The other day I had an epiphany while I was perusing the aisles at Trader Joe’s. I stumbled upon their selection of freeze dried fruits and when I saw the raspberries I knew I had to try them in a buttercream recipe. The results? Absolutely flawless flavor, not too sweet (like when you use raspberry jam or preserves), not watery (like when you use fresh raspberries), and so easy to work with!
One Reader, Sarah, says: “Quite possibly my most favorite buttercream now! I am not a huge frosting kinda girl, however, I could eat this by the spoonful! Everyone raved over the frosting and how it married with the chocolate cake!” ★★★★★
What are Freeze Dried Raspberries?
The process of freeze drying simply removes the moisture from the raspberries while keeping them packed with flavor. They’re perfect for baking in your favorite scone recipe, throwing into pancake batter, or in this case, grinding into a fine powder with a food processor and tossing into a buttercream recipe. And just look at the color!
I’ve used this raspberry buttercream recipe to fill and frost cakes, decorate cupcakes, and have even gotten a bit crazy and mixed it with vanilla buttercream to make a flavor ombre as a cake finish. It pipes like a dream and is so easy to work with. A great pairing for pretty much any cake flavor you could think of!
Freeze-Dried Raspberry Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 Cup (18g) freeze-dried raspberries
- 3 Tbsp (45ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 Cups (360g) powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- With a food processor, grind the raspberries into a fine powder. Sift out the seeds (if a few seeds end up in the powder that is totally ok) and set the powder aside.
- Whip the butter using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until it’s creamy and light in color (5 minutes). Add vanilla, milk, and raspberry powder and continue to mix on medium until fully combined.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix on low speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Add a pinch of salt and mix on low speed until fully combined and smooth, 1-2 minutes.
Notes
- Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
- Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe.
Here’s how I’ve used this raspberry buttercream in the past:
As a filling and frosting in my raspberry chocolate cake recipe. So delicious!
As a filling for my matcha cake recipe. It would also pair perfectly with a chocolate, vanilla, or lemon cake.
What will you do with your raspberry buttercream? Let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram if you make this recipe!
This buttercream is so tasty, so easy to follow and brilliant for using freeze dried raspberries instead of fresh! So many recipes use fresh, cooked down, where you have to be just right so as to not water down your buttercream.
I made this dairy free and had no trouble with consistency. Thank you for including metric amounts too – much appreciated!!
I did this with freeze dried strawberries instead 3 times now!! Amazing!! Used it for a birthday party each time and always a hit‼️
Hi Whitney!
Would using a raspberry powder which has been made from freeze dried raspberries work just as well? They sell it on Amazon and I would love to skip having to grind the raspberries (I know I’m lazy) and would I still use 3/4 cup?
That would totally work, Sarbjit! You’ll actually want to use about 1/4 Cup of the powder. When you grind up the raspberries there’s much less volume. Hope that helps!
I never made ‘American style’ buttercream and I’m not sure if it turned out the way it should?
The taste is amazing but the structure is a bit grindy, as if the powdered sugar hasn’t dissolved properly.
Is there a way to fix this or tips on what to do next time?
I’ll pair this buttercream with a heartshaped 4 layer coconutcake. On top some nice decorative piping in different shades of pink (added some pink/red food coloring to a part of the buttercream) and sprinkles.
Thank you for all the inspiration on your website and insta, so glad I found your account
Hi Marlous! If the buttercream is gritty, it just needs a few more minutes to mix together. Mix it on low speed for an additional 1-2 minutes to let the powdered sugar dissolve fully. You can also add an additional teaspoon or two of room temperature milk to help with dissolving. Hope that helps and your cake sounds so pretty!
Quite possibly my most favorite butter cream now! I am not a huge frosting kinda girl; however, I could eat this by the spoonful! It was the absopurely the “icing on the cake” for an extra chocolate 9 inch cake I had made. I had enough softened butter to make 1.75× the recipe, but will definitely double the recipe to have even more between the layers! Everyone raved over the frosting and how it married with the chocolate cake! Thank you!!!
Yay, Sarah! I feel the same way about this frosting – I could totally eat it by the spoonful! I’m so glad you paired it with chocolate cake (such a great combo!) and it ended up being a crowd pleaser. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Could I add the freeze dried raspberries to your cream cheese icing and if so would need to change the amount ? I’m trying to make it for the inside of your lemon cake.
Hi Laura! You absolutely could – that sounds delicious! No need to change the amount of freeze dried powder you add to the cream cheese buttercream recipe unless you’re doubling it or scaling it in any other way. Enjoy!
We loved this buttercream! Yum!
Yay, Desiree! Thanks so much for letting me know!
So blessed to have found your website! It’s my absolute go to now. Question – I’m making a three tier 9inch chocolate cake and want to use this frosting recipe. How should I adjust the quantities?
Thanks for the kind words 🙂 for the frosting, make 2.5x this recipe and for the chocolate cake (I’m assuming you mean the chocolate cake from this recipe https://sugarandsparrow.com/raspberry-chocolate-cake-recipe/) make 1.5x the cake part of the recipe. Hope that helps!
Hi. I’m doing a lot of baking for my soon to be daughter in law’s bridal shower. I’m trying to do some things in advance. Does this frosting freeze well or should I wait? Thank you
Hi Cynthia! I’ve never frozen this frosting before but I know you can freeze American buttercream ahead. If you want to give it a go, you can make the frosting and wrap it in plastic wrap, then place it in a ziploc bag before putting it in the freezer. The day before you’re ready to use it, thaw it in the refrigerator. Then, bring it to room temp before re-whipping it with your stand mixer to bring it back to frosting consistency. Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney! I’d like to make this frosting with powdered freeze dried raspberries. Do you know how much of the powder to add? Thanks!!
Hi Lucia! That’s awesome you’ve found freeze dried raspberries already in powder form! The berries typically reduce to about half when ground into powder, so I would add 1/4 Cup of the powder. Enjoy!