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My Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe is one of the easiest and best frosting recipes with just 5 ingredients. I’ve been making this recipe for years and have a secret ingredient that makes it extra fluffy. It’s perfect for piping on cakes and cupcakes!
I absolutely love vanilla buttercream – yellow cake with white frosting is my absolute favorite cake! When I was perfecting this recipe I tried a few different ingredients (milk vs half and half vs heavy cream) and found out the best way to make a super fluffy yet pipe-able frosting recipe.
This is an American Buttercream recipe – fluffy and sweet with butter and powdered sugar. It’s my favorite frosting for cakes, cupcakes and cookies and it’s easy to color too! It’s easy to tint a color or even pipe – and it’s so good!
5 Ingredient Buttercream Recipe
- Butter: use a good one for best flavor. Also, use REAL butter, not margarine or any substitutes. Just use a good one; I don’t recommend cheap store brands when butter is an integral ingredient, like in frosting. Make sure the butter is softened before making the frosting.
- Powdered Sugar, also called confectioners sugar, is the building block of this frosting. There are no substitutions for this. Some people sift their sugar, but I just scoop it from the container – be sure NOT to pack it or your frosting will be too sweet.
- Salt seems like something that doesn’t belong in frosting but I always add it to deepen the flavor as well as cut or enrich the sweetness of the frosting. If you’re using UNSALTED butter, you need to add 1/2 teaspoon. If you use SALTED butter you can reduce that to 1/4 teaspoon or omit and add after the fact, to taste.
- Vanilla Extract: only use PURE vanilla. Please, in general, never buy imitation. My favorite vanilla to use in frosting is actually Vanilla Bean Paste, which has those little bean flecks but is cheaper than buying actual vanilla beans. Use what you have, but always buy PURE vanilla.
- My Secret Buttercream Ingredient is Heavy Whipping Cream. Yes, you can use milk, but the cream gives it a richness that is unparalleled. Plus – when you’re mixing it in, it makes the frosting extra fluffy like it has whipped cream in it.
- Making this classic frosting recipe is easy. My favorite way to make this frosting is in a stand mixer, but you can also use a hand mixer.
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions. See below the recipe card for even more information: process shots, variations, FAQ and more.
Dorothy’s Expert Tips
- Be sure to measure your powdered sugar correctly (spoon and level it). I prefer weighing it if you have a scale. It doesn’t really matter if you have more powdered sugar in your frosting, but it means you may need more cream, and your frosting will be sweeter.
- Use salted or unsalted butter in frosting, but you need to add salt regardless (add more if using unsalted butter).
- The heavy whipping cream makes a whipped buttercream frosting that’s fluffy and sweet. I’ll never use milk in frosting again!
- I like to beat the frosting on medium speed until it’s nice and smooth once the heavy whipping cream is mixed in, making the frosting nice and fluffy.
- If you’re using a hand mixer: You may need to add the cream while it’s still crumbly because it takes longer to mix with a hand mixer.
- If you want to color your buttercream frosting, I suggest using GEL food coloring instead of water-based (grocery store) food coloring. Gel colors are richer, more vibrant, and won’t thin the frosting.
Buttercream FAQ
This can happen for a couple reasons: was your butter too soft? If so, try chilling the frosting for a bit and see if it firms up. If it’s not that, then chances are you added too much cream. Add a bit more powdered sugar and taste it to make sure it isn’t too sweet (if so, add more salt).
Yes, you can use milk (regular, 2%, nonfat) or even half and half. However, the frosting will be thinner and not as fluffy and you will most likely NOT NEED 2 tablespoons, so add LESS to start.
You can substitute Earth’s Balance Vegan Butter STICKS and use non-dairy milk for the cream. Again, you’ll need less than 2 tablespoons so start with 1 tablespoon.
Use GEL food coloring instead of water-based (grocery store) food coloring to color buttercream. Gel colors are richer, more vibrant, and won’t thin the frosting. Gel is also best if you want to make bright red buttercream icing – use Super Red or an equivalent. Grocery store brands will get dark pink at best.
Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups (452g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt, (see note)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) heavy whipping cream, see note
Instructions
- Beat butter with a hand or a stand mixer until smooth, then add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing in between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the salt and vanilla, mix until smooth.
- Add 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and beat on medium high speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy and the desired consistency.
- Note on mixing: if you’re using a hand mixer it’ll stay crumbly for quite some time; add the heavy whipping cream to help it come together.
- If you feel like you need a little more to get to the consistency you like, you can add up to another 1 tablespoon, adding a teaspoon at a time. This differs each time you make it depending on what mixer you’re using or how hot it is (the buttercream comes together easier in summer, for example, when the kitchen is warmer).
- Frost as desired; will frost one 9×13-inch cake or a 9-inch layer cake or 24 cupcakes. If you like extra frosting for decorating, make a double batch.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days and allow to come to room temperature before using; you may need to add some extra cream to thin it.
- You can freeze the frosting too for up to 3 months. Just let it defrost in the refrigerator then at room temperature before using.
Notes
- If using salted butter, reduce salt to 1/4 teaspoon or omit the salt and add it to taste (if the frosting seems bland or too sweet, add salt).
- In place of heavy whipping cream you can use whipping cream, half and half, any milk, or non-dairy milk but the less fat in the milk the thinner the frosting will be, so use less (start with 1 Tbsp). To make vegan frosting, substitute non-dairy milk and Earth’s Balance Vegan Butter Sticks.
- This recipe works best with gel food coloring for tinting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How to make Buttercream Frosting Step by Step
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- Beat the butter for a few seconds first, to get it nice and smooth. You can use a hand mixer and a large bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Add some powdered sugar. Don’t add all your powdered sugar at once; I like to add it one cup at a time, mixing between each, because if you add too much it will fly everywhere.
- Continue mixing adding more powdered sugar.
- Mix in the salt and vanilla.
- At this point your mixture will be crumbly if you’re using a hand mixer. It might me more smooth if you’re using a stand mixer.
- Add a bit of heavy whipping cream. You’ll see that I list a range of tablespoon amounts for the cream and that is because the amount of cream you use depends on the texture you want and it also depends on how soft your butter is when you start. I usually use about 2 tablespoons.
Does this recipe crust at all? Need it for a cake that I’m transporting. First time attempting a stacked cake and a rosette cake at that!
It does lightly in the refrigerator.
I liked this recipe, but why so much salt?…it kind of came out a little salty. I had doubled the recipe because I needed a lot so I ended up with a teaspoon of salt(2 1/2 teaspoons). (Speaking of the vanilla buttercream)
Did you use unsalted butter? If so it’s probably a taste thing, you can add more powdered sugar to balance it out.
I have used this recipe for over a year. It tastes great. Each time it is so smooth until I add in the milk (whole milk). Then it splits into little bumps. Any idea why?
Is it just lumpy or is does it look curdled? I have never had that happen but I found this from here: https://bakeclub.com.au/blogs/q-a/curdled-buttercream
Buttercream curdling or ‘splitting’ after adding milk is a common problem, especially in winter. The reason for this is that butter is essentially an emulsion and when you add milk the additional water (full cream milk is almost 90% water) causes butter emulsion to split.
The best way to rectify this is to continue to beat the buttercream until it becomes smooth again. The friction created by the beating will warm the butter slightly and soften it helping to reform the emulsion and absorb the extra moisture. Alternatively, you can beat the original buttercream for longer and the warmth generated by the friction will soften the buttercream to a more spreadable consistency so there is potentially no need to add milk to help soften it.
As I mentioned, this ‘splitting’ is more likely to occur in winter when ‘room temperature’ butter is colder than it will be in summer. Also, the beater, bowl and air around the buttercream mixture will be cooler which will also lower its temperature, making it more prone to splitting when milk is added.
I agree with the salt. I used unsalted butter, and since I saw this comment, I put in just short of what the recipe calls for in salt, and still thought it was a bit salty. It’s tasty, don’t get me wrong!! But I’ll use half of the salt next time.
I have used this recipe for years and you are SO right. This is a fantastic tasting all purpose frosting. If you are in the mood for LIGHT chocolate you can add 1/4 cup Hershey’s cocoa to your powdered sugar and another 2 tablespoons butter and have an equally satisfying and useful chocolate frosting.
Absolutely yummy!
Quite a few recipes call for whipping cream. It has a short life, so if you don’t bake every day, chances are it will go bad before one needs it again. I would love to keep it on hand but I haven’t been able to. I’m a “spontaneous baker” and hate to run out for that ingredient. If I freeze it, won’t it affect its use to a certain extent? Doesn’t it make it watery? Thank you! I have collected and used so many of your wonderful recipes! You are my favorite go to for recipes!
You can use any kind of milk, it just won’t be as fluffy without the whipping cream. I know my mom freezes milk, so I think you could freeze the cream – maybe in ice cube trays?
In most grocery stores, they have the small whipping cream in the size containers we used to get the milk carton at school lunch with so you’re not wasting much.
Whipping cream is about 35 % fat and has a very long shelf life in a cold fridge. Check the date when you buy it. Buy a small container. Two weeks or so later you could make something simple like strawberries and whipped cream or any other simple dessert. Or make more frosting and freeze it.
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