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.
Made this frosting tonight! Made 6 batches of it! Colored 5 of the batches. All 6 batches were used to decorate Christmas Sugar cookies! LOVE the flavoring of this frosting! ITS A KEEPER! ???????
How fun, Lori! So glad you liked the frosting!
How did it work out for your sugar cookies? I was thinking of using this recipe for that same thing? But does the frosting harden at all? or these cookies will need to be refrigerated all the time?
The frosting won’t harden completely. I do have a sugar cookie recipe on my site with an easy icing that does harden.
Hello, thank you for posting this recipe!! However I do not have a paddle mixer or any of such. The only thing I have is what is considered an electric beater, that I purchased from family dollar. What other way would you suggest for me to mix?
Thank you!!
Is it similar to an electric mixer? If so, that would work fine. You could also mix it by hand with a sturdy whisk.
Can better flavored shortening be substituted for the butter if I ran out. I’m clearly not a great baker lol.
Yes, that would be fine!
Hello Danielle I have to do a Pj masks cartoon Birthday party I’m making 24 cupcakes and I want to use color icing for them red,blue,green. How much food coloring do I need to add?
Hi, Crystal! It’s really just going to depend on the color you’re looking for with each one. If you’re using liquid food coloring, I would suggest adding it before you add the heavy whipping cream since it can thin out the frosting if you use too much. Gel food coloring is a better option because it won’t think out the frosting as much.
I’m a decorating newbie, If coloring the frosting does it come out well? I need purple
Yes, I’ve added food coloring and it turns out fine. Just make sure not to add too much liquid food coloring because it can thin out the frosting.
Hello Danielle,
I’m considering (with trepidation) making my daughter’s wedding cake. She wants a chocolate cake, with white frosting. Could I use the chocolate version for the filling and the buttercream as the frosting? Or would it be better to use a cream cheese frosting for a more whiter effect? Or could you just come over and make a cake for me? 😉
Thank you for posting this recipe. I’m looking forward to practicing and this sounds delicious. I’m happy that it uses less sugar and unsalted butter.
Hi, Eileen! I think it would work to use the chocolate version as the filling and the vanilla buttercream on the outside of the cake. I would probably pipe a ring of the vanilla frosting around each cake layer, then fill with the chocolate buttercream, just to avoid the two mixing together when you frost the outside of the cake. Hopefully that makes sense! If you want the frosting to be whiter, you could use clear vanilla extract too. You can also use a cream cheese frosting, but I find that buttercream is easier to use and pipes better.
This recipe seems really easy and it is explained in the directions easy so I can make it. I don’t know how many times I have heard how to make frosting and was never able to quite get it. Now, with this recipe I can impress my guests. You can even make it yellow for Easter or change the color of the frosting with food coloring so that your frosting will match any occasion.
Thank you, Cholena! Glad you found the frosting easy to make 🙂
Hi Danielle!
I am looking to make maple buttercream! I am making a three layer spice cake with maple buttercream frosting. How much do you suggest I multiply the buttercream recipe by and how much maple should I add and what ingredients should I reduce? Is it alright to double the buttercream recipe exactly and just freeze the remainder, or is it not a recipe that you can exactly double?
Thanks!
Hi Casey! For a three layer cake, I would probably double this recipe (it doubles just fine). You may want to make a little more though if you want a thick layer of frosting or quite a bit to decorate the cake with. I haven’t made a maple buttercream frosting, but you may be able to replace the heavy cream with maple syrup. It may make the frosting a little thin if you do that though. I would actually recommend maple extract since it will give you a stronger flavor and not thin out the frosting too much. You can freeze any you have left over too.
I would like to incorporate Nutella into the frosting. And or the cupcakes
Thoughts on how to do this? Would it work? Also approx how much
Would you suggest to fill into the cupcakes longer cooking time if I do ?
You can add some Nutella, I would start with 1/4 cup and add more as needed. Keep in mind that Nutella is softer, so you may need to reduce the heavy whipping cream slightly. I’m not sure what you mean by how much to fill in the cupcakes though. Do you mean with the frosting, Nutella, or something else?
This recipe was so simple and very delicious. My family has enjoyed all the cupcakes that I have made lately.
So happy to hear that, Trinetta!
This recipe is great, good, amazing. It was the first time for me and it turns great. I made for larger cake and everyone liked it. This frosting is the best recipe ever!!!! Thank you so much for it.
Majda from Maribor in Slovenia ,EU
So glad you liked the frosting, Majda!
To make peanutbutter icing with this once it is made can I just add peanut butter to give it flavor and will it still hold up for icing cupcakes
I actually have a peanut butter frosting recipe in this post: https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/chocolate-cupcakes-peanut-butter-frosting/.
How many cups does this recipe yeild?
I have to make make halloween desserts by Wednesday so please respond soon.
Thanks I appreciate it and God bless
It makes about 2 and 1/2 to 2 and 3/4 cups of frosting.
If im icing tonight to serve tomorrow, do I need to refrigerate overnight? or can I leave them out on the counter?
I personally like to refrigerate overnight, then just place on the counter a couple hours before I plan to serve it so it can come to room temperature.
Im making a two tier cake (3 -8inch cakes on the bottom, and 3 -6inch on top) how many times should I multiply this recipe? 3 or 4?
Also, its a unicorn cake, so ill need some for rosettes all around it as well.
Hi, Tracie! That’s a hard question to answer because it really depends on the amount of frosting you need to decorate and how thick of a layer of frosting you’re wanting to use. You would likely need to multiply it by 3 or 4, you can always make an extra batch or freeze any leftover frosting and use it later.
Hello Danielle,
Your site is awesome! I am wanting to turn your Lemon, Pumpkin, and Vanilla cupcakes into cakes. I saw you did this with your chocolate recipe. You even did it in different pan sizes, which is fantastic. How would I change the other three into cakes? Sorry, this may be a silly question…I am beyond an amateur..like a baby amateur 🙂
Also, just to let you know how helpful your site is. I am doing a mock TV show bake off party for my daughters 14th birthday. We are using only your recipes!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
That’s so wonderful to hear, Jolyn! The lemon and vanilla cupcake recipes will likely just make a single layer cake, so you would need to double them if you’re looking for a layered cake. I’m not sure on baking time, but I would guess somewhere around 25-35 minutes at 350°F in 9-inch cake pans. I also have a pumpkin cake recipe here: https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/pumpkin-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/.
Can i use all purpose cream? Is that the same with heavy cream
I’m not familiar with all-purpose cream. If it has a higher fat content (similar to heavy cream) it would probably be fine.
Can we use margerine instead of unsalted butter here?
I wouldn’t suggest it in this recipe. Margarine is not the same as butter, so it won’t taste quite right or pipe as well.
Hi,
What is the right temperature for the heavy cream?
Should it be cold? Or room temperature?
It’s technically best for the heavy cream to be at room temperature. That being said, I’ve added it cold many times and haven’t had any issues with broken buttercream.
Hello. I am thinking about using the buttercream to frost and pipe a cake for my daughter’s Baptism. Would I be able to pipe rosettes all over the cake?
And how would I storage the decorated cake? I am going to bake and decorate the cake Friday evening, the Baptism is Saturday morning. I’m afraid the cake will be dried out.
Thank you! ☺️
The frosting is thick enough to pipe rosettes. I would stick with the lower amount of heavy whipping cream just to make sure that it’s thick enough. If I make a cake ahead of time, I store it in a large airtight container (I have a collapsable one that works great for storing layered cakes) in the refrigerator and then just set it on the counter a few hours ahead of time so that it can come to room temperature before serving it.
Hi! Can I use vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract? Thanks!
Yes, that would be fine! Vanilla bean paste works great too.
This is a fantastic recipe. Thank you so much for sharing. I made it for a huge birthday and everyone loved it! It’s now a birthday favourite at home too. Ive used salted butter and milk. It works just fine. That whipping cream makes it amazing though.
So glad to hear that, Jessie!
Hello,
I am making sesame street cupcakes which would require me to add food coloring to the frosting. Not sure if this is a silly question but, would I add it when I make the frosting which will be today, or when I get ready to frost the cupcakes which will be Friday? I just don’t want to colors to dull down before I frost with it. Thank you so much.
Either way would be fine, Carrisa! I don’t think the color will dull if you add it once you make it.
Can this butter team be used on two tier cakes? The cream will not melt while on top table?
You can use it to frost a tiered cake and it will hold up just fine, as long as it’s not in a warm/hot area.
How many layers will this frosting cover? What size cake pans? If only two layers should I multiply it by 1.5 times?
It will lightly frost a two-layer cake (8-9 inches), but I would recommend multiplying it by 1.5 for a slightly thicker layer.
Hi Danielle
Thanks for the recipe. I want to try making the strawberry one for my daughters birthday as I have been requested to make a pink cupcake castle. Before I start I have three questions: 1. Could I also substitute the heavy cream (which we don’t have in the Netherlands) for Philadelphia (which I like the taste of in frostings, we only have the spreadable and not the block type Philadelphia )? 2. Will the freeze dried strawberries make it as pink as the pictures (which would be awesome!). 3. Could I use less powdered sugar ( I find that the Dutch palate prefers less sweetness than the American) or would this mess up the consistency? Thank you so much!! Kind regards, Daphne
I would suggest just replacing the heavy cream with whole milk. The freeze dried strawberries will make the frosting lightly pink, if you want it a little darker you can use a little red food coloring or gel. I did add a drop or two of red to my frosting in the picture. You can reduce the powdered sugar slightly, but keep in mind that 3 cups is quite a bit less than most American buttercream frosting recipes. If you reduce it too much it won’t pipe as well.
I used philly cream cheese and it was DELICIOUS!!! I’m a kind of ‘wing it’ gal, and your recipe is by far the best.
But I’ve got to say, the cream cheese added a richness that really balanced the sweetness of the cake. I reduced the sugar and added cream cheese. Yum.
Thank you, Margaret! I have a cream cheese frosting on my site as well and I agree, cream cheese does really help balance out the sweetness.
I don’t have any heavy cream or whipping cream, can I add something different instead? And can I use it for cakes as well? Thanks in advance!
You can use milk instead. This frosting will work on a cake too! 🙂
Will salted butter just as well?
It really depends on the brand and the amount of salt in your butter. I would personally stick with unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt, otherwise, it may not taste quite right.
I know each person prefers more/less icing so it’s just an approximation but how many cupcakes will one batch of icing cover?
Thanks!
12-14 cupcakes for a thicker layer of frosting (like in the pictures) or about 24 for a lighter frosting.
This is hands down the best frosting I’ve ever had and I made it myself. That’s just unbelievable! You’re an angel for sharing this recipe with the world.
Thank you, Emilie! I’m glad you liked the frosting!
Thank you ssoo much for sharing your recipes they are Awesome
Thank you! I appreciate it!
Hello!
I frosted my cupcakes, and our party is tomorrow. Should I keep them refrigerated or leave out?
Thank you!
Yes, I would keep them refrigerated and then sit them out an hour or two before you plan to serve them.
Hi, I want to try this recipe today but do t have heavy cream. I do however have 1/2 &1/2. Would this be a better substitute than milk?
Yes! Half and half will work best if you don’t have heavy cream.
Thank you so much!