
I love Swiss Buttercream, especially because it is not too sweet. But every time I make it, it is way too soft to pipe for borders etc. Even simple borders just droop or end up as amorphous blobs. Does anyone have a recipe that doesn't involve many pounds of powdered sugar?

Have you tried Italian buttercream? Same ingredients but just different methods of making it, so basically it just taste the same as SMBC. It is the most stable of all meringue buttercream. I have used it from frosting cakes, to piping borders and flowers. This is the recipe I use http://www.make-fabulous-cakes.com/buttercream-frosting.html Hope this helps!

I pretty much only use SMBC. Getting the right pipability starts with a good recipe and good technique. I have no problem doing borders and flowers SMBC. This is what you need:
https://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/

That's the recipe and tutorial that helped me to make a great smbc also @Pastrybaglady . I learned so much from Jennifer Bratko!! FromScratchSF
https://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/tutorial-swiss-meringue-buttercream/
It changed my icing world. Take your time and read through all of the information and look at some of her other pages also. The part that worked best for me is where she said that you could add up to 2 whole cups of sugar and the recipe still works. It's so perfect for our sweet-tooth here. Even with the extra sugar it still piped wonderfully.
If I were to give one bit of advice, it would be to make sure that you beat your eggs until you get firm stiff peaks.

Another tip. Before you add your butter to the whipped egg whites, make sure it is cool enough. If your egg whites are still hot, they will melt the butter leaving you with a soupy mess. If that happens, No worries though, a quick chill should firm it up! You can chill in the fridge and pop in the microwave a bit to bring it to the consistency you need. Heat is not smbc's friend...
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