10 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries, cleaned and hulled
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons cold water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2-3 teaspoons Grand Marnier, optional
8 ounces egg whites
16 ounces granulated white sugar
2 pinches salt
20 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanila extract
Instructions
Place the strawberries, 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar, cold water and lemon juice in a medium sized saucepan
Bring to a slow boil, then reduce to a simmer, breaking up the strawberries with a spoon as they soften. Allow the strawberries to simmer for about 15 minutes or until their sauce has thickened
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Grand Marnier, if desired
Transfer the strawberries to a measuring cup or small bowl and allow to cool for 10 minutes
Puree the strawberries using a hand blender or small food processor. You can also simply pass the strawberry sauce through a sieve to remove any chunks or seeds
Allow the strawberry sauce to cool
Begin your Swiss meringue
Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer on the stove
In a medium metal bowl, combine the egg whites and granulated sugar
Place the bowl of egg whites and sugar over the simmering water, and whisk every minute or so until all of the sugar has dissolved and the mixture reaches 160* F on a thermometer
Check that the sugar is dissolved by rubbing some of the egg whites between your fingers; you should feel no grains of sugar remaining
Transfer the hot meringue to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment and whip on medium high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and the bowl is cool to the touch. This could take up to 20 minutes
While the meringue is whipping, add 2 pinches of salt
Once the meringue is cool, add the softened butter, 1 stick at a time and whip on high. Lower the speed a bit as you add each portion of butter then raise the speed to blend it smooth
Scrape down your bowl then add the vanilla extract
Continue to whip the buttercream until it is smooth and creamy. If it looks wet or runny, continue whipping on high speed until it looks like whipped cream
At this point you can add in about half of your reserved strawberry puree
Blend on high for another 3-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth. You can adjust the strawberry flavor by adding more or less strawberry puree
Recipe by Baking With Dan at https://www.bakingwithdan.com/strawberry-swiss-meringue-buttercream/