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
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Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at a cool room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea 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
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This post was published in 2021 and updated in 2023 with new photos and recipe improvements. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Hello Tessa,
How much Wilton concentrated gel icing colors do I need to look like baby blue color? You put 1/4 teaspoon to yours. People seems to use tooth picks to test out the colors. I am afraid to put too much. Thanks!
Definitely start with less and work your way up until you get your desired color!
Will it be different?
Maybe just slightly less rich and creamy, but milk should still work.
Can use milk?
After watching a kids cupcake bake-off my daughter (age 10 ) got inspired to “create” her own cupcakes from scratch. I’m not a baker and never made anything from scratch. She is so daring and we checked out a basic vanilla cake receipt last night. She made pineapple vanilla cupcakes and wants to now add coconut frosting (from scratch of course) I’m embarrassed to say I really had no idea how one makes frosting from scratch. I’ve only ever made a glaze for a cookie from powdered sugar, food coloring and water. I saw your blog and it looks pretty easy. Like the video, a good tool for teaching an inpatient young cook who doesn’t always like to read all the directions. excited to try it out. Looks like a nice receipt we can reuse and tailor
Thanks so much Judy! How awesome that your daughter wants to create her own cupcakes 🙂
Hmmm…this was interesting. I decided to move from canned frosting to fresh. I used to make frosting before canned, but I couldn’t remember the recipe. I remembered my mother making frosting from scratch. Now I see that the recipe can be made with variations, crisco, butter, etc.
Yes, lots of ways to make frosting! This is definitely my favorite, I hope you’ll try it soon.
I was wondering if you could use regular strawberry preserves? I couldn’t find seedless strawberry preserves.
I have made buttercream and trust me you need all the sugar and butter to make it perfect, absolutely love it and have now made the plain buttercream twice and everyone loved it. Now I’m guna start with the flavoured buttercream looking forward to trying the peanut butter one especially 🙂 thank you for your tips 🙂 xx
Hi Tessa, I was looking for a less sweet buttercream for my gluten free chocolate cupcakes and was drawn to this recipe because of the added whipping cream. It is just delicious! I’d look to try to salted caramel but wasn’t clear on directions. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
I have never made buttercream before and would like to use it to frost a large number of cupcakes. But since it will be a busy day tomorrow, can I frost them today and will they be ok out of the fridge until tomorrow afternoon?
I just tried this buttercream and it is delicious. I used salted butter and left out the additional salt and 2 TBS of whipping cream. If I added more cream would it make it lighter/fluffier?
Yes, absolutely. Cream accepts more bubbles of air as it’s being beaten so the result is lighter and fluffier.
Love this recipe. Best I’ve found so far,from someone who wants wedding cake for last meal on Earth!
16oz WEIGHT is not the same as 16oz VOLUME. You can’t compare a rock that weighs 16oz to 16oz of orange juice! Butter dispute settled…5th grade math.