Buttercream Icing Recipe for Cake Decorating

A round cake covered in buttercream frosting rosettes in white, on a black cake stand.

5 from 5 votes

Buttercream Icing Recipe for Cake Decorating

This buttercream icing recipe makes the most perfectly smooth and creamy frosting, perfect for filling, frosting and piping.

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: g buttercream

Calories: 7.7kcal

Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

450 g butter (salted)
900 g powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk) optional
Food coloring optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Start by sifting the powdered sugar to break all lumps. Set aside.
Cut butter into small cubes. Make sure the butter is firm but soft. You can test by pressing your finger into the butter, It should be soft enough to make a dent and firm enough to hold the shape.
Add the butter into a large mixing bowl.
Cream until smooth on medium speed with a paddle attachment on your electric mixer.
Add in the sifted sugar. Use a spoon or spatula to mix the sugar lightly into the butter. This step will avoid the sugar from flying all over as you turn on your mixer and start beating it into the butter.
Mix until the sugar is moistened with butter.
Turn on your stand mixer or hand mixer on low speed and cream both the sugar and butter.
Start with low speed until the sugar is all well incorporated into the butter and then increase to medium high speed gradually until the butter and sugar are well combined and the mixture has turned creamy. Do not overbeat.
Scrape the sides of your bowl and add in the vanilla extract.
Continue to cream the butter and sugar until it becomes of a fluffy consistency, but do note that whipping the butter and sugar for too long will incorporate too much air into the mixture and leave your buttercream with lots of air bubbles which will be difficult to be smoothed out.
Next, add the cream. Add in small increments of half tablespoon of cream or milk to avoid the buttercream frosting from becoming too soft.
Skip this step if the buttercream is already soft. The buttercream should be sufficiently firm and soft to be able to piping with a piping bag and hold its shape well.
Beat again until the cream is well incorporated. If you wish to color your buttercream icing, you can do it at this stage. You can use both liquid food coloring or gel food coloring.
Do note that using too much of liquid food coloring can affect the consistency of the icing. Hence, it may be advisable to use gel based coloring as it is more concentrated. Mix well so that the color is even in the buttercream.
This recipe makes approximately 4⅓ cups of buttercream and is sufficient to generously fill and frost a two layer, 7 inches round cake with simple piped rosettes design.

Notes

For best results, the butter should be firm but soft enough to press with a finger. Sometimes, room temperature butter may be too soft, especially if you are living in a warm temperature. If the butter is too soft to the point it is no longer able to hold its shape, return the butter to the fridge until it firms up before making the buttercream icing.
If you are using unsalted butter, add about one eighth of a teaspoon of fine salt with the sugar. Do not be overly generous with the amount of salt you add to this buttercream icing recipe. You only need a small amount.
Butter can be replaced with shortening. You can replace it entirely or proportionately. The buttercream will definitely taste better with all butter in it (without any shortening), but adding shortening stabilizes the buttercream and it will be better able to withstand warmer temperatures. Shortening also helps in making your buttercream naturally white. For heat stable buttercream, replace half of the butter with shortening. For an all white buttercream, replace all the butter with shortening.
It is a must to sift the powdered sugar before using as powdered sugar tend to be lumpy and these lumps do not always break, even when beaten with a mixer.
If you turn on your cake mixer after adding the powdered sugar, there is a high chance that the sugar will fly all over. It is best that you mix it on very low speed or mix it by hand with a spatula just so that the sugar is all moistened with butter before turning on the mixer.
Both gel based food coloring and liquid based colors will work for buttercream. However, gel food colors are best because they are concentrated and you need not use much, especially when you are trying to make deep and dark colors like red. Too much additional liquid can alter the consistency of the buttercream.
Heavy cream is optional and is not required if your buttercream is not overly stiff. If your buttercream is stiff, and you do not have any cream, you can use milk instead.

Flavor variations:

Vanilla bean buttercream - substitute the extract with scrapings of one vanilla bean.
Chocolate buttercream - sift in 4 to 5 teaspoons of cocoa powder into the icing after mixing in the sugar. If the icing is too stiff, add some milk or heavy cream as indicated in the recipe card.
Lime, lemon or orange buttercream frosting - Replace vanilla with 1 – 2 teaspoons of finely grated rind (zest).
Strawberry and raspberry buttercream - Grind freeze dried fruits into fine powder and add to the buttercream after adding the sugar. Start with about 1 - 2 teaspoons of the powder and increase the amount to suit your liking.
Buttercream frosting in banana, coconut, almond and mint flavors - replace the vanilla extract with these extracts. Use between 1 to 2 teaspoon for the quantity of icing in the recipe card below.
Coffee buttercream or espresso buttercream - add 2 teaspoons of instant soluble coffee powder after adding the sugar (make sure the coffee is in powder form). Alternatively, mix it with ½ - 1 tablespoon of milk before adding to the buttercream.
Earl grey buttercream - process about 2 teaspoons of tea leaves into fine powder (add some icing sugar to the tea leaves when processing if your machine requires a minimum volume) and add to the buttercream frosting. The buttercream frosting will have lovely tiny specks of the tea leaves and a great flavor of tea.
Peanut butter or Nutella buttercream - replace half of the butter in the recipe with peanut butter/Nutella.
Mocha buttercream - make the chocolate buttercream and add 1½ teaspoon of powdered instant coffee. Alternatively, dissolve the coffee in about ½ - 1 tablespoon of milk before adding to the buttercream.
Lavender or cinnamon buttercream - add ⅛ teaspoon of lavender/cinnamon powder to the buttercream. Omit vanilla.

Nutrition