Butter Icing Recipe (How to Make)

This butter icing recipe is a delicious butter-based cake frosting that works very well in humid and warm climates. 

It only requires 2 simple ingredients i.e. butter and sugar and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. It is also very versatile. You can customize this basic recipe to different flavors by using different extracts.

And the best part is the taste. It is sweet and rich and works perfectly well for any birthday cakes and often make people go for second helpings!

The butter icing recipe on this page is vanilla flavored. For best result, use pure vanilla extract or vanilla essence.

This icing is a personal favorite when it comes to cake frosting and I often use it as a covering for my cakes. And this is also the icing I recommend to those who do not like fondant on their cakes. With the right consistency, this icing can result in very smooth finishing on cakes, just like fondant.

Butter Icing vs Buttercream Icing

I also have another similar icing recipe on this site, and I call it buttercream icing (American buttercream frosting). Both recipes require the same main ingredient i.e. butter and sugar.

The main difference between this butter icing and that buttercream recipe is the consistency of the icings. This icing is much stiffer than the buttercream icing, as the proportion of icing sugar to butter is much higher, and there is no shortening added to this icing. Buttercream icing, on the other hand, just like the name suggests, is a fluffy frosting and more creamy as it contains more butter and/or shortening.

Both can be used for frosting cakes, however, buttercream works better for filling between cake layers as well as for piped decoration. It has a more fluffy consistency compared to butter icing.

Butter icing is too stiff and is not quite easy to use with piping bag. Having said that, its very easy to change its consistency to a piping consistency by adding more butter to it. And the additional butter of course, indirectly turns this icing into buttercream icing. You can also try to make the frosting thinner by adding some whipping cream or heavy cream to it. Start with one tablespoon of cream and whip the icing well before adding more.

Otherwise this icing can be colored in the same way as the buttercream. 

How to Make

Ingredients

• Butter
• Powdered sugar (icing sugar or confectioners sugar)
• Vanilla Extract

Mixing the Icing

• Sift the powdered sugar to break any lumps. Set aside.
• Cut butter into small cubes and add into a large bowl. Cream the butter until it is soft with a paddle attachment on your hand mixer or stand mixer.
• Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix with a spoon to lightly incorporate the sugar with butter. This step will avoid the sugar from flying all over once you start mixing the icing with a cake mixer.
• Turn on your mixer on low speed and cream the butter and sugar until the sugar is well incorporated. Scrape the side of the bowl.
• Add in the vanilla extract and increase the speed to medium high. Beat the icing mixture until it is well combined.
• At this point, the icing should be quite stiff, and it should not be sticking to your finger when lightly pressed.
• Color as you wish.

Notes

Why need to sift the powdered sugar?

• Powdered sugar or icing sugar is often lumpy. These lumps do not all break and dissolved even when beaten with a cake mixer on high speed. And they will appear as unsightly little bumps in your butter icing when you covered your cake with it.
• To avoid this, it is best that the icing sugar is sifted before being added into the butter. If you see any lumps in the sieve, you need not discard them. Simply break break and sift them through.

Salted butter or unsalted butter?

• This butter icing is best made with salted butter. Salted butter definitely gives this cake frosting the extra umph.
• If you are using unsalted butter, add about one eighth of a teaspoon of fine salt when creaming the butter.

How to store the frosting?

• Butter icing can be stored at room temperature for a day or two. Give it a quick whip before using.
• If you wish to keep the icing longer, place it in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator. The butter icing can last for a good one or two weeks when refrigerated.

Can the icing be frozen?

• Yes, it can.
• Fill any leftover frosting in a ziplock or freezer bag and place it in a container before storing in the freezer. The butter icing can be frozen for a good one month. To use the icing, simply let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then at room temperature for a few hours until it softens to its original consistency. Give it a quick creaming for 1-2 minutes before frosting your cake.

Does butter icing set hard?

• Butter icing does not set hard like royal icing. It does, however, form a very light crust after a few hours of applying onto a cake.

Should butter be at room temperature or cold?

• For best results, the butter should be cold and firm but soft enough to press with a finger.
• Depending on where you live, hot and humid environment can result in room temperature butter to be too soft that it does not hold shape. If this happens, return the butter to the fridge until it firms up before making the frosting.

How to color the icing?

• This icing is best colored with gel based food coloring. You can also use liquid food coloring if you like.
• Gel food coloring is often very concentrated and you only need a very little amount to tint your icing. Start with a tiny bit and then add more if you want the color to be more intense. Do note that the color tends to deepen after a few minutes, so it is important that you do not add too much food coloring.
• Given that butter has a yellow hue, the original color of butter icing is pale yellow. If you wish for white butter icing, you will need to tint your icing with white food color.
• Similarly, given the natural yellow hue of the icing, when you mix blue food color into the icing, it may give you green colored icing. To manage this, you will need to add more blue food color.

How to Apply Butter Icing on Cake

Personally, I prefer this icing as a cake covering. I am better at getting this icing smoother on cakes compared to buttercream so I prefer this over buttercream. To apply the icing onto cakes, I just take a little lump of icing in my hands and then flatten it in the cake with my fingers. At this stage, the icing will not be smooth, but I continue to cover the whole cake this way. Once all is covered, I use a spatula to smooth the surface.

And if the cake design requires piping work on it, I use the remaining butter icing and turn it in buttercream by adding some butter until it reaches a piping consistency. Its very easy to ruin the consistency by adding to much butter so I always do it by adding small amounts of butter until I get to the consistency I want. There is again a remedy if too much butter has been added to the icing. I add more icing sugar, off course. But then again, its very easy to overdo this whole process so adding both the butter and icing sugar in small quantities is the key! 

This is one such butter icing cake design I have made in the past. The cake itself was covered in butter icing and then for Elsa and Anna images, I added more butter to the remaining icing for a softer piping consistency and did the rest of the star piping work on the cake.

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Like this frosting recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out

• Chocolate Icing Recipe
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Homemade Fondant - How to Make Fondant Icing
• Buttercream Icing Recipe for Cake Decorating
• Salted Caramel Recipe (How to Make)
• Homemade Golden Syrup (A Quick and Easy Recipe)
• How to Make Lemon Curd
• Glaze Icing
• Marshmallow Fondant Recipe
• Royal Icing - 2 Easy Recipes (With and Without Egg Whites)

Recipe (Printable)

Here is the full printable version of my butter icing recipe:

📖Recipe

Happy baking and decorating 🙂