How to get brighter Swiss meringue buttercream colors

How to get intense colors with your buttercream and why it works. We'll also cover some common questions about this technique, such as if this alter the heated buttercream in terms of volume, or if you can skip all of this and just color the meringue.
This technique is great for European buttercreams (Swiss, Italian, French, German). American buttercream is a different breed of frosting, and has a different set of rules that I didn't cover in this video.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
02:08 Butter as an emulsifier/making SMBC
03:25 Coloring large batches or trying to dye frosting the darkest possible color
04:38 Is there any loss in volume/fluffiness when you heat your buttercream?
05:35 Using heat to intensify color on a gradient
06:21 What happens when you just color the meringue?
HOW TO MAKE SWISS MERINGUE VIDEO:
• Perfect Swiss Meringue...
🌈 TOOLS USED IN THIS VIDEO:
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AmeriColor gel food coloring:
amzn.to/3xJE8gs
Freezer safe deli containers:
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Happy baking, friends ♥️
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[@nlc6275]

I’ve colored the butter before adding to the frosting. You need to use candy oil based colors. It works pretty well but you have to soften the butter and then let it harden up after.

[@lenorbradley8549]

I try that...

[@TechTails]

Candy colors are expensive

[@niquez4472]

I was thinking to color the butter first 🤔

[@angiewieland6246]

You are literally AMAZING! I love the science behind all of this!

[@alanalynch8631]

So very informative and most importantly very understandable! Take you for taking the time to share this video🌸

[@davidtaboo652]

I’m in love with this channel. I stumbled on it today by accident I’ll keep watching. Very good research that’s uncommon

[@rubyc.4311]

This is a very interesting video about intensifying colour in buttercream. Thanks for sharing it!

[@lindoraford2354]

Wow! I studied your videos before making my first batch of Swiss Meringue buttercream! I nailed it! Awesome! Thank you! Love the science!

[@TheYonori]

I just tried this on my Italian marangue buttercream... I worked beautifully. Thank you so much for this tip.

[@tinarivera9802]

You're so cool! I love that you have the patience to educate us 😁 thanks, Adriana! 🤗

[@Sugarologie]

Awww I'm learning with you all too! 💕

[@meganroberts4179]

This video was super helpful!!!! Thank you so much!

[@User-mq5fz]

I really love your videos😍😩 so informative 💕

[@maryjoboyle606]

Kudos, excellent video with intelligent explanations! I wish more people would put as much thought and care into their videos.

[@Sugarologie]

That is just so nice to say. Thank you so much!

[@kellyw.1779]

Hey Adriana! I've heard about this method but have never tried it. This is awesome and you explained it perfectly. I understand emulsifying oil and water because I make bath and beauty products and use an emulsifier in different products. Like in a bath bomb that contains oils or butters, you need to add an emulsifier like Polysorbate 80 so that there isn't a nasty oil slick floating on top of the water and it helps colorants like Mica's not stain or make a ring around the tub. Love how the different heating times creates the ombre effect! So cool to see the melted buttercream come back to its beautiful fluffy consistency. Great breakdown and info!! Big ((Hugs)) and Love from Texas! xoxo : )

[@Lynda5876]

Love this explanation from the scientific perspective. Thanks for sharing!

[@Sugarologie]

Glad it was helpful!

[@elfaliya5101]

this was super useful !! thank you so much

[@lisasj8586]

Amazing scientific explanation! Swiss meringue is my go to buttercream, love the texture and flavour, but I have always been disappointed when trying to colour it. Definitely trying this on my next bake!

[@Sugarologie]

Aww yeah definitely try it and thank you!!

[@olenkaalgie5714]

So informative! Thanks 😊👍

[@koreandiva76]

Fantastic explanation.

[@jennaseo6205]

I’m so excited to watch this xD

[@Dorinad187]

Thank you so much ❤❤the best video that explain really good

[@HeartAvendano-cn1oy]

Very helpful! Thank you 😊

[@sacredsiren]

This video was insanely helpful. I went to a professional culinary school for pastry and baking, and they never addressed this issue. I will definitely be using this method to create brighter buttercreams in the future!

[@abadambly8357]

Check out Ann Reardon on How to Cook That. In two different videos, she debunks this hack.

[@TheBusyJane]

As soon as you mentioned microwaving it, I wondered about adding it to the meringue, but during the heating process.

[@MilkyWhite1]

Me too. Have you tried it? My guess is that you would have trouble getting the color right and if there's oil in the food coloring, it might impede the whipping process.

[@sarahy2759]

I've never used heat to emulsify the color into the SMBC. Instead, I use the balloon whisk attachment on my hand held mixer to help incorporate the color. This is an intriguing idea though but would cause a bit more prep time.

[@rebeccaiop9061]

I tried using an immersion blender to darken the color and it worked just fine too. Thanks for the scientific explanation. Makes a lot of sense 😊

[@rebeccaahmed9367]

Excellent tutorial

[@Sugarologie]

Why thank you

[@Twidi_]

thank you so much this is so helpfull!

[@irenerosegaco6377]

This video save my day as im stuggled ai much to reach the red color smbc update leter send pic after i will try this idea 😊 Update.... i tried this idea today and it came out such an amazing red color thank u so much for this idea really saved my day...

[@idontcare1481]

Very good to know. Thank you!!

[@isabellacullen1349]

Amazing video. 🤩❤️👏

[@devxrad]

thank you so much for this!

[@magikdust2095]

This is a neat idea. I'm glad you showed us that putting the colour in at the beginning of beating the meringue, because I had that same question. I also wondered how much volume it lost, so I also appreciated that you showed that Another thing I'm wondering though, is if letting it sit in a air tight container for a few days would get the same bright colour as heating it does. I know that letting the icing sit with colour in it does intensify the colour, I'm just not sure if it would intensify the colour to the same extent as heating it does. So I'd be interested to know that. Anyway, this was a good video 👍

[@Sugarologie]

Yeah so that's a great point. Eventually the color will diffuse over time, but I didn't look at that. By agitating and heating, we are essentially speeding up the diffusion process. It may take a week, or even longer to get the same result just by going with timed diffusion. :)

[@mayushkaXP]

Incredible!! No questions left unanswered. Ive heard about this trick before but i was always scared to heat my buttercream! Thank you thank you thank you! 🤩

[@dianadolor7695]

Thank you thank you thank you!!! ✨

[@camilahearst4171]

Wow congratulations, smart girl! Thank you for your generosity sharing the trick!

[@haidyslittlecorner8426]

Great videooooo

[@ElmavanderRyst]

Hello, thanks for this video! Another hack I just discovered is to put a TINY amount of purple color into the naturally yellow (from the butter and vanilla) Swiss meringue buttercream to make it white (same a hair colorist would do to get a brassy tone out of hair). I'm making a chocolate cake with "candy cane" in between the layers, so want WHITE and RED. Using both your "hack" for the red, and the purple to get white this afternoon. Wish me luck!! :D (When watching your video I was struck by how white your buttercream is, and directly after you added all that butter too - no idea how you managed that lol)

[@ethanheyne]

Butter has a yellowish colorant added to it, otherwise it would be much closer to pure white. I wonder, how much trouble would it be to make your own butter without the colorant? Or is there a storebought butter with no color added?

[@mgarzaguzman]

I can see that heating does deepen the color and how much time or heat you use also deepens the color. I like that it is simple enough to fix the melted, soupy mess by just chilling the buttercream for a bit and whipping it again to emulsify it. My question is, have you noticed any difference in the way it performs. Like maybe when piping or making flowers the buttercream melts way faster, or the stability isn't as strong as it can be when it isn't melted and emulsified again

[@arlenecayone1172]

Hi, thanks for this very helpful tip. Can I ask if microwaving it would effect the stiffness of the buttercream? Would it still pipe well? Thanks a lot. Obsessed with your channel.

[@Carey86]

What happens if you use melted butter in the Swiss buttercream? Thanks for the tips!!😘

[@secondconflict570]

Interesting. I always thought that the color was less intense because of all the air whipped into the egg whites. Like when you color taffy it's intense but it gets lighter and lighter with each pull due to the addition of air in little microbubbles. I figured that when heating the frosting it would melt and pop all of those bubbles, making the color more saturated.

[@corneliastreet2491]

It would seem that way, but when you add the air back into it and re-emulsify it it stays super vibrant so…? Confused lol

[@blaze5847]

@@corneliastreet2491 I'm not experienced with taffy making but I'd assume it's because unpulled taffy is just more translucent than unwhipped butter, so more of the pigment shows through the whole batch before you start working air into it. Butter is more opaque so most of the pigment you're seeing is only on the exposed surface of it while the rest is hidden underneath.

[@corneliastreet2491]

@@blaze5847 that’s actually the opposite. Um pulled taffy is brighter and darker in color (more saturated) and when you pull it it becomes lighter and less saturated due to the air bubbles being added to it. But now that I’ve re-read the original comment it actually makes sense. Basically, the opposite of what you said 😅 but it’s totally not your fault bc I’m pretty sure most people aren’t super familiar with how taffy pulling works

[@blaze5847]

@@corneliastreet2491 No, I understand how taffy pulling works as a process (just that I've never personally hand made taffy from start to finish myself so there may be some nuances I'm missing 😅). That's what I meant in my comment when they were comparing the process to taffy. The air bubbles introduce opacity into the previously translucent sugar syrup which is what lightens the colour by obscuring the pigmentation further in the mix (similarly to how cola foam is a pale brown colour despite liquid cola being a dark brown/black). Whereas with butter, it's already quite opaque so whipping air into it wouldn't affect the colour as dramatically since the colour of buttercream is just the colour of the pigment that's visibly exposed at the surface.

[@corneliastreet2491]

@@blaze5847 it is to do with color, not quite as much opacity. Yes, that does happen! But in the case of the buttercream, the opacity isn’t changed either way so it can’t be quite the same process 😅

[@rachelboothe5075]

I just found your video and it is great. I used a different microwave method before to try and get a deep black, but I could never get it darker than a dark gray. Would it have worked to have done the melting and hardening in the refrigerator over and over until I got to the depth of black I wanted? Is there any point where the buttercream just get bad from being melted and hardened over and over?

[@minyunii8789]

hello, may I ask something? after the color darken, how long do you think it would last in room temperature? I did this technique and the result was superb, the color was so pretty, but I feel like it is much easier and faster to get melted than regular SMBC without heating it. I hope you reply to this one, thankyouu 🙏🙏

[@133eva]

Such a helpful video! One question, though - can you add food coloring to chocolate SMBC? If that's the case, would you add the melted chocolate or food coloring first (can you even microwave chocolate SMBC)? Thanks in advance. :)

[@serinetouhami9033]

Hi thank you for this great explanation, I'm plannig to make ombré purple SMBC and I heard that it's hard to get the perfect color using the purple food coloring , what do you recommend can I mix red and blue? And how can i make the purple shades?

[@TechTails]

Hey. So not sure if you tried this - but have you ever tried adding the food color to the egg whites before beating with the sugar? I would think this would have the same effect to distribute the color since egg whites are mostly water. Only issue would be youd not be sure of what color you get unless you knew the exact amount through testing. Cool trick on the microwave one either way. Learned it a long time ago and came to your conclusion also

[@Sugarologie]

Yeah so that works and gets you most of the way there - the only issue then is getting to the water in the butter, so you may be good if you’re not looking for a super intense color

[@rae2122]

Aaààa

[@tonibell7997]

@Sugarologie could you not melt the butter then add the colour before adding it to the egg and sugar mixture.. let it cool..and only whip it the once? Seems like hard work to whip it melt it and re whip it xx

[@rohinibisht9934]

Can we use the same method for cream cheese frosting too to get that deep red color?

[@RebekahGilbert]

After you add color to the meringue with this process, can you put it back in the fridge or freezer until ready to use? Do you have to use heat again to bring back the vibrancy? Or can you just use it like you would uncolored meringue when taking out from the fridge or freezer? Thank you!!

[@jennifercarratura4508]

Thank you so much for this! This is everything I needed to know and you explained it so well. I'm making a dark Navy Blue tomorrow (8-12-21) and I'm SO nervous!!! Any advice? If you get to this in time of corse! LoL

[@Sugarologie]

You got this - you can definitely make a navy blue as dark as you like with this method;) Make your SMBC, add your gel color and slowly microwave to achieve the hue. Then place in the fridge to firm up and it will go back to its creamy emulsified state. Let me know how it turned out!

[@analynnapii9266]

@@Sugarologie when microwave is not available any option can you advice.thanks in advance.

[@radigeorgieva9936]

Hello, this a great advice and your chanel is lovely! What do we do if we do not have macrowave? How long should we keep it in the oven for example?

[@Sugarologie]

So you just need it to melt a little - I’m not sure about timing, but once you see it start to melt pull it out and stir :) you’ll start to see the effect pretty rapidly

[@mywaterfountain]

This video is fantastic!!! I saved it to my playlist and also sent it to a friend! Full of straight facts and no fluff. I would be highly interested in seeing a follow up video on the differences between Italian and French meringue using the same methods. (Since bakers often will use a three.) And also any differences between water and oil based coloring (since Amazon has several options of both). Again, you are amazing! Thanks for such great info!

[@Sugarologie]

I need a t-shirt that says that: "STRAIGHT FACTS AND NO FLUFF" ...sums me up pretty well ;) Yeah so that's a good idea to compare the different kinds of buttercreams. Those are emulsion based as well so should theoretically use the same method for coloring. I do have oil based coloring but its a little more pricey and I usually reserve it for chocolate work but also a great idea. 💕

[@brissamaldonado4788]

Hey Adriana does this method to color work for all your frosting for all your buttercreams in your cake u latir including the condensed milk one and cream cheese frosting?

[@gabriellebagtas1983]

can you do this with Italian buttercream as well?

[@shanzehkhan6858]

Can we do this with Italian meringue?

[@williamfeng9808]

Could you add food color when heating the eggs?

[@cd5139]

Would this work with Italian meringue buttercream as well?

[@renownedbandanawearer1345]

Unfortunately this didn’t work in my latest batch ☹️ Not sure why, but the buttercream just wouldn’t seem to re-whip into anything usable. No matter what temperature changes or beating I did tonight, the colour and some of the buttercream’s water content slowly separated from it, making the buttercream a slippery lumpy mess. This didn’t happen with the other half of the buttercream that I didn’t melt all the way (used the second method where I heated in increments till I was happy with the colour intensity). Other than breaking the emulsion by melting, I wondered if this was related to the fact I messed up the meringue a little when making it (overwhipped the whites and insta-cooked some of it when adding the syrup) or has something to do with the high humidity at home at the moment.

[@farheenchowdhury7626]

Will it work the same way for italian meringue buttercream? Cause the ingredients for swiss and italian buttercreams are the same. Thanks for the video💖 pls reply🙏

[@Sugarologie]

It should though I've never tried - it's the same basic idea for the frosting

[@ethanheyne]

Why whip soft butter in, when you know you're going to destroy that whipped texture by heating it and have to re-whip? What happens if you put melted butter into the meringue along with color, mix well, cool, and then whip?

[@poogamoo6786]

Does this work with cream cheese frosting too?

[@josephinegoodall278]

the emulsifier in swiss meringue is proteins in the egg whites and butter i thought

[@piperking1249]

hey! just wanted to know if its possible to use oil based food colouring in swiss meringue buttercream? or only gel? thanks!

[@Sugarologie]

I do all the time - I use colourmill - it’s much more expensive than gel color and requires a bit more than gel but it works very well and the colors are spot on

[@sassyfranzy4890]

Will this also work on italian buttercream?

[@MoonChild13]

I’m trying this today and I’m so nervous! Wish me luck 🍀

[@Sugarologie]

Aww you got this...just work with a small amount first and work slowly - you'll get it

[@VancouverGirl-my8gy]

Why not add the gel color to the egg white and sugar mix over the double boiler and then whip it?

[@avinapatel9608]

Would this work with Italian buttercream?

[@basma.x.6656]

What about Italian buttercream?

[@anikaabdullah8873]

I’ve tried it with Italian buttercream and it worked.🙂 but I was scared so I took a small amount and microwaved it, then added to a larger amount of the buttercream.

[@alizahaslam3354]

Hi Can you do this same trick with american buttercream ? Or does it work only with SMBC?

[@Sugarologie]

So I believe it will work as some people have told me that on Instagram - I’ve not tried it myself yet tho ;)

[@jperaz00]

I’ve tried twice this method but for some reason after my meringue buttercream is whipped again, there’s a little water in my buttercream, I don’t understand why.

[@quezitasmith2739]

Hi there. I was wondering also if you can use candy coloring to color the Swiss meringue, being as though candy color is oil base.

[@nlc6275]

You can. It works.

[@quezitasmith2739]

@@nlc6275 thank you so much! I will give it a try

[@shedienslivetutorial5857]

How did you get your swiss with butter so white? Did you add white coloring? I tried to get a bright yellow color but when using a Wilton yellow it came more orange than yellow

[@Sugarologie]

It’s an off white color naturally. My butter is pretty pale though - it’s from Costco if that helps

[@treyondaren3542]

That does explain why i couldnt get the intense red color i wanted and ended up with pink instead

[@erikaartiaga2397]

Hey! What if I don't have a microwave, can I double boil my buttercream?? Also, does this work on non-dairy whipping cream??? Thanks!!

[@Sugarologie]

Yes you can! It's not going work as well with whipped cream, dairy or non-dairy. That ingredient is mostly water, so you can just add coloring to it without heating and that's pretty much the color you're going to get with it :)

[@erikaartiaga2397]

@@Sugarologie Thank you so much for answering!!

[@juditbihari-kovacs1725]

Can I use powder colouring?

[@santaabolina7235]

And what if you don't have a microwave can you heat it some other ways?

[@breannamarie2516]

I wonder if I can do this method without the milk powder & powder egg whites.. 🤔 and funny, I made a red velvet cake today, I’m going to try this method

[@CM93H]

Is it possible to double boil the buttercream because I don’t have a microwave?

[@Sugarologie]

Yes you can... I tested out that too and it works great.

[@sweettooth7343]

Hello! I love your channel. It’s so helpful always. I microwaved buttercream and left in the fridge overnight. But it buttercream is still bit runny. It didn’t become hard as normally buttercream become in the fridge. Is this still possible to save? 😭😭😭 I don’t know what went wrong…..

[@meens93]

You just need to let it come to room temp then re- whip it until it comes together

[@aliciafalendysz6231]

So I'm having the same issue right now. It's Swiss meringue buttercream. It's so runny and it doesn't really seem too cold. If it's runny wouldn't it need to get colder rather than get to room temperature to whip up? I left it whipping for 15 minutes and it's just still liquid

[@sweettooth7343]

@@aliciafalendysz6231 I added normal white smbc to runny smbc. It became thicker then beat it for a while. That’s how I saved my runny smbc. Hope it works for you.

[@meens93]

@@aliciafalendysz6231 try to add some regular sm buttercream to the liquidy mixture just like bounjour cakes said, incorporate it slowly then rewhip it - I’ve definitely been where you are and sometimes it’s so hard to get it to come together it just stays soupy no matter how much you whip or trouble shoot

[@zaneblane8160]

@@aliciafalendysz6231 ...hopefully she answers

[@User-mq5fz]

I have a question tho, would it be possible to make a swiss meringue buttercream but with ghee instead of butter? Because ghee is actually just cleared Butter without the water content right? Wouldn’t that make the color darker without the need of heating it in the microwave 🤔 But again the texture of ghee is very different and a bit too soft so idkk

[@Sugarologie]

Oh I like this question. So to my understanding ghee is just the butterfat - in which case if I'm right you will have the emulsifier present (located in the fat). The purpose though of the emulsifier is to connect water and fat though, and if you lack any of the water you may get a lessened color, because at that point we're just working with the water from the meringue. Although it may work, you'd just have to solidify the fat in the fridge before emulsifying.

[@User-mq5fz]

@@Sugarologie thank you for answering!✨

[@paigejones5412]

What if you just whipped the color in the stand mixer?

[@anamariella0117]

🤯🤯

[@lenorbradley8549]

Not what if you don't have a microwave and what natural colors can you use to achieve a better color for frosting

[@sarahfadi8268]

Why is my buttercream so soft after heating and cooling in the fridge ?? Its not as stable as it was and i cant pipe properly with it What might be the problem?

[@alaranarmstrong3718]

my friend has an allergy to milk proteins- is it even possible to form an emulsion with margarine? like "can't believe it's not butter" style? he's not lactose intolerant, he goes into anaphylactic shock

[@cassandra7621]

Have you ever experienced bitter buttercream after coloring? I don’t know what have i gone wrong, i use gel color 😩

[@Sugarologie]

I haven’t …but the brand I use is Americolor

[@adria89]

I read somewhere that using a stick blender could accomplish the same thing without heating. Is that true?

[@Sugarologie]

Haha that was probably my video too. Yeah, so they both work although the immersion blender is my preferred way now. It's much quicker and you're less likely to destroy the butter proteins, which causes the final buttercream to look a little greasy. :) Is it this one? kzbin.infohv1ov7xoln4?feature=share

[@adria89]

@@Sugarologie 🤣 thank you for the link. I'm thinking it was you 😂

[@callmeAchie]

Any tips if you don't have any microwave? Can i use my oven?

[@TeresasSweets]

I'm wondering the same thing!

[@TeresasSweets]

Ok so I just tested this out with my smbc. I put all of my frosting in a double boiler and heated it the same way I heated the egg whites. It works just like the microwave! Right now it's chilling in the fridge and I'm going to heat it up again once it's done so I can get a couple shades darker.

[@TeresasSweets]

Guys if you don't have a microwave a double boiler works just as well!

[@Tanktaco]

I'm curious if coloring early makes a difference.

[@Tanktaco]

She did it! Lol

[@treyondaren3542]

Got a question..... Cant you add the food coloring to the eggwhite from the start????

[@Sugarologie]

You can and probably the color will diffuse over time but there is a portion of water in the butter that has to accept color, which is easily accesible when the butter melts a little :)

[@treyondaren3542]

@@Sugarologie i see..... can i do this then? Melt the butter first, add food coloring, mix, chill it and then whip it a little so its fluffy. THen mix eggwhites with food coloring too... THen mix them together? no need to microwave them then. WIll it work?

[@Sugarologie]

@@treyondaren3542 possibly - but be sure to make the butter dark enough to offset the white color of the meringue you add later ;) oh and don’t heat the butter past 170 ish if you can, that will make it harder to emulsify later on

[@treyondaren3542]

@@Sugarologie i see... but does it gives the same result as using the microwave on the butter Before making the frosting and also adding coloring to the eggwhites?... Or does microwaving the frosting after its made makes a chemical something happen that makes the color more vivid?

[@kassandrabosch481]

My black turned back into a grey color when it cool

[@behjatnabeel4015]

Tried this method and my smbc dint come together again. It remained runny even after whisking 10 minutes may be it just work for abc.

[@Sugarologie]

Oh no! I would leave it in the fridge for a little while longer. It may be runny still because the butter has not hardened up to the point where it can properly make the buttercream again.

[@aliciafalendysz6231]

I'm having the same problem should I put it in the freezer? It's a double batch but it has sat in the fridge overnight

[@melissab2112]

What is smbc ??

[@lilcaitlyn8994]

Swiss meringue buttercream

[@oliviagriffin864]

Does this technique work with American buttercream or other buttercreams? Or just Swiss meringue?

[@annemcgee3364]

Your frosting is still pink and not red