I need help with my swiss meringue butter cream

Curdling is simply part of the process just keep beating it.

Reminds me of the old adage that 'if you're going through hell, keep going'. Same same with curdling smbc--just keep going.

Are your egg whites still hot when you put the butter in? Is your butter too loose?

I'm thinking if you just turn on the mixer and walk away unless you use a handheld mixer--just let it beat --you'll get there.

What recipe are you using? How much sugar, butter, egg white and vanilla?

And check out post #7 here http://cakecentral.com/t/752225/smbc-watery-why#post_7344102 if you are using liquid store bought egg whites.

I hope Auzzi doesn't mind me pointing you there.

Your butter should be nice and soft but not warm or anything close to warm.

The egg whites should hold at least a soft peak (and could be firmer won't hurt anything). Watch the bowl and when the beaters start to leave tracks in there and then they become deeper tracks --they do not dissolve back into the mixture--stop & check you should be at about soft peak stage. It's just when you lift the beater up it makes a soft not super pointy peak in the meringue.

If you have the kind of mixer where it's not convenient to remove the beater I just plop the back of a spoon in there an dpull it up to see if it leaves a soft peak.

Here's the recipe I use. I just multiplied out the one Margaret Braun gave in her beautiful red Cakewalk book with the gold edged pages.

2 2/3 cup butter

2 tablespoons (not teaspoons) vanilla

1 1/2 cups of sugar

6 egg whites (large eggs)

This is an excellent formula. Half of my recipe is one and a third cup butter to three whites and 3/4 cup sugar so yours is much lighter in the egg white department I think. Let's see a quarter of my recipe is 2/3 cup butter and 1.5 egg whites and 6 tablespoons of sugar. So mine is now the same sugar as yours but less butter and half again as much egg white. For what it's worth.

I have always followed this tutorial from Beyond Buttercream.  I used this the first time I ever made SMB and it has never failed.  I've been known to cut the butter by just a bit but if you follow the instructions to the letter you will be fine.  Also,  it is best to do the tasting after you add the vanilla.  This is my Go To icing.  Let us know how you make out.

Jeanne

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/

Forgot the link :)

PLEASE HELP!! I have made this before with perfection [and almost ate the whole batch!] but this time I tried to dbl the batch but my KA could was about to overflow before the meringue stage so I seperated the batch into 2 mixers---added the butter [the original bowl was kinda warm still] but didn't poof so I put in fridge after endless whipping [one with a paddle and one with beaters]--took back out and continued beating w/ beaters [could not use paddles bcause wouldn't fit n KA] and it finally turned cottage cheese then creamy..ok, I didn't even have to use a spatula to scrape it out of the bowl, I just slid out with no trace in the bowl..I was scared and knew something was wrong! Fridged it anyway but when i took it out to room temp, it got runny and seperated. What happened!! HELP!!

I know when it's runny you are supposed to chill it and whip it.  When it gets chunky you can take a bit out microwave it for 30 seconds and put it back in to help melt the butter.