Cupcakes With Swiss Meringue Buttercream

These cupcakes are delicious, light and wonderful! With the fluffy Swiss buttercream, it will make your day 10 times better.

• 6 extra large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or white vinegar
• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, plus more as needed, softened

Cupcakes

• Follow the instructions on your box cake mix or even better, make your own!

When I bake cupcakes, I always like to find inspiration for my decoration. As I was walking one day, I saw this beautiful cherry blossom tree by my house. I decided to use it to influence my cupcake decorating. Of course this is optional but I highly recommend it. Let your creativity flow!

In a small bowl, add the egg whites. If you have a stand mixer at home, this is the best method to use. If not, don't worry, a simple hand mixer will work. Start the machine on medium-slow speed and whip until the eggs begin to get frothy. When the eggs look like this, turn the speed on medium.

*frothy means full of or covered with a mass of small bubbles*

Slowly add the sugar to the whipping egg whites, dropping the lemon juice in about halfway through he process. When all of the sugar is added, speed up the mixer and whip until stiff peaks form and the meringue is super shiny. To determine whether of not there is stiff peaks, turn of the mixer and lift it up. If the icing comes up with it and forms a peak, you are all set.

Turn the speed to medium-low and begin adding the butter. Add it bit by bit so the meringue doesn't slop over the sides of the bowl. At this point, the meringue will fall and look ruined and broken, but it is okay. If the meringue doesn't fall (look broken), add a little extra butter until it does.

When you are done this, turn the speed back up to medium-high and whisk until it resembles buttercream, about 10 minutes. If after 30 minutes it still doesn't resemble buttercream, add more butter and let it whisk longer.

(Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to a week. Warm and re whip the buttercream before using it if refrigerated.

The next step if you want to decorate is dying your buttercream. I just used 2 colors so it is simple. From your inspiration picture, pick colors you want to use to replicate your picture. In this case, pink and green. Split your buttercream in bowls to dye it in. Use food dye and add about 5-12 drops of dye. If you want it a darker color, add more and vise versa. Mix it very well.

When you are done this, grab piping bags or Ziploc bags work fine. If you are using a piping bag, you can add a tip if you want. Grab a large glass and put the bag in the cup spreading the top of the bag around the rim of the glass. This is a hack to put your buttercream in the bags.

After that, pick up the bag and tie it with a hair tie or rubber band. Cut the tip of the bag and start piping. Make it your own and add a flavor of yourself in this decorating. Take your time and remember, you can never make a mistake when you are decorating.