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.
Hi, thank you so much for this recipe. I can’t use butter due to a child with dairy allergy. Will it work if I use margarine?
I think it would be okay. I would start with a little less heavy cream though and just add more as needed.
This is the best vanilla recipe I have ever made! The cupcakes turned out perfectly!
Oops! Thought this was a different recipe! But this recipe is great!
Hi,
I’m hoping to make this recipe later today for my nieces birthday party. However, heavy cream is a bit hard to come by in Italy. Will whole milk work? Hoping to maintain flavor as well as consistency for piping.
Thanks in advance!
Yes, whole milk will work just fine! You may want to use just a little less milk though, since it’s thinner than heavy whipping cream.
Can I mix this by hand? I dont have a mixer of any kind!
Yes, I’d recommend using a whisk to make sure the sugar and butter are thoroughly mixed together.
This recipe is the best ive ever made!
What would you suggest if I want to turn this into a white chocolate buttercream frosting?
I imagine that you could melt 4-6 ounces of white chocolate and mix it in. I would probably reduce the powdered sugar down to about 2 cups though.
Hi, can I use to to frost an 8inch cake?
Yes, but if you prefer a thicker layer or want more to decorate the cake I would increase the recipe by half.
Hi!
Looking forward to making this recipe for my son’s birthday cupcakes and was jw how many cupcakes one batch of frosting will yield? Thank you! 🙂
One batch will generously frost 12 to 14 cupcakes.
Can you leave this frosting out without melting?
It will be fine at room temperature. But if it’s too hot, then it will soften or melt.
Never made frosting before. Let alone butter cream frosting! This frosting was the best butter cream frosting I have ever had. Can’t believe how easy it was to make and gave me an excuse to use my KitchenAid mixer☺️ Thank you for an absolutely wonderful butter cream frosting recipe. I will never use any other!
My daughter is having her first baby in December, I am excited too use this recipe for her baby shower ? thank you very much
How much strawberry jam should I add in to make a strawberry buttercream frosting out of this? (I don’t want to use freeze dried strawberries so…) Thanks .
You can use the frosting in this cupcake recipe here and just substitute the raspberry jam with strawberry jam. I hope that helps!
Hello .. I Love this buttercream frosting
But it is too sweet
Can I add 2 tsp lemon juice ?
You can, just keep in kind that fresh lemon juice can sometimes cause buttercream to curdle.
Hi. I have made your recipe many times. It always works perfectly. I have been asked to make a chocolate mocha cake. Can I use this recipe with coffe flavour? Thank you
Yes, absolutely! I would use either instant espresso powder or instant coffee and dissolve it in a little bit of warm water. You may need to adjust the heavy cream slightly depending on how much water you use to dissolve the espresso powder/coffee.
Which butter do u use
Any kind of butter that you prefer to use in your other baked goods is fine. Challenge Butter or Danish Creamery European Style Butter are good options.
I’ve attempted to make homemade frosting and have never been successful . Tried your recipe and it actually looked like frosting and tasted amazing
Hiii,pls if am to use milk how will I add it and when, and what kind of milk ,condensed or any?
Thanks!!!!
I recommend heavy whipping cream, but whole milk, 2%, skim, or even almond milk work. You want to mix it in with the vanilla and salt (step 3 of the recipe).
Hi Danielle ,if I want to make this recipe for a diabetic person , can I replace powered sugar with sugar free for sweetness .and please let me know amount.
I haven’t tried it, but I imagine that you could replace the powdered sugar for a sugar free powdered sugar. I would look for one that can be substituted 1:1 and use the same amount this recipe calls for.
Hi thnk u for the recipe
Can you please tell me if It resist to a medium temperature. ?
( I will use it as frosting for cupcakes for my son’s first birthday outdoor)
Ps sorry for my poor English I’m not American ?
You want your butter to be at room temperature, in other words, it’s cool to the touch but your finger should leave an indent if you press into it.
Ok thanks?
Hello Danielle,
Do you think I could replace the heavy cream with mascarpone in this recipe?
I wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe. You can replace the heavy cream with half and half or any kind of milk.
I am planing to do 3 layer cake, each cake is 26 cm.
Should i triple the recipe or it won’t be enough?
Thank you in advance
I typically double it for a three layer 8-inch (20 cm) cake. I think tripling it would be enough to frost the cake and have some left to decorate with too.
Hi Danielle, can you please tell me what brand of icing sugar you are using ?
I’ve used several different kinds, but I typically use C&H or the store-brand of powdered sugar.
Hi Danielle,
Tried this recipe yesterday and it’s sooo delicious and smooth! However I have one question, this was the first time I’ve used cream instead of milk (cream 100% better). Would it be safe for the buttercream to be left out of the refrigerator once used for decoration, as I’m scared that the cream will go off. I mean does the cream tend to go off quickly when used in buttercream recipes? And how long can they be fresh for to eat once used to decorate?
I’d really appreciate you answering my concerns! Thanks, Abi x
Hi Abi! I have left it at room temperature for a day or two with no problems! I do typically refrigerate my cakes/cupcakes after I frost them though and then just bring them to room temperature before serving them.
Hello~ I was wondering what I can use instead of freeze dried strawberry to get it pink. I would like to avoid artificial food colouring.
You could try a natural food color, I believe McCormick makes them. Or you could add a little bit of strawberry jam.
Hi can i know if i may use regular sugar instead of powdered sugar?
Granulated sugar won’t work for this recipe. If you have a good blender, you can blend granulated sugar into powdered sugar though.
This recipe is very good but I don’t think I’m a good baker cause mine is still watery again I think this is just me ?
Hi,
Thank you for sharing this. Would it possible to sub the whipping cream with single cream? Or omit it all together?
It would be fine to replace the heavy whipping cream with single cream or milk.
Hi
Iam planning to make a cake of 20 cm 3 layers,
will this amount be enough?
I would probably double the recipe so that you have enough.
What if I’m doing a 2 layer cake
I’d recommend multiplying the recipe by 1.5.
Love it so much. Tasted great with my cupcakes. I added just a few teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and it was great!
I HATTTTTEEEEE buttercream frosting…but let me tell yall!!!! lol When I say after making this recipe I WILL NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR EVERRRRRRRR GO BACK TO STORE BOUGHT ANY FROSTING AGAIN!
Lol this recipe converted me and I love love love this buttercream frosting!!
I made my first batch last night and I was literally eating extra out of the bowl and made extra for my cinamon rolls lol
Normally buttercream has a waxy, filmy, (what I would imagine poison taste like -taste), but this one taste way better than any expensive wedding cake I’ve ever tasted in my life!!
Thank you so much for sharing this gem with the world sis!
Hi Danielle,
Great recipe, my family loves it! Goes great with cakes. I had one question on how I can make my frosting have less of the granule taste in your mouth? Every recipe I try, I cannot seem to find one that helps me with this problem.
Thanks!
Hi, Anika! You could try using superfine powdered sugar and see if that helps.
I used all organic ingredients for this recipe since all I eat is organic foods. I did not at all taste any granules from the powdered sugar in my “Florida crystals organic powdered raw cane sugar “. I also used a kitchen aid stand mixer and mixed for at least 10 minutes while adding ingredients gradually increasing the speed to high for another 5 minutes until the texture was creamy smooth. I appreciate the easy recipe. We really enjoyed the icing that we applied generously to our cake. I mist say the icing was thick for my liking but I remember my grandmother would always keep warm water close by when icing her cake which helped me immensely. The thickness may have been from my organic ingredients I’m not sure. I also did not add salt as we loved the taste without it. I tasted to see if I needed it and did not think I did. I ate 3 pieces of cake only because the icing was so delicious!! Thanks for the recipe!