I just added some vanilla and peppermint to my Swiss Meringue buttercream recipe. It was everything from simple, despite what I claim. No matter how much extract I used, the peppermint flavor was never powerful enough for me.


I ended up adding more than 2 Tbsp and it was still very, very faint, even though you actually only need around 1 tsp. So did my taste testers. I'd make sure you use a premium brand of peppermint extract; perhaps it was simply a bad batch, or it was the extract I was using. I'll attempt to find some from Nielsen-Massey the next time.


How to Prepare White Buttercream The sort of butter you choose will determine whether or not your buttercream turns out reasonably yellow. For me, this is usually the case since the butter I use seems to be rather yellow.


For a lovely WHITE and red peppermint cake, yellow buttercream isn't the best choice, right? Don't worry, I have a few suggestions to assist you make it more white by neutralizing that hue. You can see all my recommendations in my comprehensive post on How to Make White Buttercream.


I started by adding some violet color gel to my frosting and then used some brilliant white gel to make it more vibrant.

Coloring Buttercream Red Getting rich colors with a Swiss meringue buttercream is next to impossible. It just doesn’t take color as well as an American buttercream and you’ll find that you need to use way more color gel to make any traction.


In hindsight, it sounds obvious since that’s what helps American buttercream color so well. I was worried it would add some grittiness, but since I was using it only on a small amount of frosting I didn’t think it would matter much. I added about 3 Tbsp of sifted powdered sugar and it totally worked!