How To Make Buttercream Frosting
Learn how to make buttercream frosting with this easy tutorial. This is the BEST recipe for homemade buttercream, it pipes perfectly, and makes a great base for other frosting flavors too!
Today we’re covering how to make buttercream frosting. Actually, we’re covering just how EASY it is to make your own frosting right at home. If you’ve been buying store-bought, you’ll want to ditch it after seeing just how easy it is to make your own.
I originally published this recipe in January of 2017, but decided it was finally time to update it with better instructions and more information. In today’s post, I’m breaking down everything you need to know about how to make the best buttercream frosting.
This recipe also makes a great base for so many different flavor variations. The possibilities are really endless, but I’ve included four different variations for you to try!
Recipe Ingredients
This easy buttercream frosting uses just 5 ingredients – butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Here’s a simple overview of each ingredient:
- Butter: I use unsalted butter in all of my recipes because the amount of salt in salted butter can vary quite a bit between different brands. By using unsalted butter, you control the amount of salt in your recipe. Make sure to use actual butter too and not a butter substitute like margarine.
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioners sugar or icing sugar, this helps to thicken and sweeten the frosting. It’s best to sift the powdered sugar beforehand, but if I’m being honest I usually skip the extra step.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream work best in this recipe. You can replace it with milk, but keep in mind that the frosting won’t be quite as creamy.
- Vanilla Extract: This adds a little bit of flavor to the frosting. I recommend using pure vanilla extract for the best flavor. You can even use different extracts like mint, almond, lemon, etc.
- Salt: This helps to balance out the sweetness of the frosting. I stick with just a tiny pinch of table salt, you don’t need very much at all!
How To Make Buttercream Frosting
To start, set your butter out ahead of time so that it can soften. This will ensure that the frosting is smooth and creamy. You will need two sticks of unsalted butter, which is equal to 1 cup or 230 grams.
Beat the butter with a mixer for about 1 minute, just until it’s nice and smooth. You can either use a handheld mixer or stand mixer for this recipe, either one works fine!
Next, you’ll mix in the powdered sugar. I typically only use 3 cups of powdered sugar for a batch of this frosting. Some recipes call for quite a bit more powdered sugar, but I’ve found that 3 cups is all you really need. Feel free to sift the powdered sugar, but as I mentioned earlier, I usually skip this step.
Note: When you first start mixing the powdered sugar with the butter, mix it on low speed so you don’t end up throwing it all over the place. You may also mix the powdered sugar in 1 cup at a time to make it easier.
Once the butter and powdered sugar are mixed together, mix in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. If needed, stop and scrape down the sides of your bowl and mix again to make sure everything is well combined.
Easy, right? At this point, you can go ahead and use this frosting to pipe onto cupcakes or decorate a cake. Or you can store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Recipe Variations
The best thing about this recipe is that you can change it up to make different flavors of frosting. I’ve included 4 different variations below, but keep in mind that you can do so much more with this recipe.
- Vanilla: If I’m just making plain vanilla buttercream frosting to pipe on cupcakes or frost a cake, I like to add an additional teaspoon of vanilla extract to amp up the vanilla flavor.
- Chocolate: Sift 1/2 cup (40 grams) of unsweetened cocoa powder, then mix into the frosting base until well combined. Add 1 to 2 extra tablespoons of heavy cream if needed for a smoother, creamier frosting. If you prefer your frosting sweeter, mix in an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of powdered sugar.
- Caramel: Mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of homemade or store-bought caramel sauce. For a salted caramel frosting, you can use salted caramel and omit the salt in the recipe.
- Strawberry: Add a 1-ounce bag of freeze dried strawberries to a blender or food processor and process until the berries are crushed into a fine powder. Mix the freeze dried strawberry powder into the frosting until well combined.
Storage & Freezing Instructions
This frosting can be made 1 to 2 days in advance. While it’s not necessary to refrigerate it, I do recommend covering it tightly and storing it in the refrigerator so it stays fresh longer. When you are ready to use it, bring it to room temperature, and mix well before frosting cupcakes or a cake.
This will also freeze well for up to 3 months in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature and mix well before using it.
Baking Tips
- You can add food coloring to this recipe if you prefer. If using liquid food coloring, I recommend using just a few drops as it can thin out the frosting. For a darker color, gel food coloring is a great option!
- This recipe makes about 2 and 1/2 cups of frosting, which is enough to generously frost a batch of 12 to 14 cupcakes. If you prefer less frosting, you can cut the recipe in half. This recipe will also make enough to frost a 9×13 cake or lightly frost an 8 or 9-inch layer cake. If you prefer more frosting for decorating, then I recommend multiplying the recipe by 1.5.
- You can find my full tutorial for how to prepare your piping bag and frost cupcakes here.
Different Ways To Use This Frosting
Here are a few of my favorite cupcake recipes that you can use with this frosting:
Video Tutorial
How To Make Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter (softened)
- 3 cups (360 grams) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Tiny pinch of salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed at first, then increase to medium speed and continue mixing for 1 to 2 minutes or until fully combined.
- Add the heavy cream (start with 2 tablespoons and add a little more if needed), vanilla extract, and salt and continue mixing on medium speed until everything is well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Use the frosting to pipe onto cupcakes or frost a cake or cover tightly and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
Notes
- Vanilla: For a vanilla buttercream frosting, I like to add an additional teaspoon of vanilla extract to amp up the vanilla flavor.
- Chocolate: Sift 1/2 cup (40 grams) of unsweetened cocoa powder and mix it into the frosting base until well combined. Add 1 to 2 extra tablespoons of heavy cream if needed for a smoother, creamier frosting. For a sweeter frosting, mix in an additional 1/2 to 1 cup (60 to 120 grams) of powdered sugar.
- Caramel: Mix in 1/3 to 1/2 cup of homemade or store-bought caramel sauce. For a salted caramel frosting, you can use salted caramel and omit the salt in the recipe.
- Strawberry: Add a 1-ounce bag of freeze dried strawberries to a blender or food processor and process until the berries are crushed into a fine powder. Mix the freeze dried strawberry powder into the frosting base until well combined.
I just had a little 8″x 8″ chocolate wacky cake, so 1 used:
1 stick of butter
1-1/4 cup conf sugar
1-1/2 tbsp half and half
1 tsp vanilla
It looked at first as if it might not be enough, but when it was all together, it was. For a cake that size it was a perfect amount, and totally delicious!
After you frost the cupcakes with buttercream. Do the cupcakes need to be refrigerated due to the heavy cream ?
You can refrigerate them, but it’s not necessary.
Can heavy cream be substituted?
If so can I use 1/4cup butter and 3/4 cup milk or anything else?
You can replace the 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream with 2-3 tablespoons of milk.
Can you use evaporated milk instead of the cream?
I think that would be okay, regular milk will work too.
I have been baking for close to 40 years and this is the best buttercream recipe I have ever tried. It seems silly because it’s a pretty basic recipe but the quantities and sequence of steps are sheer perfection. Thank you so much for developing and posting it!
If i use whipping cream to substitute the heavy whipping cream, can i use the same amount?
Yes, that should be fine.
How much buttercream does this recipe make?
About 2 and 1/2 cups.
I made this recipe for Valentine’s day and everyone loved it. The frosting isn’t too sweet and it actually tastes like buttercream frosting instead of powdered sugar. I will be making is many, many more times, it is absolutely amazing!
Can I use powdered whipped cream for this receipe
The heavy whipping cream helps to make the frosting easier to spread and creamy. If you use a powder, it won’t give you the same results. I’d recommend just using milk.
No matter how much I beat the butter first my frosting is always yellow and not white. When adding white gel colour, it goes off. How do you make your frosting white?
Hi, Aniya! Are you using grass-fed butter? If so, it tends to be more yellow and it can be hard to get white frosting. I prefer using Challenge butter, it’s much lighter in color and works well.
What if you end up using normal sugar instead of the powdered one? Will you still get the creamy nature?
It won’t be as smooth or pipe correctly. I really recommend powdered sugar for this recipe.
Persis, if you don’t have powdered sugar, just regular sugar, put one cup of reg sugar in the blender with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and blend for a couple minutes. You will then have 1 3/4 c. powdered sugar. I did it last week and it works perfectly.
Best known “secret” is to add just 1 drop of purple coloring in the final minute of mixing!
Yes purple cancels yellow on the color wheel.
If I wanted to make a dark chocolate frosting, would I add more cocoa powder in place of some of the powdered sugar or could I just add the extra cocoa powder?
You can use more cocoa powder, you could try a dark cocoa powder too. You may need a bit more heavy cream depending on how much cocoa powder you use too.
To make lemon frosting with your lemon curd recipe what is the ratio of lemon curd to buttercream frosting?
You can try adding 1/4-1/3 cup.
Nice job Danielle! I’m quite new in d baking world. I would appreciate a tutorial on cake decoration with butter cream icing/frosting. God bless u plenty ?.
Im making frosting for cupcakes will this amount be enough? Also please tell me amount of salt to be added??
It depends on how many cupcakes you’re making. It will lightly frost 2 dozen cupcakes or generously frost 12-14. You only need a tiny pinch of salt, about 1/8 teaspoon, and it’s optional.
Hi Danielle, what temperature does the heavy whipping cream need to be? Room temperature? Just out the fridge? Thanks in advance.
Room temperature is probably best, but I’ve used it straight out of the refrigerator and haven’t had any issues.
This was by far the best buttercream I’ve used. It had the right amount of flavor, frosted well ( I frosted 18 medium large cupcakes with one batch) and tastes amazing when chilled. I reccomend this recipies for anyone looking for a quick, reasonable way to frost cupcakes or cakes!
Hi! Comparing the stand mixer and the electric hand mixer which worked best for the icing?
Also, do you have to use unsalted butter? Is there anything I can use to substitute that?
I highly recommend unsalted butter since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary quite a bit between different brands. You can use salted butter, just keep in mind it may affect the taste a bit.
Either one works, but the stand mixer is easier.
Will this frost a 9 x 13 single layer cake? Thank you!
Yes, it will!
This buttercream was so simple, but it was by far the best!! I amped it up with almond extract and it was simply to die for!! Family is loving it!!! Thanks
Have you ever replaced the vanilla for almond extract?
I haven’t, but I think it would be fine. Almond extract is much stronger than vanilla extract though, so I would just start with 1/2 teaspoon then add more if needed.
Just made vanilla flavor and it was delicious! Also kept a little out and added a little cocoa powder to try chocolate and it was great too.
Hi! Thank you so much for this quick and simple buttercream recipe.. My only question is, why does mine taste SO buttery? I used great value unsalted because that is the only butter that was on the shelf the other day, due to this strange time. Is that possibly why? I added a tiny bit more vanilla and more powdered sugar but it didn’t seem to change the taste. Thanks in advance!
Hi, Heather! It’s buttercream so it will taste kind of buttery 🙂 I’ve used great value butter and it works fine when I make it. Did you use pure vanilla extract too?
Yes, pure vanilla. I didn’t wait until the butter was room temp either, I didn’t know if maybe that was why. I was thinking it was going to taste like Walmart/Publix bakery buttercream and mine was far from it, haha.
That shouldn’t affect it really either, but this definitely tastes different than the buttercream you can find at the store. You can feel free to add more vanilla extract or some other flavorings and see if that helps.
I loved your Chocolate Buttercream Frosting so much for my son’s birthday last year (and so did all our guests), I can’t wait to try this vanilla one! Does this recipe make enough for a 8″ round layer cake (including the filling layer)? Thank you!
Hi, Lisa! This recipe will lightly frost a layered cake. I would recommend multiplying it by 1.5 so you have enough.
If you want the icing to stand up to high humidity and warm weather, use white shortening instead of butter. It won’t taste buttery, but it won’t melt or slide off the cupcake, and it won’t spoil. Just add teaspoons of water to thin the icing if needed. It also tastes good.
Hi Danielle
I LOVE your POST! I am enjoying your very good ideas and recipes. I have to make cup cakes for our Garden Club. I wanted to make a yellow cake with Strawberry Frosting. I am very happy now that I don’t have to use store bought.
I will follow your recipe exactly. Thanks sooo much. I will let you know what the “Girls” think of this glorious frosting**
We made your buttercream icing for my sons fire truck birthday cake. He ate the icing, not the cake. Haha! It was delicious!
How come you 1 cup is 230g – is a cup not 250g ?
Thanks
Do you mean for the butter? 1 cup of butter only weighs 230 grams.
I’m making cupcakes that call for cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Can I put cinnamon in this recipe? If so, how much?
Thank you.
Rachel
I would probably start with 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, then add more as needed.
Witch are the measures for the salted caramel?
You can add 1/3 cup of salted caramel sauce to the frosting, here’s my recipe for salted caramel sauce.