White chocolate buttercream, easy to make and perfect for piping onto cupcakes, layer cakes, macarons or special celebration cakes.
My buttercream recipes seem to be very popular on here. I’ve had a few requests for a white chocolate version so not wanting to leave you without the recipes you need, here it is! If there’s a flavour of cake or buttercream that’s not on here but you’d like to see, then let me know and I’ll do my best to add it.
This white chocolate buttercream is based on my yummy milk chocolate buttercream, where equal quantities of butter and icing sugar are beaten together and then lots of melted white chocolate is added. It gives you beautiful smooth buttercream that is the perfect consistency for piping.
- Melt your chocolate over a bain marie (in a bowl over a pan of simmering water). When I use milk or dark chocolate I’m happy to melt my chocolate in a pan on the hob, but I find that white chocolate is a bit temperamental and can easily go a bit grainy. The heat over a bain marie is gentler. You could also use the microwave using short bursts (20 seconds at first and then 10 seconds, stirring in between each one).
- Use chocolate from the baking aisle in the supermarket (it’s less temperamental than the chocolate from the sweet aisle).
- Make sure you let your chocolate cool to room temperature before adding it to the butter and sugar, otherwise it’ll melt the butter and you’ll end up with runny buttercream.
- You should find that your buttercream is the perfect consistency for piping. If it’s a little stiff then beat in a little milk (no more than 1 tsp at a time). If it’s a little too soft then pop it into the fridge for a few minutes to firm up slightly.
What You’ll Need
Before you start, make sure you have all of the equipment needed.
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Weighing Scales- Measuring Spoons
- Knife – to cut the butter
- Something to melt the chocolate in – either a bowl in the microwave, small saucepan, or bowl over a small saucepan.
- 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 you’ll need a JEM 1B nozzle.
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White Chocolate Buttercream
INGREDIENTS
- 250 g unsalted butter - soft at room temperature
- 250 g icing sugar
- 200 g white chocolate
- A little milk - to get the buttercream to the right consistency, this may not be needed
INSTRUCTIONS
- Break the white chocolate (200g) and melt it over a bain marie (in a bowl over a pan of simmering water).
- Once the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the pan and leave the chocolate to cool.
- Beat the butter (250g) on a low speed until soft and then add the icing sugar (250g), 1 tbsp at a time and beat until fully combined.
- Once the white chocolate has cooled to room temperature pour it into the butter and sugar mixture and beat on a low speed until fully combined. You should find that the buttercream has a soft, spreadable consistency, if not add a little milk a tsp at a time until it is soft.
- Your buttercream is now ready to use.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Nut-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
Fadzai Cynthia Chikosha says
can I use this to completely frost a rainbow cake?
Charlotte Oates says
It depends on the size of the cake! Without knowing the diameter and height of the cake I couldn’t say – sorry.
Fadzai says
Understandable. But I meant Is the icing strong enough to hold the cake? Cause normally just plain vanilla buttercream is used for rainbow cakes but I love the taste of white chocolate in buttercream icing so I would prefer to use that
Charlotte Oates says
Sorry, I totally misunderstood 🙂
Yes, this icing is strong enough for the cake. It doesn’t crust in the same way as standard vanilla buttercream though, due to the addition of the chocolate.
Jodie says
If i were to pipe this is cupcakes would they need to stay cooled/ refrigerated x
Charlotte Oates says
Ideally they should be refrigerated if you can, but they’ll be fine in a cool room for a couple of days
Josephine says
What chocolate did you use please?
Charlotte Oates says
I can’t remember as I tend to have a few favourites and then stock up when I spot them on special offer 🙂
I always recommend using chocolate from the baking aisle rather than the sweet aisle in the supermarket as I find that it melts better and is less likely to seize and go grainy. My favourite brands are Tesco own, green and blacks and Dr. Oetker. I also like the white chocolate from Aldi.
Susan says
Hi is this suitable to cover with fondant does it crust and go firm
Charlotte Oates says
It doesn’t crust in the same way as a traditional buttercream (made with 2:1 icing sugar to butter) as the added chocolate gives it a softer texture. However, I have successfully used it under fondant several times
Carol Kershaw says
Hi can I cover a cake with this before covering it with sugar paste
Charlotte Oates says
Yes
Ada Zegarra says
Hi, if I want to get the frosting in differents colors, which kind of food coloring may I have to use?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
Use gel colours (the thick colouring in the little pots). Add it to the icing before adding the milk for consistency as if you add a lot it could make the icing a little softer. Add a little at a time as the colouring is quite strong, you can always add more but you can’t take it away.
Jo says
Can I freeze any that I don’t use?
Charlotte Oates says
You can, but the texture goes a bit fudgy and it becomes too thick to pipe (still delicious though).