When I used to bake and decorate wedding and birthday cakes, I would use different types of frosting depending on who was eating the cake. Most wedding cakes were frosted in egg based recipes such as Italian or French meringue but for children’s cakes or cupcakes I usually frost cakes in American buttercream frosting. Made with powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk, this is a basic, easy recipe for classic vanilla buttercream frosting. This frosting works great for spreading on cakes, cupcakes, and/or for decorating. Some frosting recipes will call for shortening. Although you could easily substitute some of the butter for shortening, your frosting will taste greasy. But if you must have a true bright white frosting or need to stabilize it, shortening and clear vanilla extract flavoring would work fine. I prefer using all butter and occasionally substituting the vanilla extract for other flavors such as almond, coconut, milk, or lemon. The color of the buttercream is slightly off white but the taste of whipped buttery frosting makes it entirely worth it. Also, the frosting can be easily tinted with food paste gel or food coloring.
It’s important to note that when preparing a batch of frosting you adjust the consistency of the buttercream for what you plan on using it for. The easiest way to do this is by adjusting the amount of milk you use. The less milk you pour in, the more stiff your frosting will be. And if you pour in too much milk, you can always add more sifted powdered sugar to stiffen it right back up. I for one prefer a medium (somewhat soft but slightly stiff) consistency when spreading on a cake. But for piping and decorative work, I prefer a stiffer consistency so the different edges of my piping tips will show clearly. The tip I used in the picture above is a #32. As you can see, I piped it in 3 different styles using the same tip.
This recipe is very forgiving. The amounts of milk and powdered sugar you use can be adjusted for what you need. The only important suggestion I would recommend is to make sure you sift your powdered sugar before adding it to the butter. This will insure your frosting is smooth and without small sugar clumps.
If you’re looking for a classic vanilla buttercream recipe, look no further. Enjoy!
**I am also soliciting cake tutorial requests – just leave them in the comment section below**
* Many of you have asked about how much frosting you need to make for cakes and cupcakes. Here’s an informative link from Baking 911 with a useful chart giving approximate frosting amounts depending the cake size. Also, as far as cupcakes are concerned there is no standard answer. Some people like to decorate with very little frosting on the cupcakes and others like to pipe them skyscraper high which would require way more frosting per cupcake. For decorating cupcakes, the amount of frosting you need is according to how much frosting you would like to use.
**Someone emailed me wanting to know what tool I use to sift the powdered sugar. I just buy a round metal mesh strainer available at any grocery store and use a spoon to stir the sugar against the metal mesh. Hope this helps.**
*** Tips for success: Use unsalted butter. Different brands of butter have varied levels of salt content in salted butter. Some people have commented that their buttercream was too salty. This is due to the brand of butter you use. Some brands will be vary salty and others not so much. Therefore I have changed the recipe to reflect unsalted butter.
The texture of the butter makes a BIG difference. If your buttercream is runny or thin, this is due to the texture of the butter which I’m assuming some of you may have microwaved to get it softened. When you microwave butter like this, you run the risk of melting the butter which will make your frosting runny and grainy. Ideally you want your butter to be soft enough to whip with a mixer or beater but not so soft it will melt. The texture should be similar to ice cream, soft enough to scoop but firm enough to hold it’s shape.
Related post: How to Frost a Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted!) Ideal texture should be like ice cream.
- 3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.
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Best fluffy butter frosting ever. Just piped 40 roses with tinted frosting and they look and taste fantastic. Definitely a keeper.
Hi! I’m trying to make swirly shells like the outer shells on your photo above. They look ok, but I’d like to make them look more like yours. Can you give me some suggestions? I used both a #32 and 16. Do you have a video showing how to make them?
Thank you.
Andy
Hi Andy,
I do not have a video for this at this time. However, the best advice I can give you is to hold the bag at a 45 degree angle. With a steady hand, squeeze the frosting out like you would with tooth paste. Apply pressure to the bag and pipe out a squirt, lifting the bag up and away without pressure to form the “tail.” Continue to do this all the way around the cake.
hello i am going to try and to the roses to for my mums cake, would it be possible to put it in the fridge when the cake will be ready with buttercream roses or it will fall apart
I made this for my FIL’s cake today…it was great! I’ve never made my own frosting and now will never go back to canned! Tomorrow I frost my son’s cake! Still trying to figure out how to get a deep brown/chocolate for the dirt (Dino excavation cake). any tasty suggestions?!
Hi Denise,
I made an excavation cake for my son – not with a dino but with a front loader – and I used crumbled oreo cookies for the dirt. Looked great and tasty too!
Lady Hsiao
A really good way to do this is smash honey flavored graham crackers then add some melted butter, granulated sugar, and coco powder
and it makes it real grainy and dark chocolatey color 
its super delicious too
Hi Denise,
Crushed Oreos looks really good.
Hi there! This looks delicious and I’m hoping to use it for an upcoming party I’m hosting. My only question is (and forgive me if this is a no-brainer – this is my first time using buttercream icing!) must the cupcakes be refrigerated due to the milk/cream in the icing? Thanks!
Hi Mandi,
It depends on how long you plan on leaving your cupcakes out. If it’s longer than 3 hours, then yes, stick them in the fridge or freezer.
Could this be used as a smooth buttercream to look like fondant with “the paper towel” method?
Hi Katie,
Yes, you can use the paper towel method.
Thanks so much for the quick response. Any tips on making a nice smooth looking cake for beginners? Also, would you frost and set for 30 minutes or so before using the paper towel? Any pointers are much appreciated!
Hi Katie,
Here’s a great tutorial I did. http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/11/tutorial-how-to-frost-a-cake/. I’m not a huge fan of the paper towel method.
Wonderful recipe! Just iced a birthday cake this morning (it must be a good Monday if it starts with buttercream icing at 8am, right?) and it turned out GREAT!
Love the way you think Evelyn!
Just love this recipe. Thanks. I used the whisk attachment and didn’t sift the sugar since that takes forever. I used it for my Wilton classes and did not notice any unmixed clumps and they would have shown up with the deep colors I was using. It also helped to know that the sugar amount was really 1 box which eliminated all that measuring, making this the simplest recipe ever. I had the best tasting icing in the class and the only non-greasy tasting one since the others in the class relied on the Wilton recipe or Wilton canned varieties. I added 1 tablespoon meringue powder without noticing much effect. The icing did become softer from the heat of my hand quicker than I would have preferred but the flavor more than compensated for it. Thanks again.
Silly question… if I’m making a 3D cake from cut up pieces of cake, is it easier to spread firmer or softer frosting? And do I spread a layer of frosting before using a bag w star shape tip to spot on the final frosting?
Hi JC,
Firmer frosting is more for decorative work like piping. The softer texture is for spreading. So I would frost the cake with medium-soft texture and pipe your starts with a medium-firm texture.
Hi, I was having a lot icing troubles till I came across yours. Managed to make twice with pretty consistent results. Thank you.
I am still learning and would love to someday pipe shells like you
Do you measure the confectioners sugar before or after sifting?
Sift the sugar before adding.
Did you mean sift before measuring?
Yes, sift before measuring. This also goes for flour, or anything like flour or powdered sugar.
Hi! About how many cupcakes would this recipe frost? You said it makes 2.5 cups, but I’m not very good at estimating or guessing… I have no clue!! I know you wrote at the beginning that it depends on how much you want to put on the cakes, so if i wanted to do a middling amount? So not a thin layer but not piled high. Sorry for asking a silly question and thanks!
Is there a difference between adding the milk or heavycream? I have heavy whipping cream and milk, but I’m not sure which to use, will it change the taste? I would prefer something light on my cupcakes!
My icing didn’t come out thick how can I thicken it up
Jaquita, you can thicken your frosting by adding more powdered sugar (likewise, if you find that you’ve made your frosting too thick, you can add a little more liquid – milk or lukewarm water, whichever you’re originally using). Hope this helps!
Delicious! This icing is amazing! I am definitely keeping this recipe!
So yummy and amazing
Hi! Do you also have a mocha frosting recipee or do I just add concentrated coffee in place of the vanill and some melted semi-sweet chocolate?
tried this recipe for frosting. the salt made the frosting taste terrible. dumped the whole batch and tried something else.
Did you make sure to use unsalted butter?
This frosting was so delicious! My family and I love buttercream icing, so glad I know how to make it on my own now. Thank you for sharing!
I forgot to add that I didn’t use any salt and it still came out great!
Is this icing suitable to make roses and other flowers? I’ve been having a terrible time finding recipes for roses that is the right consistency. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I’m not a beginner and used to make roses before, but now I’m having all kinds of issues!! Help!
Hi Glenda,
Yes, it will work beautifully for roses. Just be sure to make the texture firmer by adding less cream.
Question: I see that for the recipe you said use a paddle attachment, would it make the frosting fluffier if you use a whisk attachment. I just got a new kitchenaid…so excited. Making my first round of buttercream, so I figured I would ask for future reference.
Hi Cat,
You could use the whisk attachment but I prefer the paddle. Less air bubbles get trapped in the frosting when using the paddle.
Hey!
The recipe sounds simple and the frosting looks brilliant!
I just have one doubt. I do not have a mixer. Can i whip it by hand? Or will it not come out like yours?
Hi Rama,
You need at the very least a hand mixer. Whipping it by hand will not work.
If I wanted to make this in a chocolate flavor, how much cocoa and do we need to adjust the liquid if adding cocoa?
Thanks.
Glad that I found your site. I have to bake a 13×9 inch cake for a friend . Is this recipe good to cover the cake or should I double it?
Hello Alice. I found your site using google. I really miss my mother’s buttercream icing which she used to make when we were children. I’m 52 now and I want to make buttercream icing again. My problem is the hot weather (in the 90s F) and high humidity in our country (in Asia). Can you suggest a buttercream recipe that would stand the heat and humidity? One blogger swears by Swiss buttercream icing which is boiled but I don’t like the egg-y taste of it. Thanks!
Wow we made this on the weekend, and it turned out perfect, and tastes amazing.
Can this frosting be frozen?
Hi,
I followed this recipe exactly and mine seems almost greasy and not sure why yours looks very creamy and smooth any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kelly
Also I felt like you could taste the vanilla extract alot. I made another batch and only put 1 tsp of the vanilla and it tasted much better but the consistency is still not right. It’s not thick like a frosting its more of like a whip cream not really runny just not right. Lol
It taste really good just not sure why mine isn’t turning out
Hi there,
Just wondering is it a good consistency for piping?
I’ve made a lot of different buttercream recipes and this one has been one of the best. I’ve gotten a ton of compliments on it and it’s very easy to make. Thanks for the great recipe!
I was wondering if I can make this frosting a day before and refrigerate it? Will it be to stiff to spread or pipe? I want to use it for a class but don’t have time to make it right before- Thanks
I was just wondering how long this will keep for in the refrigerator?
The BEST Frosting ever
Do you need to refrigerate frosting? I have no room for all the cakes in my fridge.
I tried to go to the link you posted for the frosting chart, but all that came up was a Q&A for frosting? Do you have the correct link? Thanks!
Too salty!! Loved the consistency without using milk and the taste would be amazing wiyhout any salt or just a pinch I’m sure. Will have to double wiyhout salt, or start again and omit salt. 1/4 tsp is way too much!! Tastes awful.
Can I make this today and refrigerate and then ice my cupcakes tomorrow?
Thank for the help to fine a nice buttercream that works…. But i would to ask if you could help me out. I am now living in turkey, and i need to make a Red Velvet… The recipe i use is with buttermilk.. Here you can not fine butter milk.. What is the best way to make a good Red Velvet cake with out butter Milk…
Thanks
Luis
i do not have a kitchaid i just have a regular mixer would this work or do you think that since it dose not have the right attachments thank you
chrystal
We don’t have a mixer with the paddle attachment, would this recipe work with a handheld mixer or will it change the texture?
Used this recipe instead of my standard one (which uses shortening) for my son’s birthday cake. What a WORLD of DIFFERENCE!! Everyone loved it and noticed the change. THIS is my new “go to” buttercream. Thanks for posting. So yummy!
Just used this to decorate a birthday cake. For my first time using butter cream frosting I feel so satisfied. Thank you so much.
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hi. came across your website by googling a chocolate frosting. tried your recipe and wow!!! so yummy. this is my go-to recipe for buttercream!
i want to ask though ,do you sift the powdered sugar before measuring them? or the other way around? i measure them then sift.
Can’t wait to try this recipe… Have been looking for a good buttercream recipe for awhile now…
Can you teach me the basics of cake decor: flowes, roses, petals which tip to use, etc.
Had to make frosting last minute with what I had on hand and it turned out great!! I omitted the salt because I only had salted butter in the fridge and I think the taste is fine.
I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s
both educative and interesting, and without a doubt, you have hit the
nail on the head. The problem is an issue that too few men and women are speaking intelligently about.
Now i’m very happy I found this during my hunt for something regarding this.
Hello!
This frosting is very delicious in my opinion but the people I am making for think it is to sweet. Is there any way I can lower down the sweetness little?
Thanks!
What does it use?
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