Buttercream Frosting
Homemade buttercream, start to finish — classic vanilla, chocolate buttercream, Swiss meringue, and snickerdoodle — for birthday cakes and last-minute cupcakes.
★ dessert
dessertButtercream Frosting
A creamy and sweet buttercream frosting perfect for cakes and cupcakes.
Macie RhodesIngredients
- 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter
- 4 1/2 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Fine Salt
- 4 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3-4 Tbsp Heavy Cream or Whole Milk
Instructions
- 1In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or handheld electric mixer), beat butter on high speed for 5 minutes or until lightened in color and whipped, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- 2Meanwhile, sift 4 1/2 to 5 cups of powdered sugar. Reduce mixer to medium-low speed and add powdered sugar one heaping Tablespoon at a time, letting it incorporate with each addition. Add powdered sugar to taste and beat until it is fully incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- 3Add 1/4 tsp fine salt (or to taste), then add 4 tsp Vanilla Extract, beating until incorporated.
- 4Serve as desired.
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Open in Pepper →Good Frosting Starts With Soft Butter
Store-bought frosting never tastes like butter and sugar, because it isn't. A homemade batch takes about five minutes with a mixer, and it's the difference between a plain sheet cake and one people talk about.
Cooks on Pepper reach for these when a birthday sneaks up, when the school bake sale is tomorrow morning, or when a box cake needs something worth eating on top.
Every recipe here is a real batch someone made and frosted with: plain Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Buttercream, Creamy Milk Chocolate Buttercream, Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and a cinnamon-spiked Snickerdoodle Buttercream.
Quick Tips
- 1
Soften the butter first
Set butter out 45 minutes to an hour until it dents with a finger but still holds shape. Melted butter makes soupy frosting that won't pipe.
- 2
Sift the powdered sugar
Run all 4 to 5 cups through a sieve before it goes in the bowl. It takes two minutes and keeps the frosting from tasting gritty.
- 3
Beat butter three minutes
Whip the butter alone on medium-high for 3 minutes before adding sugar, until it's pale and fluffy. That air is what makes it light.
- 4
Fix it with cream
Too stiff, add milk or heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time. Too loose, beat in another half cup of powdered sugar.
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