What Is Buttercream Frosting?
Buttercream frosting is a sweet, fluffy frosting that takes almost any dessert to the next level—it’s most often used to frost cakes, but it’s also delicious when swirled on top of cupcakes and spread over cookies. Frostings are generally thick, spreadable and opaque, unlike most icing which is usually much thinner, shinier and smoother in consistency. Icing recipes typically combine powdered sugar and liquid (like water, milk or juice) whereas buttercream frosting is made by creaming together butter, sugar and a little bit of milk to make the frosting fluffy, smooth and perfectly spreadable.
Our buttercream frosting recipe also uses real vanilla to get that classic, crowd-pleasing vanilla flavor we all know and love. This homemade frosting provides a great starting point for plenty of different flavored buttercream frostings—try stirring in a dash of almond extract or grated citrus zest for a tasty twist on a simple frosting recipe. Once you’ve mastered this classic, try whipping up a smooth, tangy Cream Cheese Frosting or decadent Fudge Frosting. Yum!
How to Store Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
If you have any leftover Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, you can easily store it for later use. This buttercream frosting will keep for up to one week when stored tightly covered in the refrigerator—don’t worry, it won’t dry to a hard finish!
More About This Recipe
- Four simple ingredients—sugar, butter, vanilla and milk—come together in a homemade frosting recipe that proves the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Hundreds of home cooks and bakers have used this recipe for decorating cakes, filling layer cakes or topping off a pan of brownies. Before you begin, check out this step-by-step tutorial on making frosting. You’ll learn that a perfect buttercream frosting recipe starts with room-temperature butter that can still hold its shape but is starting to soften at the edges. Test it by pressing a finger into the butter; if it gives and your finger leaves an indent, it’s ready to go. Once you’ve mastered vanilla buttercream frosting, expand your skill set with more frosting recipes.
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Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Prep Time 10 min
- Total 10 min
- Servings 12
- Ingredients 4
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
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Step1In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.
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Step2Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more milk, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar. Frosts 13x9-inch cake generously, or fills and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories
- 170
- Calories from Fat
- 45
- Total Fat
- 5g
- 8%
- Saturated Fat
- 2 1/2g
- 13%
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 15mg
- 5%
- Sodium
- 35mg
- 1%
- Potassium
- 0mg
- 0%
- Total Carbohydrate
- 30g
- 10%
- Dietary Fiber
- 0g
- 0%
- Sugars
- 29g
- Protein
- 0g
% Daily Value*:
- Vitamin A
- 4%
- 4%
- Vitamin C
- 0%
- 0%
- Calcium
- 0%
- 0%
- Iron
- 0%
- 0%
Exchanges:
0 Starch; 0 Fruit; 2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;Carbohydrate Choice
2Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens
- tip 1
- tip 2
- tip 3