In this video, I’m showing you exactly how I made a big batch of black Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC) and what the process looked like in real time. The first thing I did was add my black color into my SMBC and mix—honestly, it wasn’t very easy, but I kept going until it came together. After that, I microwaved a small portion for about 15 seconds. It turned watery, but I wasn’t worried because I poured it back into the larger batch and mixed again (with a lid and guard on, because black splashes on a white wall is not the testimony we’re looking for). At first, the buttercream looked grey, which is very normal at that stage. I scraped the sides, mixed all the way down to the base of the bowl, then repeated the “small batch + microwave + mix back in” method. I did this about three times until I got a proper black shade. My key takeaway: if your SMBC goes liquidy after microwaving, don’t panic—just beat it and it will come back together. And personally, after doing this with a big batch, I feel an immersion blender would be much faster, so I’m considering investing in one to make work (and life) easier.