This Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is creamy, sweet and easy to customize! It’s perfect for piping onto cakes, cupcakes and more. Show
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Easy Vanilla Buttercream FrostingSo this post has actually been on my site for more than 5 years now and today I’m giving it an update. I get SO many questions about buttercream and direct people here often. I feel like the information that was here wasn’t as helpful as it needed to be, so today that changes. Plus, in the last 5 years I’ve made SO MUCH BUTTERCREAM and my opinions have changed slightly, so I feel like those things are worth sharing. All that said, my recipe is still the same. But hopefully you’ll find everything else included with it even more helpful than before. Let’s get started! Buttercream Frosting IngredientsThe ingredients used in a classic vanilla buttercream often vary only a little. Here is what I use when I make buttercream frosting: ButterNaturally this is the most important since we are making BUTTERcream. In the past, I’ve said that I like to use a mix of salted and unsalted butter (or salted butter and shortening – see next ingredient), but this is one thing that has changed a little lately. Now I recommend using all unsalted butter and then adding salt to taste. You most definitely don’t want to use all salted butter – it gives the buttercream a very strong salty butter flavor and you really don’t want that. So – you’ll need room temperature unsalted butter. ShorteningThis is one ingredient that often leads to questions. “Can I substitute it for more butter?” Yes. “Why do you use it? It’s gross.” Well, that’s a longer answer. Let’s talk about it a bit. One reason I often use some shortening is for consistency purposes. When a cake doesn’t need to be refrigerated because of a filling or something, I like to leave my cakes at room temperature. I just prefer their texture that way. When an all-butter buttercream is left at room temperature for a full day or overnight, I find that it kind of releases moisture that I don’t care for. By contrast, when I use some shortening, that doesn’t happen.Another thing about shortening is that if you live in a warm climate or are making cakes that will be outdoors, shortening can be really helpful because it’s not as susceptible to heat, like butter.And then the original reason that I started using some shortening was that I always found the buttery taste of an all-butter buttercream to be too much. But of course, this is another area where my opinion has changed a bit. Butter has grown on me. Lately I find myself enjoying an all-butter buttercream. Just be sure to use unsalted butter, like I said before. Powdered SugarAlso something I get a lot of questions about. This recipe uses a full 4 cups of powdered sugar to 1 cup of butter/shortening. The high amount of powdered sugar make this buttercream stable and pipe-able. This recipe covers roughly 12 cupcakes for me when frosting them quite generously, which I do. So when I frost cakes, which I also do quite generously, I double and sometimes even triple this recipe. That means anywhere from 8-12 cups of powdered sugar. A lot? Yes. But if you reduce it, you totally change the consistency of the frosting, which is super important – especially when frosting cakes and cupcakes. To read more about frosting consistency, check out this post. Vanilla ExtractNaturally, this adds flavor. But the great thing about this buttercream is that it’s so adaptable. Swap out this extract for another and you’ve got another flavor. Score! Heavy Cream or WaterI tend to use water, but cream also works well. Again, I like to leave my cakes at room temperature when I can, so I usually just go with water. That said, the high amount of fat in buttercream should keep buttercream that uses heavy cream fine at room temperature for a day or two. SaltSince unsalted butter is recommended, you’ll want to add salt to taste. I think this is really a big personal preference with this recipe. The salt can help cut back on the sweetness a bit. Too much though and it gets quite salty. How To Make Vanilla Buttercream FrostingThis buttercream is super quick and easy to make!
How to Decorate Cakes and Cupcakes with ButtercreamIf you’re looking for help decorating your cakes and cupcakes, I’ve got tutorials for both. My How to Frost a Smooth Cake tutorial is so well loved and an all time most viewed post. The video has more than a million views on YouTube. I really get into the details of how to actually frost your cake, so check it out. My tutorial for How to Frost Cupcakes is wonderful too. I show you 9 ways to frost cupcakes with 6 different piping tips. You can find links to all the tools I use in those posts, but here are some of my favorite piping tips.
Can I make buttercream ahead?Absolutely! Make it and leave it on the counter overnight, or refrigerate it for up to a month.You can even freeze it for up to 3 months. Why is my buttercream grainy?If this happens, most likely this has to do with your powdered sugar. There’s no other ingredient that would be grainy. If you do experience this, you’ll want to try sifting your powdered sugar. I’ve never needed to do that, but if you don’t use your powdered sugar much and it’s been sitting for some time or you live in a humid environment, it may get kind of clumpy and then you’ll want to sift it. Can I reduce the amount of powdered sugar?Yes and no. Sure you can reduce it. Who’s to stop you? You’ll end up with a buttercream frosting (technically). But this question is really one of consistency. I’ve been asked before if it was ok to reduce 8 cups of powdered sugar to 2 cups. If we talk about ratios here, then there’s 2 cups of butter for those 8 cups of powdered sugar. So if you reduce the powdered sugar to 2 cups without also adjusting the butter, it’ll be like eating straight butter with a touch of powdered sugar. Can you do it? Sure. Would I ever recommend it? Absolutely not. Not only would that taste bad (in my opinion), but the consistency would be totally off and it might not stay well on the cake it’s meant to go on. Not to mention that you couldn’t pipe it. So I go back to recommending you check out my post on buttercream frosting consistency. Whether or not you can (or should) reduce it depends on how you want to use your frosting (and how you want it to taste). And if you truly aren’t a fan of using much powdered sugar, then I might suggest checking out another kind of buttercream. This is an American Buttercream which gets it volume and stability from powdered sugar, so it’s hard to avoid. Swiss Meringue Buttercream gets its volume from egg whites that are cooked, so maybe check that out. I don’t currently have a recipe to recommend, but am working on it. So there it is! Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. Super easy and totally delicious. I hope this updated post helps! As always, if you have questions, leave them below and I’ll do my best to help. Read transcript
Recipe Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
DescriptionThis Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is creamy, sweet and easily adjustable! It’s a must-have recipe that’s super easy to make and pipes perfectly onto cakes and cupcakes! Ingredients
Instructions
NotesFor the salt, start by adding a pinch or two and add more to your taste. I wouldn’t suggest adding more than 1/8 tsp. You can add different extracts to change up the flavor. You can also add 1/4-1/2 cup of cocoa and a little more liquid to get a chocolate icing. For a peanut butter icing, add 3/4 cup of peanut butter. Nutrition
Keywords: Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, how to make buttercream frosting, best, easy, cupcakes frosting, frosting for cake Filed Under:Enjoy! You might also like these frosting recipes: Homemade Strawberry Frosting – 2 Ways This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy. What is homemade frosting made of?Ingredients. 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted (sift after measuring)*. 2–3 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream.. 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.. optional: pinch of salt.. How do you make frosting icing?Can I turn store-bought frosting into a glaze? Sure! Simply transfer your frosting to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high to 20 to 30 seconds.
What are the 5 types of frosting?Butter Cream. Buttercream is softer and more spreadable than most icing and is the preferred choice for taste and flexibility. ... . Whipped Cream. If lighter frosting is what you need then whipped cream is the answer. ... . Royal Icing. ... . Cream Cheese Frosting. ... . Meringue. ... . Fondant.. What is the difference between icing and frosting?Icing is thinner than frosting but not quite as thin as a glaze. Typically made with powdered sugar and liquid, such as water, milk, or juice, icing can be drizzled or spread. Icing has more shine and a smoother consistency than frosting.
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