced by half

Instructions
 

  • Combine egg whites and sugar in a stainless steel bowl and place over a pot of simmering water (the mouth of the pot should be large enough to securely hold the bowl, alternately you can do this in the top of a double boiler)
  • Whisk constantly with a wire whip until the sugar completely dissolves (you can test this by rubbing some of the meringue between your fingers, you should not feel any sugar grains, it should be completely smooth)
  • Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip at high speed until stiff peaks have formed and the bowl is cool to the touch. Add the salt.
  • Add the softened butter a bit by bit waiting till the previous addition is combined before continuing. (I like to switch over to the paddle attachment at this point simply because it’s easier to get the finished buttercream off the paddle than the whisk)
  • While mixing, the buttercream may appear to curdle but keep whipping and it will come back together into perfect beautiful buttercream, if it seems hopeless, place it briefly over some simmering water and whip it again.
  • Start pouring in the reduced Guinness. When you’ve poured about half in you’ll want to start tasting it as you may not want to add the full amount according to your preference.