Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Our Buttercream Frosting Recipe is perfect for cakes and cupcakes. It makes a significant difference from store bought icing in a can. Piping it with a pastry bag and tip can give you bakery looking results as well. You can change the color and consistency to suit your decorating needs. Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups of buttercream frosting.

Download recipe here for future reference: Buttercream Icing Recipe or use our print button.

This recipe is enough to frost 12-16 cupcakes or a thin layer on a 9×13 inch quarter sheet cake.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter softened almost to room temperature, not melted.
2 teaspoons vanilla extract. If you are making a white frosting, you may want to use a clear Vanilla extract.
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb)
2 tablespoons of milk (add more as needed to suit your desired consistency)

Materials

Large Bowl (or you will covered in powdered sugar!)
Electric Mixer
Wooden Spoon or spatula
Measuring cup

How to Make Our Buttercream Frosting Recipe

In a large bowl, cream softened butter with an electric mixer.
Add vanilla. You want the clear vanilla if you are keeping the frosting white. Although I prefer real vanilla, it can give you a slight tint to the frosting.

Cream the butter for the Buttercream Icing Recipe.

Gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Start by mixing each cup on a low speed then transition to beating well on medium speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each cup of sugar is added. When all the sugar has been mixed in, the frosting will appear dry and stiff.
You can control the consistency at this point. Add up to 1/2 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or more milk if frosting is too thick (add 1 Tablespoon at a time, mix together, then taste and add more if desired).
Beat until light and fluffy.

Adding powdered sugar to the creamed butter to make buttercream frosting.

If you are making a colored frosting, add a small amount of food color at first, mix well and then add more if you want a deeper color. We like Wilton Gel colors. The set of 12 colors include a black which is hard to create. Wilton offers different sized sets of colors and can be found at local crafts stores or on Amazon. These colors are very vibrant and takes very little gel to achieve the color desired.
Use the buttercream frosting immediately or store in an airtight container.
You can refrigerate unused icing up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, if the frosting needs thinning, add a teaspoon of milk and mix well.

Tips for Our Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Use Real Butter

Use real butter if you can, it really has the best flavor profile. However, margarine can be used, the result will still be better than store bought frosting.

Milk Substitution:

Heavy Cream: heavy cream will give you the creamiest consistency. You can use half-and-half or whole milk instead as well. The lower the fat, the less creamy your buttercream will be. Whichever you use, make sure it is at room temperature. Otherwise your frosting could separate or become grainy.

Too Thick or Too Thin

Too stiff or too thin: If your frosting is too thin, add small amounts of powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency. If too thick, add 1 teaspoon of milk until the desired consistency is reached.

Too Sweet

Add a pinch of salt.

Making a White Frosting

Use clear vanilla if you do not want it to have a slight off white/yellowish tint. There are several brands you can choose from but they will all be imitation vanilla so it may have a slightly different flavor profile but not a significant one.