Swiss meringue Buttercream:

1. In the bowl of the stand mixer, add the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over a medium-size pot of boiling water, the base of the bowl must not touch the water. Keep whisking, until the mixture reaches between 75 – 85 degrees. Do not stop whisking, you want to avoid turning this into scrambled egg whites.
2. Remove from heat and using the whisk attachment, whisk on high speed with the stand mixer until the base of the bowl feels room temp on your wrist. That is a good way to gauge that the meringue is cool enough to add the butter. Otherwise, you will end up with soupy buttercream.
3. At this point, one cube at a time, add the butter. If it looks like it’s starting to curdle, don’t stress, just keep mixing at high speed, it will emulsify!
4. Once all the butter is combined, add the vanilla and salt, keep mixing for another few minutes until really fluffy!

Espresso Meringue Buttercream:

1. Follow through with the same instructions above.
2. Once all the butter is combined, add the espresso (amount is based on your liking) and salt, keep mixing for another few minutes until really fluffy!
3. As you add the espresso, it will loosen the buttercream slightly, but as you keep whisking, it will firm back up and come together.

Ganache and Chocolate Drip:

1. Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and set aside.
2. Warm the cream, until it just simmers then pour directly over the chocolate. Keep whisking until the chocolate has melted and is smooth and has emulsified.
3. The ganache has to be cool before it can be used as filling and as the chocolate drip.
4. Cover with plastic wrap, until ready to use – you will need to whisk again before using and if needed, you can place over a double boiler to loosen.