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!
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!
Really nice frosting, thanks for the recipe! I added 1/2 tsp lemon juice to help bring out the tartness. It tasted wonderful on lemon cupcakes! I also love the idea of pairing it with matcha like you did in your beautiful cake photo!
Thanks so much, Sarah! I bet it tasted amazing with a little lemon juice added. I’ll definitely have to try that sometime!!
How big was the cake you put it on? I want to make this (with the ombre style) for my nieces smash cake but I’d like to adjust the height a little. Thanks!
Hi Nakita! This recipe makes enough to fill and frost a four inch cake (my four inch cakes are about 5 inches tall). Hope that helps!
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to make this!
Absolutely loved it! I only ended up using 2 cups of powdered sugar, and used half salted and half unsalted butter (while omitting the pinch of salt), then I added a little lemon juice. The nice tartness paired perfectly with my dark chocolate cake!
Yay, Jennifer! Adding lemon juice is genius! I’m going to have to try that. So happy you love the recipe!
Hi just wondering can you use this raspberry buttercream for the Cascading Floral cake?
You totally can, Gina! It pipes beautifully.
Hi what can I use if I can’t find freezed dried raspberries? Thanks
Hi Ella! The reason why I love freeze dried raspberries is because all of the water has been removed from the berries, making them easier to incorporate into buttercream. If they are not available at your local grocery store or through Amazon, I would recommend finding a recipe that uses fresh raspberries and going with that, as altering this recipe to accommodate the liquid in fresh berries would change it dramatically. Hope that helps!
Thanks!
Hi Whitney!
Do you think that this recipe could be altered for any freeze dried fruit? Thanks!!
It sure can, Miah! I’ve made it with freeze dried strawberries, blueberries, and mango – all super tasty. Let me know what you end up trying it with!
Great!! Thank you so much I can not wait. I made your Mint Chocolate Cake the other day, it was a huge hit for my Andies mint loving grandma!
Yay!! That makes me so happy!!
Loved this frosting recipe! I made it to go on a white chocolate cake for my moms birthday and it was a huge hit. Almost tasted like a raspberry sorbet. I did change the amount of powdered sugar because I don’t like overly sweet things, and only added 2 cups and it was perfect. I found freeze-dried raspberries at trader joes, for anyone looking.
Yay, Alexandra! So happy you love this recipe and YES I love Trader Joe’s freeze dried raspberries for this recipe too. They have all sorts of freeze dried fruits you could sub in as well!
Hi Whitney,
I’m baking a 10 x 9 inch heart shaped cake (your vanilla cake recipe) in 2 layers. How much of the recipe would I be needing? In the middle I’m using your chocolate buttercream.
Thanks!
Regards,
Maja
Hi Maja! I saw your beautiful cake on Instagram already but I wanted to respond here in case anyone else has the same inquiry. To only frost a cake of that size I would just use this recipe as-is. So happy this recipe worked out and the color was amazing on that heart-shaped cake!
Only saw this just now 🙂 Thanks!
Are freeze dried raspberries straight out of freezer do I put them straight into food processor as I was wondering how they turn to powder don’t they go soggy
Hi Jenny. Freeze-dried is different than frozen – the berries are processed in such a way that all of the liquid is removed and the result is a dried raspberry that can be ground into powder. You can find freeze-dried raspberries at your local grocery store, or on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3cs1pwa
Would I be able to do this recipe without a stand mixer? I have an electric hand mixer
Hi Lauren! You certainly can use an electric hand mixer for this recipe. Just follow the same speeds/times as detailed in the instructions. Enjoy!
Do you think this would work well as a bonbon filling? Does it need to be altered at all to be firm enough for that?
I also plan on using vegan butter and lactose free milk if that matters.
Hi Ashley! I’ve never made bon bons before so I’m not entirely sure. My hunch is that it should work – it will get very firm in the freezer or refrigerator – but I would compare it to some other bon bon filling recipes and see if its similar enough.
Hey Whitney!
I’m making a vanilla cake and wanted to fill with raspberry jam. Would you recommend a vanilla buttercream to pair or this raspberry buttercream? I wasn’t sure if this buttercream would be best as the star or amplified with jam.
I would love to pipe some decor on top.
Thank you! Your work is beautiful 🙂
Hi Lindsey! I think you could go either way depending on how much raspberry flavor you want the cake to have! If it were me, I’d go with the vanilla buttercream only because I know that’s a classic and amazing combo, but if you want to take the raspberry flavor up a few notches you could totally pair it with this raspberry buttercream!
Hi
I want to add freeze dried raspberry to a chocolate butter cream, it then needs to be covered in fondant icing for a wedding cake
Will the raspberries bleed through on the white icing
Hi Michelle! I don’t think they’ll bleed through, but I’ve never tried covering a raspberry buttercream frosted cake with fondant before so it will be an experiment. I would test it on a small piece of fondant and see if the buttercream has any affect.
Love this frosting!! Does it double up easily?
Hi Lucy! It absolutely does!
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!
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!
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!
We loved this buttercream! Yum!
Yay, Desiree! 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!
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!
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!
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!