There is nothing quite like a delicious, sweet buttercream frosting to top your favorite cupcakes or cake. If you’ve never attempted to make your own before, I’ve got a simple and easy to follow recipe to get you started!
For the holiday weekend I knew I wanted to make a sweet treat with a seasonal twist to enjoy for the festivities. I baked yellow cupcakes and decided to pair them with this classic buttercream frosting. This recipe is excellent for piping, so I decided to pipe the frosting on and garnish the cupcakes with fresh raspberries and blueberries for a patriotic look with delicious fruit flavor. These were a huge hit! Serve these at your next summer gathering and they are sure to be crowd pleasers.
For this recipe you will need just a few simple ingredients. (most of which you may already have in your kitchen!)
- 1.5 cups (3 sticks) of butter (you can use salted or unsalted, I used salted)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3/4 tbsp vanilla extract (can use 1 tbsp for a stronger vanilla flavor)
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- pinch of salt (if using salted butter you can opt out of this step)
To start you will want to let the butter get to room temp. I did this by leaving it on the counter, I would not recommend using the microwave. After the butter is at room temperature, you will want to dice it up and put it in your stand mixer. You can use a hand mixer, but a stand mixer is preferred for this recipe.
Whip the butter until you have a creamy consistency. I started at the lowest speed, and went up a notch a few times to ensure everything was smooth.
Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar a little at a time and allow the mixer to blend it in. Once you have added all the powdered sugar, you can slowly add in your vanilla extract, and then heavy cream. You’ll want to continue to mix at a low speed, but I intermittently switched it a little higher from time to time to keep things smooth and well incorporated.
Once these ingredients are all in, you will continue to mix until all of the ingredients are combined and your consistency is creamy. If you like a smoother frosting, you can add in a small amount of additional heavy cream. If you would prefer a more stiff consistency, more powdered sugar can be added. This recipe is really easy to adjust to the texture and consistency desired.
After you have gotten the frosting to your desired texture and taste preferences, you can either use it immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container. For best results, the sooner you are able to use this recipe the better, however it does keep well in the fridge if you need to make ahead. If making ahead, you may need to whip again with your stand mixer prior to piping in order to soften the frosting up after being in the fridge. Or allow it some time to sit outside of the fridge to soften up a bit before piping. You will want to mix it somewhat before using after refrigerating.
There you have it! This is a straightforward, simple, classic buttercream frosting that anyone can make and everyone is sure to enjoy. Let me know what you think!
The Ivy Laine 