How to make perfect coffee buttercream icing. Ideal for cupcakes, macarons and layer cakes – especially coffee & walnut cake.
One of my all-time favourite cakes is coffee and walnut. If I spot it in the cake cabinet in a cafe it takes a serious amount of willpower not to sneak it onto my tray. In my opinion, the key to a great coffee and walnut cake is a really good coffee buttercream, so I’ve been busy in the kitchen getting mine just right.
To get the coffee flavour into my buttercream I prefer to use instant coffee rather than stuff made in a proper coffee machine. The simple reason for this is that it’s the easiest way to get a really intense flavour into your buttercream. You dissolve it in the minimum amount of water possible to get as much coffee in as you can without making your buttercream too runny.
- Make sure you leave your butter out of the fridge to soften before attempting to make buttercream, otherwise it’ll be tricky to get it really smooth. I usually take mine out a couple of hours before I’m planning on using it.
- Make sure you let your coffee cool completely before adding it to the buttercream (otherwise it’ll melt the butter).
- Add the coffee very gradually and beat each addition in before adding more. This will help ensure that you get a nice smooth buttercream.
- Beat your buttercream on a low-medium speed. It’s tempting to turn the speed up high to get it made quicker but you’ll end up with lots of air bubbles. If you can, try and mix it by hand for a really smooth consistency.
- If your buttercream is still a little too thick once you’ve added all your coffee, add a little milk to get it to the right consistency.
What You’ll Need
Before you start, make sure you have all of the equipment needed.
NOTE – These are affiliate links which means that if you purchase from Amazon after clicking on one the product links below I may earn a small commission. All of the products linked are ones I use in my kitchen.
Weighing Scales- Measuring Spoons
- Knife – to cut the butter
- A small bowl or cup – to mix the coffee and water in
- Electric Mixer (or a bowl and hand mixer or wooden spoon)
- Sieve
- Piping Bags – if you’re planning on piping the cupcakes
- Piping Nozzle – To pipe the cupcakes as shown in the pictures and video you’ll need a JEM 1B nozzle.
Coffee Buttercream
Ingredients
- 250 g softened butter
- 500 g icing sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp instant coffee granules
- 1½ tbsp boiling water
Instructions
- Mix the instant coffee granules (3 tbsp) with the boiling water (1½ tbsp) and then set aside to cool.
- Cut the butter (250g) into cubes and then beat on a low-medium speed until soft. Gradually add the icing sugar (you add it gradually to stop it flying everywhere) and beat until fully combined.
- Add the vanilla extract (¼tsp) and add the coffee a teaspoon at a time, beating in each addition before adding more.
- Check the consistency of your buttercream. It should be soft and perfect for piping at this point. If it’s still a little stiff then beat in a little milk.
- Decorate your cakes (or just eat if off the spoon because it’s yummy!).
Notes
Nutritional Information
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Gluten-Free
- Egg-Free
- Nut-Free
- Soya-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are commonly available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
I’m sharing this recipe with the following blog challenge… #CookBlogShare with Hijacked by Twins.
Hi.. should I take a mix of salted and unsalted butter, or only unsalted butter?
I just use unsalted, but you can use a mix of both if you prefer.
Thanks 🙂
Amazing. This is the best coffee buttercream I’ve made. Really glad I found this recipe. Thanks, Charlotte. <3
Is this meant to be 3 tablespoons or teaspoons of coffee? Tbspn does seem a huge amount..?
It does seem like a lot but it definitely is tbsp. I like my coffee buttercream to really taste like coffee
Hey, I was wondering if you would be able to use margarine instead of butter.
You can but you’ll find your buttercream will be very soft, personally I’d always use butter.
Fantastic icing! Best coffee flavored icing I’ve ever tasted or made.
This was a fantastic Buttercream! Really Tasty! Had to hold myself back from licking it clean.. 🙂
I reduced the amount of icing sugar to suit my needs..but this ones a keeper!
Thanks for sharing!
But how do you reduce the icing sugar but not end up with a soupy mix? Do you also reduce the amount of coffee liquid?
You shouldn’t do, but add the coffee mix very slowly and keep a close eye on it. The coffee uses a lot of coffee granules to the amount of water so it’s very thick.
OK I literally ate half the buttercream from the bowl, it tasted that fantastic. I had to make more to put on my cake. I felt a bit light-headed from the sugar rush but it was so worth it! I’ve used your Nutella buttercream before where I did the same thing…Charlotte I think I’m addicted to your buttercreams!
I’m glad to hear it. If there’s ever a flavour you’d like to see that’s not here then let me know.
Please give us a strawberry-lemon or lemon buttercream. I’ve had them but they weren’t balanced. I’d like to try yours
I’ve been working on both strawberry and lemon flavours. They’re not quite right yet but I’ll share them on here as soon as they are. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter so you know as soon as they’re ready.
Can I use regular sugar or grind the sugar instead of icing sugar plz reply
Personally I wouldn’t do this as I’m not sure you’d be able to get the sugar fine enough to ensure that the buttercream wouldn’t have a grainy texture (I’ve tried it before with a different buttercream using brown sugar and the texture wasn’t right for me).
I am a professional pastry chef/artist..
Please Please Please.. Do NOT EVER add water to your buttercream recipe! Never ever!! This is a great recipe in general but, adding water to your buttercream will ruin it!! Butter is an Oil.. A fat.. It will not mix or blend with water! If you need or want a stronger coffee flavor.. Simmer your coffee grounds in with a tiny bit of whole milk or cream as it is a fatty content liquid(strain through a filter if you do not want granules) Then add it slowly in partial additions to your buttercream.
Hi Candy, Thanks for your feedback. Have you actually tried this recipe or are you speaking from your own experience? I have made this buttercream many times and it is perfectly smooth (I’ve also had lots of positive feedback from others that have tried it too with the same results as me). The secret is to add the liquid very slowly (as suggested in the recipe), I take the same approach when adding any liquid to my buttercream.
I made this frosting and the flavor was great but it was so soupy! I wish I could thicken it up without using powdered sugar, because that’s just going to make it more sweet. Any ideas what I did wrong? I followed the recipe as far as I noticed….
I’ve made this buttercream many times and not had the same problem. My only thought is whether your butter was too soft when you started.
How soft should my butter be then?
Soft enough that you could easily beat it by hand.