I’ve tested a ton of buttercream recipes in my day, but my go-to is a super simple American buttercream recipe that I’ve tweaked to my liking. I’ve used this recipe for frosting countless cakes and cupcakes and I’m a big believer that a good vanilla buttercream is something every baker should have in their recipe box. There’s nothing fancy about the way this recipe is made, but it will certainly taste like you whipped up something special!
My Favorite Buttercream Frosting for Cake Decorating
This vanilla buttercream recipe is technically an American buttercream, which basically means it has a butter base and is stabilized and sweetened with powdered sugar. Most American buttercream recipes use a ton of powdered sugar to give structure to the frosting, but I have tailored this recipe to use less powdered sugar and be less sweet than your average American buttercream. As a result, the vanilla flavor really shines through and it’s the perfect consistency for cake decorating, topping cupcakes, and even creating intricate designs. It also firms up in the refrigerator, making it ideal to use as a base under fondant!
Vanilla Buttercream Key Ingredients & Substitutions
There are just a handful of ingredients you’ll need for this recipe and it’s simple to whip up for people of all skill levels. I’ll explain what role each ingredient plays in the buttercream and any substitutes you can use:
- Unsalted Butter. This is the base of the buttercream and gives the frosting a rich buttery flavor and velvety smooth texture. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use that instead and omit the salt at the end of the recipe. And if you want a vegan version of this buttercream, you can follow this recipe which uses vegan butter sticks.
- Powdered Sugar. This adds stability to the frosting while sweetening. I like to use less powdered sugar than the average American buttercream so that the frosting doesn’t end up cloyingly sweet, but if you’d like it even less sweet you can reduce the powdered sugar amount by up to ½ Cup. Just keep in mind that the consistency of the buttercream will be thinner.
- Pure Vanilla Extract. This flavors the buttercream, and making sure you use a good quality vanilla extract or paste is one of the secrets to success. You can use any kind of vanilla extract or paste, but my favorite brands are Trader Joe’s Bourbon Vanilla and Costco Pure Vanilla Extract (the price is unbeatable). You can also substitute this ingredient for other extract flavors, just be careful how much you use because some extracts are more potent than others! If you’re looking for more flavor options, I have all of my frosting recipes here.
- Whole Milk or Heavy Whipping Cream. This thins out the buttercream while binding all the ingredients together. I like to use a liquid with lots of fat for this part because it makes the final frosting more velvety smooth, so whole milk or heavy whipping cream are my go-to’s. If you’d rather use a dairy-free option you can substitute this with any milk alternative, but keep in mind that the flavor of the liquid will affect the overall frosting flavor.
- Salt. A pinch of salt helps balance the sweetness beautifully.
Vanilla Buttercream Tips for Success
This buttercream is simple for anyone to make, but there are a few things to keep in mind when making, storing, and working with it.
- Room Temperature Ingredients. Be sure to use room temperature ingredients. This is important for ingredients to combine and create a smooth consistency. Over the years I’ve found that cutting corners like adding cold milk will create a curdled look in the final frosting because the temperature hinders the ingredients from coming together smoothly. Not the best look! So, take your ingredients like butter and milk out of the refrigerator for about an hour prior to making the frosting.
- Use the Paddle Attachment on Your Stand Mixer. Also known as the flat beater attachment, the paddle attachment is designed to incorporate just the right amount of air into the buttercream. This makes it easier to make smooth buttercream without a ton of air bubbles.
- Whip the Butter for a Long Time. To achieve the smoothest buttercream that’s also nearly white in color, you’ll want to whip the butter for a long time – about 7 minutes. In this amount of time, the butter should go from yellow to almost white and be extra smooth.
- Then Mix Everything Else on Low Speed. After you whip the butter, it’s important to keep the mixer on low speed any time you’re mixing in the additional ingredients. Even though it will take longer to mix the ingredients, keeping the mixer on low speed helps prevent air bubbles from forming in the buttercream.
- Let the Ingredients Fully Combine. After I mix in the final ingredient (salt) I like to run the mixer on low speed for another minute or two to allow everything to combine fully. This gives the powdered sugar time to dissolve as well, so the buttercream will taste smooth and not grainy.
Here’s a quick video I whipped up to show you my method for making this buttercream recipe and all my tips for success:
I’ve got more recipe videos like this one + some fun cake decorating tutorials on my YouTube channel if you want to see some more! I’m always rolling out new videos, so click the subscribe button while you’re there to ensure you never miss a new one.
Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups (420g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp whole milk or heavy whipping cream, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Instructions
- With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping down after each addition and making sure each cup is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
- Add vanilla, milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute until fully incorporated.
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.
Tips for the best buttercream consistency
There are three types of consistency for buttercream that you need to know, and each one plays a different role in cake decorating.
Medium Consistency
This is the most versatile of all consistencies. It works perfectly as a filling between layers, crumb coating, frosting a cake (especially if you want a smooth buttercream finish), and even decorating cupcakes with simple piping tips. This buttercream recipe is medium consistency as-is, so it’s super easy to spread smoothly onto cakes. To test and make sure you’ve got a medium consistency going, you should be able to dip your rubber spatula into the buttercream and it will come out with soft peaks and spread easily when you move your finger over it.
Thin Consistency
This is the perfect consistency for painting with buttercream or writing a message on your cake. To achieve it, just add 1-2 additional teaspoons of room temperature milk to thin out the buttercream.
Stiff Consistency
If you’re piping buttercream flowers, especially ones with petals that need to stand upright, you’ll need a stiff consistency. Add an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar per batch of the above recipe to achieve this. When you dip your rubber spatula into the frosting, it should come out with stiff peaks, but when you pipe with it, make sure it’s not so thick that you have to put a ton of extra pressure on the bag or clog the piping tip. If you’re running into these problems, fear not! You can tone it down by adding room temperature whole milk, 1 tsp at a time, until it’s just right.
This is my favorite recipe! I use it all the time and it always gets good reviews. I am needing to make a lemon buttercream. Can I just exchange out the vanilla for lemon extract and maybe add some lemon zest?
I tried it and it turned out great. Followed your regular recipe and substituted lemon extract for the vanilla and added the zest of one lemon. It was definitely lemon frosting with a hint of tart without being too overpowering.
Hiya I just wondered if you use clear vanilla extract or not for this? I want to make a nice white coloured butter cream (I have some whitener) thank you 🙂
Hi Amy! I don’t, but if you use clear vanilla extract it will be a bit more white. Instead, I beat the butter for about 7 minutes in the beginning of the recipe to lighten the color of the butter significantly, then the overall buttercream ends up being more white in color. If I want a bright white buttercream I add a little AmeriColor Bright White. Clear vanilla extract would be helpful if you’re going for a super white buttercream though!
Thank you so much. My son turns 7 next week and I’ve made him a cake every year for his birthday since he was born. I love decorating the cakes and coming up with fun designs but I tend to shy away from the actual baking and have always used pre-made icing. You inspired me to make my own buttercream this year and I’m so pleased I did. I have just prepared mine tonight ready to ice my sons cake later in the week, I’m so happy with it, it’s so creamy and lovely and white. I did 3 x your recipe as I’m towering 3 or 4 layers and wanted to have plenty to play with when icing the cake – so I added about 4 tsp of whitener, I noticed it went a bit stiffer after that (I assume that’s normal with the extra powder) so added another spoonful of milk, hoping that will be ok. Do you find it needs any more milk after storing in the fridge or is the whisking enough alone? Thank you again, all your advice has made my baking adventures so much easier!!
Would this work well for cake pops? I will be freezing the cake balls on sticks for 2 weeks and wondered if it would be ok with this frosting? I am super excited to try! Using the rest for a mini cake to go with the cake pops
Hi there! This recipe works wonderfully for cake pops. Enjoy!
Love your buttercream. I am making a three layer 8in birthday cake for my granddaughters birthday. How much frosting do you think I need to make to frost and decorate?
How fun, Chelly! For a cake of that size, you’ll need 1.5x the recipe to frost and decorate. If you’re using the buttercream as filling also, I would make 2.5x the recipe. Enjoy!
Hey Whitney, I love this recipe and want to use it to decorate my daughter’s wedding cake. It will be a 3 tier semi naked cake with 3 layers in each tier. The tiers will be 12, 10 and 8 inch. How much buttercream will I need to fill and do the semi naked frosting please, thank you, Ruth
That’s amazing, Ruth! Congrats on your daughter getting married and how fun that you get to make the cake! I would make 6x the recipe to have enough for filling + semi naked frosting on a cake of that size. Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney wil try ur recipe it sound
Hi could I add lemon curd to buttercream for a more lemon flavour thanks
Hi Nanette! I’ve never tried that before, but it sounds like it could work! Feel free to experiment!
Hi there! Wondering if you can make this and pipe your cupcakes the night before you need them and if they would stay out at room temp? Thanks so much!
Hi Victoria! You could absolutely pipe your cupcakes the night before and leave them at room temp overnight. I do that all the time and they stay fresh. Enjoy!
The recipe looks lovely. I’m covering a 2 layer 8” cake. I want to practice making a really smooth finish and do a crumb coat. How much should I make?
Hi Vic! You’ll just need one batch of this recipe if you’re not planning on filling the cake with it. It’ll make a little more than enough for a crumb coat and finish on a cake of that size. Enjoy!
Great easy directions to follow. Thank you for sharing. What are your thoughts on using shortening?
Yay, Stepheny! So glad you love this recipe. I actually just made this recipe with half shortening and half butter and it turned out very tasty and more heat stable. I would recommend high ratio shortening or any vegetable shortening that isn’t zero trans fat.
I’m planning to you several of your recipes and tips to make a fault line lego cake for my sons birthday. Just wondering does the cake need to be refrigerated after I buttercream it? I’m putting some fondant deco inside the fault line so am worried the fondant will bleed/have condensation if I fridge it
Hi Elaine! That sounds like such a fun cake! I usually refrigerate my cakes after frosting them to preserve everything and I’ve never had problems with fondant decorations in the refrigerator overnight as long as they’re fully set (dry). Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney, I’m wanting to fill and crumb coat a 2 layer 9” cake. What quantity do I need please. Love from Julie in Derbyshire, UK
Hi Julie! To fill and crumb coat a cake of that size you’ll just need one batch. Enjoy!
I’m wanting to make a unicorn cake with this buttercream, will a double batch of this generously cover a 2 layer cake?
Hi Abby! For a two layer cake, a double batch of this recipe will give you a generous amount for both filling and frosting the cake
I have been trying to make a REALLY good Buttercream icing (mainly recipes that have Shortening & have not had ANY luck with them. I came across yours with just ALL butter & I have got to say: I FREAKING LOVED IT!! I followed your recipe to the “T” & it was PERFECT!! As is, I was able to pipe beautiful rosettes. It held up TERRIFIC!! However, I do have a question or 2. How much of this recipe should I make to fill & frost a 3 Layered 8 inch cake? Since ratios will obviously change, should I be careful on how much salt gets used to counteract some of the sweetness? Thank you again for this recipe. This will be my Buttercream Recipe from here on out.
Yay, Marie! I am so happy to hear that you love this recipe as much as I do! To answer your questions, 1) I would make 2.5x the recipe to fill and frost a triple layer 8 inch cake and 2) You should be totally fine scaling up the salt, as that is what will counteract the sweetness, but definitely taste the buttercream to see if you need more. Enjoy!