Perfect Buttercream Frosting | Cookies & Cups

My recipe for Excellent Buttercream Frosting has solely 4 substances! This frosting is wealthy and creamy, with simply the correct quantity of sweetness, and it’s the very best for spreading and piping onto desserts and cupcakes. That is the one frosting recipe you’ll ever want!

On the lookout for a chocolate model? Attempt my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe that’s simply as creamy and scrumptious.

The Finest Buttercream Frosting For Desserts and Extra!

I’m so excited to share this buttercream frosting recipe. Buttercream is such a easy recipe, and with this selfmade model in your life, you’ll by no means want to purchase canned frosting from the shop once more. Say it with me: No. Extra. Canned. Frosting.

A great buttercream recipe has a wealthy, buttery vanilla taste and creamy texture that spreads and pipes simply onto desserts and cupcakes. This American buttercream frosting ticks all of the bins! It’s additionally the very best buttercream for novices as a result of it doesn’t take a lot fussing to have it end up good. 

What Is Buttercream Frosting?

The ingredient that units buttercream aside from different frosting is within the title: buttercream. Each traditional frosting and buttercream are made by whipping collectively sugar, fats, flavoring, and milk. Nevertheless, buttercream makes use of butter because the fats, whereas frosting makes use of shortening or cream cheese (like in my Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting recipe).  

What You’ll Want

American buttercream is definitely oh-so-simple to make from scratch. You solely want 4 substances:

• Butter: Unsalted butter is greatest when making buttercream from scratch, to make sure that your frosting doesn’t come out salty. You’ll additionally wish to take your butter out of the fridge to let it come to room temperature earlier than you start. Room-temperature butter is crucial for the right buttercream frosting!
• Powdered Sugar: Also called confectioner’s sugar, the high quality texture of powdered sugar is important for silky-smooth frosting.
• Heavy Cream: You should utilize heavy cream or milk when making this frosting. I favor heavy cream, as a result of, properly, it’s creamier. However it’s also thicker, so when you use milk instead, you gained’t want as a lot to skinny out the frosting.
• Vanilla Extract: The traditional taste of a primary buttercream. I extremely advocate utilizing pure vanilla extract and never imitation vanilla. It’s also possible to taste your frosting with different extracts when you’d like, see the variation concepts under.

Can I Use Shortening As a substitute of Butter?

You’ll be able to substitute shortening for the butter on this frosting recipe, it simply technically gained’t be buttercream. However shortening is an effective choice when you’re making this frosting in a heat local weather, or if you wish to pipe stiff roses or decorations, as shortening tends to carry its form higher than butter at any temperature.

I favor butter over shortening if climate and temperatures should not a difficulty. The flavour is simply far superior, IMHO. It’s also possible to do a mixture of each shortening and butter. I’ve finished this from time to time, once I know the frosting has to carry as much as a barely hotter temperature, however nonetheless wish to have that wealthy taste of butter come by. You should utilize 50% butter to 50% shortening.

Tips on how to Make Excellent Buttercream Frosting

It’s actually a 3-step course of to make a flexible, pipable buttercream! 

1. Cream Butter and Sugar: First, in a stand mixer, beat room temperature butter till it’s {smooth}. Subsequent, decrease the velocity and step by step cream within the powdered sugar.
2. Add Heavy Cream and Vanilla: With the mixer nonetheless on low, you’ll pour within the heavy whipping cream, adopted by the vanilla. 
3. Beat: Improve the velocity and beat for a minute or so, till the frosting is fluffed and creamy. You’ll be able to skinny out your frosting with extra heavy cream when you’d like.

Afterward, your selfmade buttercream frosting is able to use for adorning cupcakes, desserts, and extra. See additional on for tactics to make use of this straightforward, good frosting!

How Do I Add Shade to Buttercream?

This primary vanilla buttercream frosting is gorgeous to make use of as is, and likewise the right clean canvas for coloring. I like to recommend utilizing gel meals coloring when coloring buttercream. Gel dyes obtain brighter, extra vibrant colours with simply a few drops when in comparison with conventional liquid meals coloring. 

After all, you probably have liquid drops from the grocery store, go proper forward and use these when you’d like! Simply notice that deeper colours require fairly a little bit of liquid coloring, which may skinny out the feel of the frosting.

Suggestions for Success

It doesn’t get simpler than 4 substances and a superb whip with the mixer to make this good buttercream frosting. Under are some extra suggestions for getting this frosting proper each time you make it:

• Use room-temperature butter. Your butter needs to be delicate to the contact, however not melted. This makes it straightforward to mix with the remainder of the substances for a thick and creamy frosting.
• The trick when making frosting is so as to add the liquid slowly. You’ll be able to at all times add extra, however you’ll be able to’t take it out. The quantity of milk or cream added additionally is determined by how stiff you need your frosting to be, so add slightly at a time, and go by really feel.
• Your buttercream is on the good consistency when it kinds a stiff peak with a slight curl. Principally, you need a frosting that’s stiff sufficient to carry up a peak, however delicate sufficient to twist over slightly (see picture).
• This buttercream frosting develops a lightweight crust when it sits out. I personally love that little bit of added texture. Nevertheless, when you’d favor your frosting to remain moist, be sure you retailer it lined and hermetic.

Methods to Use Buttercream Frosting

This recipe makes sufficient frosting to cowl and fill one 9” Layer Cake, or pipe swirls onto 24 Cupcakes. Attempt these straightforward baking concepts which are good for adorning with selfmade buttercream frosting:

It’s also possible to use buttercream frosting to combine with the cake filling for Cake Pops, or as a frosting for adorning Sugar Cookies.

Frosting Variation Concepts

Vanilla extract is an apparent addition to buttercream, nevertheless it’s really easy to taste with different extracts and add-ins. You will be as traditional or artistic as you’d like in terms of customizing your frosting recipe to fit your adorning wants.

For chocolate lovers, I’ve a improbable Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Or, for one thing completely different, attempt the next variation concepts: 

Does Buttercream Must Be Refrigerated?

Sure. Retailer your leftover buttercream frosting hermetic within the fridge for as much as 1 month. Don’t overlook to take the frosting out of the fridge 15-20 minutes earlier than you wish to use it once more, to let it come to room temperature.

Can I Freeze Buttercream Frosting?

Whereas selfmade buttercream is at all times at its greatest on the day it’s made, you’ll be able to freeze this recipe for longer-term storage. Retailer the frosting hermetic and freeze for as much as 3-4 months. 

Thaw frozen buttercream frosting within the fridge, and let it come to room temperature everytime you want it. I like to recommend giving the thawed buttercream an additional whip to fluff it up once more earlier than you employ it.

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