Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I'm trying to use a swiss buttercream instead of the basic buttercream of powdered sugar and butter. The swiss buttercream is lighter and less sweet. My first attempt was a Chocolate Swiss Buttercream, which made enough for 2 cakes, and sadly was not that chocolatey. The light color in the photo was indicative of the flavor - and I even added extra chocolate and then some cocoa powder. (I used Nestle chocolate chips which were all I had and that might have contributed to the light flavor). I saved a bit of the buttercream before adding the chocolate and it was really good: very light, not super sweet. 

Notes to self:
- 8 oz egg whites is about 7-8 eggs

- don't use the stainless steel mixing bowl to heat the sugar/egg whites. It was difficult to cool the mix down which made it more difficult to incorporate the butter

- don't set the butter out to soften on a 90 degree day, it was way too runny and I had to put it back in the fridge to harden up a bit

Try this SMBC (Swiss Meringue Buttercream) the next time I need a buttercream. I also like the instructions which are to make the meringues in a glass bowl over the boiling water, and to separate the eggs when cold and then allow them to come to room temp. A good reminder to make sure there is no grease on the mixing bowl (either wash with Dawn or run a cut lemon over the surface to remove grease).