Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
TASTE: Perfect level of sweetness without being cloyingly sweet.
TEXTURE: I love how creamy this frosting is! It has a velvety, silky texture that can’t be beat.
EASE: Super easy. This frosting comes together in just a few minutes.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: With so many customization options, your cakes and cupcakes are about to be more delicious than ever.
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I want to teach you how to make the BEST buttercream frosting you’ve ever had.
There’s nothing worse than the sickeningly sweet and artificial-tasting store-bought frosting that comes in tubs or is loaded onto grocery store birthday cakes. I usually scrape that stuff off whenever I’m served something like that – which is saying something for this sweet-toothed girl!
But not this recipe! Perfectly balanced in sweetness, silky smooth and creamy in texture, and an absolute dream to both frost with and eat.
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Making homemade buttercream is super easy. I’ll teach you how to make perfect buttercream step-by-step, so there’s no need to feel intimidated.
This recipe is the easiest way to level up your homemade cupcakes and cakes – and it’s so much fun to customize the flavors, too. Check out all my flavor suggestions below.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Buttercream Frosting
What is American Buttercream?
American-style Buttercream Frosting is made of butter and powdered sugar, whipped together with a little cream and some flavoring (such as vanilla extract).
Some American buttercream recipes will contain shortening or a combination of butter and shortening, but I prefer an all-butter mixture. Shortening leaves a slightly greasy film behind on the palate and has a slight aftertaste that I don’t prefer.
The Butter
Use high-quality butter since it’s the base of the recipe. I prefer to use unsalted butter in all my baking so I’m in control of the salt. Also, be cautious that your butter isn’t too warm or too cold. Your butter should ideally be about 67°F.
Heavy Cream (and alternatives)
You can use milk or half-and-half if that’s all you have, but I highly recommend using heavy cream if possible for its creaminess and maximum richness.
The Sugar
Always use powdered sugar in American-style buttercream – other types of sugar simply won’t work the same way.
Sift powdered sugar before adding it to your buttercream. Most recipes (including mine) are written like this: “3 cups powdered sugar, sifted” which means you measure the sugar first, then sift it before adding it in.
For the absolute smoothest buttercream frosting, I recommend investing in organic powdered sugar that contains tapioca starch instead of cornstarch because it dissolves much more readily to remove grittiness. This is the brand of organic powdered sugar I usually use, though Trader Joe’s also has a great option available too.
The Vanilla
I recommend using a high-quality pure vanilla extract (not an imitation vanilla flavor) when making a buttercream, especially if you’re making a vanilla buttercream, as it’s the star of the show.
Feel free to use vanilla bean paste instead, for a pretty speckled look and heavenly flavor.
How to Tell When Buttercream is Properly Creamed
Look for smooth, fluffy buttercream that’s light and bright in color. If your frosting still looks a bit yellow or feels dense, it’s probably not creamed enough. Check out the photos below for a visual guide:
Ways to Use Buttercream Frosting:
- Fill and frost cake, like my Chocolate Cake
- Pipe onto cupcakes, like my Chocolate Cupcakes or Lemon Cupcakes
- Easily spread on cookies, like my Sugar Cookies
- Use as decoration for any treat you like!
Must-Have Tools:
Buttercream Frosting Flavor Ideas
You may need to adjust the powdered sugar ratio depending on your flavor preferences and adjust the cream ratio depending on your texture preferences.
- Chocolate: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Strawberry: Add 1/3 cup seedless strawberry preserves and a few drops of red food coloring.
- Raspberry: Add 1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves and a few drops of red food coloring.
- Mocha: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder and 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder.
- Chocolate Malt: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 cup malted milk powder, and use 1/4 cup milk, plus more if needed.
- Peanut Butter: Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and reduce the powdered sugar to 2 1/2 cups.
- Irish Cream Buttercream: Use Bailey’s Irish Cream instead of cream.
- Kahlua: Add 1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/2 cup Kahlua in place of the cream.
- Mint: Add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and a few drops of green food coloring.
- Nutella: Add 2/3 cup Nutella and reduce powdered sugar to 2 cups.
- Lemon (or any other citrus): Add 2 tablespoons lemon zest and 3 tablespoons lemon juice and increase powdered sugar to 3 1/2 cups.
- Coconut: Add 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract.
- Cinnamon: Add 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon.
- Pumpkin: Add 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, remove cream.
- Salted Caramel: Add 1/3 cup caramel sauce, remove cream, and increase salt to 1 teaspoon (if your caramel sauce isn’t salted).
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Use 3/4 cup light brown sugar in place of all powdered sugar, add 1 1/4 cups flour*, and garnish with mini chocolate chips. *To make the raw flour safer, we need to kill bacteria. Treat the flour by baking it at 350°F for 10 minutes or microwaving in 30-second bursts until it reaches 165°F. Use an instant-read thermometer to guarantee it hits the temperature at which bacteria dies. Heating the flour in the oven also toasts it slightly, giving it a slightly nutty caramelized flavor.
More Buttercream Recipes You’ll Love:
The Best Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at a cool room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
- Add the salt, vanilla, and cream and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, adding more cream if needed.
STORAGE:
- Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature and re-whip in the stand mixer until light and fluffy again. Add a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.
Recipe Notes
This post was published in 2021 and updated in 2023 with new photos and recipe improvements. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Very easy to watch
Ahhhhhmazing frosting. Good god. This is gonna be a go to from here on out. Used these for ya’lls gob/whoopi pie recipe. Amazing.
Excellent recipes, thank you. What is the syrup i see people putting on their cakes? And how do you make it?
Hi Sharon! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this buttercream! Some bakers use a simple syrup; a sugar/water syrup, sometimes left plain and sometimes flavored. If your cake is moist and full of great flavor, we don’t typically see the need to add a syrup – but there’s lots of info out there on this if you want to experiment! 🙂
I’m new to the baking world! I was wondering when I make your sugar cookies and use this icing on them will I need to refrigerate the iced cookies? Or will they be okay to be out?
Hi Kelsey! Welcome to the wonderful world of baking!! 🙂 Tessa talks about this in the tips section, above the recipe. I recommend reading through all her tips there to learn everything about this fantastic frosting. Happy baking!
My only goal today was to make buttercream frosting from scratch. And the crowd roared!!!!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. Quick and easy, even for a novice like myself.
I have baked and decorated cakes (by request) for family and friends for over 45 years. That’s a lot of buttercream of all sorts. On my most recent cake, I used Tessa’s best buttercream recipe and the crowd went wild. Family and friends said it’s the best frosting I’ve ever made. Its the only recipe I’ll use from now on. Thanks Tessa
I absolutely love this recipe! But always have to double it in order to frost an entire cake (2 9 inch cakes stacked)
So I wanted to make the Nutella version, but I spaced and just made the regular recipe with3 cups of confectioner’s sugar (It’s been a long day!). Can I still add the Nutella at this point? Should I add anything else?
I used this buttercream with a texas sheet cake. the family declared it the best oreo cake! Better than oreos!
Can this recipe be used for piping decorations on your cut-out sugar cookie recipe?
Hi Karen! Yes, this buttercream will be delicious on Tessa’s sugar cookies, but it might not fully set as it’s not designed to completely dry like regular cookie icing. The icing recipe Tessa includes with her cut out cookie recipe will dry and harden, so you can stack the cookies and easily transport them. If you’re not worried about any of that, and just want a deliciously decadent, yummy frosting instead, then you can absolutely use this buttercream recipe instead. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I had a question, wanted to try this vanilla buttercream frosting with your incredible chocolate cake, have only made the cake with your amazing chocolate frosting. Do I need to increase the amount of frosting to do a 2 layer 9” cake. Best tip I ever received on Buttercream was organic confectioner sugar, a real difference maker.Thankyou…
Hi Jerry! So glad to hear that the organic powdered sugar has been such a great tip for you! Just to be safe and make sure you have plenty of frosting to both fill and ice your cake with, I would recommend doubling this buttercream recipe. If you have a little leftover, you can always use this to pipe a border or some pretty rosettes or decorate however you’d like 🙂 Happy baking!
read your directions; when do you add the cocoa?
Hi Marc! You can just add the cocoa powder to the powdered sugar 🙂