I’ve been meaning to add a buttercream recipe to my blog for ages and just haven’t quite gotten around to it. I think part of my reluctance to post was that I’m not the best at piping and so had no idea how to present it to show off it’s yummy deliciousness. However, a couple of day’s ago I came across 3-second buttercream rose tutorial by Toni at This Mama. Unfortunately the site is no longer live but she made it look so simple that I couldn’t resist whipping up some vanilla cupcakes and a batch of buttercream to give it a try.
I was pretty pleased with the results *smug grin* so I decided buttercream finally deserved a place on my blog.
I’ve shown it here as cupcake frosting, but it’s extremely versatile and can be used for all sorts of cakes and desserts – cupcakes, sandwich/layer cakes, macarons and, my favourite, as a delicious buttercream layer beneath the fondant icing on the decorated celebration cakes I make for my family. If you’re making my all-in-one vanilla sponge birthday cake, then this is the recipe I use for the buttercream.
What’s the secret to perfect buttercream?
Buttercream is extremely simple to make. However, to ensure that you can create beautiful cakes with it you need to make sure it’s the right consistency.
At this point I want you to imagine you’re making a sandwich. I’m sure that, like me, you’ve experienced those times when you’ve taken the butter out of the fridge and attempted to spread it onto your sandwich only to find that you end up ripping the bread to shreds instead – butter still in one lump, bread with a great big hole in the middle. Now imagine how soft your butter needs to be to ensure that doesn’t happen. That’s the consistency you want your buttercream – just spreadable, but not runny.
So how do you get your buttercream to the right consistency?
It’s important to ensure that your butter is soft in the first place – just spreadable (like you would use for that successful sandwich). The best idea is to leave it out of the fridge for a little while to soften. However, I find that if I forget, I can cut it into cubes and beat it on a high speed in my Kitchenaid mixer and it softens pretty quickly (this only works because I have a powerful stand mixer. I used to try it with my hand mixer but I found my arm going round and round with the beaters stuck in the lump of butter instead of the butter softening as I wanted).
Unfortunately you start with the butter at just the right consistency and then add a load of icing sugar causing it to thicken up. So you need to soften it a little again.
This is where the milk comes in. Gradually beat in the milk a few drops at a time and check the consistency before adding more. For icing using 250g butter and 500g icing sugar I find about a tablespoon of milk is the right amount, but I add it at no more than ½ teaspoon at a time as other factors such as the temperature of your kitchen can also impact how soft the buttercream gets and it’s easy to add more but impossible to take it out.
How to stop everything getting covered in sugar when you make icing?
I’ve no idea. Whenever I make anything with icing sugar everything gets covered. If anyone has any suggestions on preventing this please, please let me know!
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
- 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 video you’ll need a JEM 1B nozzle. To pipe the cupcakes as shown in the pictures you’ll need a Wilton 2D nozzle.
Easy Vanilla Buttercream
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 500 g icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Approx. 1 tbsp milk - I use skimmed but any is fine
RECIPE VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut the butter (250g) into cubes (about 1″) and beat in an electic mixer until soft.
- Add the icing sugar (500g) and beat until fully combined – I prefer to add the sugar a couple of spoonfuls at a time as this minimises the amount of sugar that flies out all over the kitchen! You’ll find that at first it’ll start to look lumpy but keep persevering and it’ll smooth out.
- Add the vanilla extract (½ tsp) and mix until fully combined.
- (See note about about the required consistency) Take a look at the consistency of the icing, is it spreadable? If not add ½ tsp milk and mix until fully combined. Check the consistency again and repeat until it is just spreadable.
- Once you’ve got the icing to the right consistency – have fun piping, spreading, or just licking if off the spoon!
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Fancy trying a different flavour of buttercream on your cakes?
Then take a look at my new recipe for delicious NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Gluten-Free
- Egg-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
If you’re looking for a dairy-free buttercream recipe then try my Vegan Vanilla Buttercream.
The ingredients for this recipe are commonly available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
Momotaz Begum says
Hiya
Any advice on how to make it less sweet ?
Charlotte Oates says
Add less sugar 🙂
The ratio of 2:1 sugar to butter is the usual way to make buttercream. However, it still works perfectly well with a ratio of 1:1, so you can halve the amount of sugar if you like. I’d suggest adding half the amount, having a taste and then adding a little more at a time until you get to your desired sweetness.
Sally says
Hi: I am planning to make a cake for my daughter’s birthday party. Because of time issues, I have to make the cake two days ahead of the party. Will it be OK to put on the butter cream and leave the buttercreamed cake in the fridge for two days before decorating the cake on the day of the party? And also could you please advice on Whether I should to chill the crumb coat in the fridge or refridgerator because I have never use or make butter cream before. Many thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
Keeping it refrigerated for a couple of days after adding the buttercream will be fine. Just make sure it’s in an airtight container to protect it. Also make sure you allow it to come up to room temperature before serving.
Sally says
Ok and thanks for your helpful advices.
KCEMMA says
Beautiful butter cream, i get so many complimenst! As for preventing the icing sugar getting everywhere….i put a slightly damp tea towl over my electic mixer to catch the dust!
Chelle says
I can’t take the credit for this tip but it works perfectly every time…..
To soften butter easily & quickly straight from the fridge, cut your butter into small cubes(about 1cm or 1/2 inch & place them into a small bowl of lukewarm or tepid water. Leave for 5-10 minutes to soften, then squeeze a cube & it should be spreadably soft. All that’s left to do is drain off the water & you’re good to go.
Thanks for a great site Charlotte, I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Teresa Crainey says
Hi. Im going to try this buttercream tomorrow. Looks great. Can you advise what i need to make an orange flavoured buttercream?
Charlotte Oates says
Switch the vanilla extract for orange extract.
Teresa Crainey says
Thank you for replying. I will do that.
Elizabeth Stead says
I wrap cling film round the mixer to stop flour/icing sugar coating my kitchen
Laura Thurlow says
Hay your icing sugar problem i put a slightly damp tea towel over my stand mixer it stops it going everywhere
Ikra says
Thanks for this recipe it tasted amazing
Louisa says
Hi, have you ever tried this with dairy free spread? My daughter is lactose intolerant, and her sunflower spread is fine for baking, and wondered if you had any experience of using something like that for buttercream. Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
I have a dairy-free version of this buttercream https://charlotteslivelykitchen.com/vegan-vanilla-buttercream/
Louisa says
Thank you so much! I hadn’t seen that page.
Charlotte Oates says
I’ll add a link into the main buttercream recipe to make it easy for everyone to find.
Jodie says
I made this buttercream yesterday after a disaster with my previous recipe and it was amazing! It actually made enough to fill a 4 tier small cake and spread round the sides for my crumb coat! Also delicious! I am wanting to make some more for cupcakes and I was just wondering if anyone knew whether it crusts?
Charlotte Oates says
You should find it has a light crust.
Iram Tahier says
Hiya I been looking for a buttercream recipe for ages everytyme I try buttercream it does turn out right, I came across your recipe and it looks perfect I will try this, however what company butter did you use for it Please reply will be much appreciated
Charlotte Oates says
I usually use Tesco unsalted butter but I’ve used others with pretty much identical results.
kat says
hi charlotte
can i whip thee butter for like 5 min to double in size and get lighter?
THANKS
Charlotte Oates says
In order to get your buttercream lighter (in colour and texture) and full of air you need to beat you butter until it’s soft and then beat it again for 5-10 minutes after adding the sugar. The texture of the whipped buttercream is quite different to my original recipe due to the amount of air that’s been beaten in. My husband described it as having a similar texture to ice cream which I thought described it well. Personally I find it a little grainy and prefer the texture of the unwrapped version, but that’s just my personal preference. The colour of whipped buttercream is much lighter, not quite white, more of an ivory colour.
If you wanted your buttercream to be even lighter in colour you could add some white colouring.
Almi says
Hi thank you for the lovely instructions.
What attachment, paddle or whisk do you use when making buttercream?
Charlotte Oates says
I use the beater attachment for my kitchen aid. I find it’s better for getting the butter nice and soft and mixing in the sugar well without adding too much air compared to the whisk attachment.
Almi says
Thank you so much for quick reply Charlotte. I can’t wait to try your recipes they look amazing.
Best wishes
Laura says
Followed your recipe for both the celebration cake and buttercream, it was absolutely delicious. Everybody commented on how lovely the cake tasted. It was my first attempt at doing a celebration cake and I was really chuffed with it. The only problem I had was the ready to roll icing that I bought from a local supermarket which cracked when I put it on the cake. I had to use my creative skills to cover the messy bits up ha ha.
Do you have any hints or tips on the best fondant icing/ ready to roll icing brands to use or anything I should avoid doing to prevent this from happening again. I’m going to attempt to do a simple cake for my sons birthday in a couple of weeks – a Disney cars theme.
In terms of the icing going everywhere, I popped to ikea the other day and they do a mixing bowl with a detachable cover that has a gap in it which allows enough room for a mixer to fit through. It was great in stopping the icing sugar escaping.
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
My icing skills aren’t perfect and I’ve had cracks in the past. The things I’ve found that help to avoid cracks are:
I hope that helps.
Laura says
Thank you so much. This definitely helps. I put quite a thick layer of buttercream on the cake and didn’t wait before I put the rolled icing on. Will try again next week with my son’s cake – wish me luck ha ha. Thanks again
Sam smith says
Hi I just both this recipe plus your birthday cake recipe for my daughter birthday it came out great- I’m now making another one but dont want to make buttercream to early party is Saturday it’s now Wednesday please help thanks samx
Charlotte Oates says
I’m glad to hear that the cake and buttercream turned out well. Do you have room to keep the cake refrigerated? If you do then you should be fine to make and decorate it today for a party on Saturday. When I bake the cake it’s usually good to eat until the middle of the week following a Saturday party so baking now should be fine.
Sam smith says
Thanks for the quick reply I have everything weighted out on Side ready for the bake to commence all decorations r made I’m making a five tier ghost cake with fondant just draped over so really earthy for a party do u think this cake recipe will be enough to do in five different batches using a 6inch cake tin I’m rubbish with conversions 😉 x thanks sam x
Sam smith says
Sorry I mean easy my spell check is so annoying
Charlotte Oates says
Hi Sam. If you pop the number of layer and your tin size into the calculator then it’ll tell you exactly how much mixture you need.
Jessica says
To stop sugar going everywhere I have a dedicated sugar tea towel that I dampen and place over my mixer. As I add the sugar I keep it covered and only end up with a little bit of sugar around the bowl and the rest is on the towel. Be sure to throw it straight in the wash though or the sugar creates a paste on the towel lol
Charlotte Oates says
I have the same problem, it’s always too tempting! Did you watch the video I linked to in the post? It’s a great little tutorial for piping the tops of cupcakes nicely.
[email protected] says
thanks for this – helps me with my daughter’s birthday cake every year 🙂
melissa christensan says
Thank you for this fantastic advice -from the recipe to the icing it was great. I hope to make a coffee icing (with chocolate) which was my mum’s recipe many years ago? Unfortunately I don’t have that anymore. I could use your chocolate one and add a small amount of good coffee (for the adults rather than the kids of course!).
My son was learning cake baking, and it was your recipe we used. He’s nearly 16 and so proud of that achievement! Thank you so much.
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not made coffee chocolate icing before but it should work if you make a combination of my coffee buttercream and my chocolate buttercream (basically make the chocolate buttercream and add the coffee made as in the coffee buttercream). Making the coffee as in the coffee buttercream recipe means it’s very highly concentrated so you don’t need too much of it to get the flavour coming through. My only concern is that the melted chocolate makes the icing softer than the vanilla buttercream I use as the base for the coffee one and adding more liquid might make it a bit too soft. I’d make the chocolate and very gradually add the coffee (no more the 1 tsp at a time) until it’s just the right consistency to use. Alternatively if you use dark chocolate instead of milk in the chocolate buttercream this will be firmer and create a better base for adding the coffee.
Let me know how it goes if you try it.
I’m glad you son is getting into baking and that the cake went well x
Giamlin says
Used this recipe in my daughter’s birthday cake. Absolutely delicious! Thanks!