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This Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is creamy, sweet and easy to customize! It’s perfect for piping onto cakes, cupcakes and more.
Table of Contents
Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
So 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 Ingredients
The ingredients used in a classic vanilla buttercream often vary only a little. Here is what I use when I make buttercream frosting:
Butter
Naturally 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.
Shortening
This 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 Sugar
Also 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 Extract
Naturally, 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 Water
I 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.
Salt
Since 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 Frosting
This buttercream is super quick and easy to make!
- First, add your butter (and shortening, if using) to your mixer and beat until smooth and creamy. Again, be sure it’s all at room temperature.
- Next, you’ll add about half of the powdered sugar. It doesn’t have to be exact.
- Then add your extract and some water or cream. Basically, we want to add some liquid to keep the buttercream from getting super thick as we continue to add the powdered sugar. I usually add one tablespoon of liquid, plus the extract at this point.
- Add the rest of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- At this point, you’ll want to add additional liquid as needed. How much you’ll add may depend a little on what you’re using your buttercream frosting for, but generally 2-4 tablespoons is plenty. Again, you can refer to my post on frosting consistency for a little more help on when to add more liquid and how much is too much.
- Finally, add a little salt. Start with a pinch and go from there.
How to Decorate Cakes and Cupcakes with Buttercream
If 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.
- Ateco tip 844 – A go-to for piping onto cupcakes and for borders around cakes.
- Ateco tip 808 – A wonderful large round piping tip.
- Ateco tip 847 and Ateco tip 849 – Similar to the 844, but larger. I used the 847 tip on the cupcakes in these photos.
- Sprinkles – Not exactly a piping tip, but who doesn’t love them?
- Piping bags – Because you need these too.
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.
You might also like these frosting recipes:
Homemade Strawberry Frosting – 2 Ways
Cream Cheese Frosting
Fudgy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Stabilized Mascarpone Whipped Cream
Easy Strawberry Whipped Cream – 2 Ways
Chocolate Ganache
Watch How To Make It
Print
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: about 2 1/2 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This 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
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (95g) shortening (or additional butter)
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2–3 tbsp (30-45ml) water or heavy cream
- Salt, to taste*
Instructions
- Combine the butter and shortening in a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of water or cream and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add more water or cream until desired consistency is reached, then add salt to taste.
Notes
For 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
- Serving Size: 2 1/2 cups
- Calories: 3288
- Sugar: 391.8 g
- Sodium: 742.3 mg
- Fat: 194.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 399.7 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 244 mg
I tried this out and it was my first time using buttercream. Jesus this is the best thing I have got this month. It came out nicely though I have to practice more and more. Thanks so much dear for being generous and you share whole heartedly . May God give you long life. Lindsay I rate it with a 5
Hi Lindsay,
Just tried your recipe today and I would say the taste is not that bad although I preferred all butter. Followed to the T but end result is grainy no matter how long I beat.
May I know where goes wrong. I have tried many others and still face the same issue where the texture is grainy.
Seek your expertise on this.
Thank you in advance.
Hard to say without being there. The only thing that could add any texture to the frosting is the powdered sugar. Is it fresh and free of clumpy-ness before you add it? It sounds like something to do with the powdered sugar. Also, be sure you’re using powdered/icing sugar and not granulated sugar.
Can I use this recipe on sugar cookies?
You can. It’s a crusting buttercream, so it will firm up a bit, but won’t be as firm as royal icing.
Perfect thank you for the detailed explanation!
How would you turn this into white chocolate buttercream? Just add melted white chocolate?
If you’d like a white chocolate buttercream, I’d suggest the frosting on these cupcakes, but with white chocolate.
I just decorated a girlies cake using this recipe. This is the best I have tried in my years of baking. Thank you so much for sharing.
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Hi there, should I use a room temperature or cold butter?
Thanks
Room temperature butter.
I’m waiting for my butter to get to room temperature and I’ll be making this buttercream recipe. What will this recipe yield or how much cake will this recipe icing? I’m making cupcakes, 6″ and 8″ cakes. One more important question, what type and/or brand of shortening do you use? in my attempt of finding the perfect buttercream icing, all shortenings are NOT created equal.
I use crisco vegetable shortening. As for how much this frosting covers – I usually cover 12-ish cupcakes with it. It depends a little on how much frosting you top your cupcakes with though. And how you’re decorating them. Certain frosting tips and methods use more or less frosting. For cakes – I usually do about 2 1/2 recipes worth for an 8 inch cake, but I’m a little heavy handed with frosting so again, it depends on how much you like to use and what kind of decorations you’ll add.
I have tried this recipe two times now, Both times the taste was wonderful but the frosting reminded me more of a whipped frosting instead of a buttercream. Am I maybe mixing it on a higher speed than i should???
It sounds like that’s a possibility. Whipping it on high speed would have that effect. I usually mix on more of a medium to medium-low speed.
about how many pounds would you say this makes?
I really don’t know. I haven’t ever measured it by weight.
I usually just used canned frosting, but the one I had tasted rather sour so I thought it time to actually make my own. Of course, I thought of this recipe. I made the mistake of using unsalted butter which is all I had on hand, so it came out way too sweet, unfortunately. I still used it to frost my cake because I didn’t want it going to waste. Luckily, on the cake, it tastes slightly less sweet, so it didn’t ruin it. How much salt should I add if I don’t have salted butter on hand if there’s a next time?
I’d try adding about 1/4 teaspoon and then you could add a tad more, if you feel like you need it.
Hi Lindsay, What’s your take on using a 50/50 mix of butter flavored shortening and butter? Have you (or any of your subscribers that you know of) tried using butter flavored shortening?
I personally don’t love the flavor of butter flavored shortening, but that would probably be a preference thing. You could certainly try it.
Hello Lindsay!
I *love* your recipes and this frosting is no exception! I made a test batch of this for some galaxy cupcakes I am making for my daughter’s upcoming birthday. My question is, I would like to make the icing and possibly cupcakes in advance but I’m not sure how I should go about staggering that? I need to make 6x this amount and will need to dye it four different colors. Could I dye the icing and leave it out at room temperature and ice the cupcakes the next day? I would use the 50/50 butter/shortening and use water not milk. Could I ice the cupcakes and leave them out overnight in a cupcake carrier the day before the party?
I do leave the half/half frosting out at room temperature and don’t have any issues. You should be able to frost them the night before – I do that most every time I bake. 🙂
I need to ice a medium 3 layer cake (25 people) should I double this recipe to get enough?
Depending on how much frosting you like to use, I’d double or triple it.
can you use fondant icing sugar instead of normal icing sugar for extra stiffness? or would this not be good as a filling? i struggle to get a smooth cake and don’t always want to cover with fondant.
I’m not sure what fondant icing sugar you’re referring to.
Hi Lindsay. I used your recipe and absolutely love it. However it does come out too sweet to some people. Do you have any tips on how to make this less sweet? Thank you
One thing would be to add a touch more salt. You could also cut back on the amount of powdered sugar, but you’d end up with less volume, so you’d probably want to increase everything else a bit to adjust for it. Here’s a post on the frosting consistency that could be helpful, if you want to make adjustments.