Classic Vanilla Buttercream
This flavorful Classic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe is one of our favorites! It couldn't be easier to make, and it is so delicious. Keep it in mind the next time you need a flavorful frosting for your cake recipes and buttercream cake designs!
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Why we Love it
There are so many reasons to love this delicious vanilla buttercream! Here are just a few:
- Delicious and SO easy to make
- Perfect for piping
- It can easily be changed up with add-ins, extracts, and an adjustment here and there ;0) - A few examples are our Oreo Buttercream, Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream, Strawberry Buttercream, and Peanut Butter Buttercream!
- Develops a very light crust, which is great for those who use the Viva Paper Towel Method of Smoothing. Also, the Hot Knife Method of smoothing works great with this vanilla buttercream also!
How to Make Vanilla Buttercream
You can find the full, printable recipe card for this vanilla buttercream at the bottom of our post!
This frosting, which is known as an American Buttercream, is a simple combination of softened butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and a splash of milk.
Allow the frosting to mix for a few minutes to reach the best, creamy consistency. If you'd like to thicken the consistency of the frosting, (for piping buttercream roses, etc.) you can add a bit more confectioners sugar.
To thin out the frosting, you can simply add small amounts of milk.
Textured Buttercream
Of course, your frosted cakes don't have to be perfectly smooth. We love textured buttercream as well as the look of piping all over a cake.
Our classic vanilla buttercream frosting is versatile enough for just about any sort of buttercream cake or cupcake design you can think of.
Here are just a few of our free cake tutorials that demonstrate simple texturing and piping techniques: Ridged Buttercream Technique, Buttercream Petal Cake, Cascading Rosettes Cake, and Looped Ribbons of Buttercream.
Piping
If you are interested in learning more about piping borders or different piping techniques, make sure to check out our section of Buttercream Techniques, which features a section on Buttercream Piping.
There, you'll find tutorials on piping with star tips, piping with round tips, piping with ruffle tips, and more! All of these techniques can be done with today's Buttercream Frosting recipe.
Recipe FAQs
Classic Vanilla Buttercream (Crusting Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226g) Should still hold its shape but dent when pressed.
- 5-6 cups confectioners sugar (690g)(You can adjust amount slightly up or down to your liking.)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g) (For whiter frosting, you can use clear imitation vanilla)
- ⅓ cup milk or cream (72g) (Adjust amount as needed to reach desired consistency.)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
Instructions
- Cream the softened butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Then, slow down the mixer to very slow for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
- This recipe can be doubled or halved.
- Yields approximately 4 ½ cups of frosting. Enough to frost a two layer 8 or 9 inch cake.
- Can be frozen in air tight container for at least three months . Thaw on countertop.
- If your buttercream is too thin, add more sugar. If the consistency is too thick, add a bit more milk.
Can I add food colouring to your Vanilla Buttercream icing recipe. I want to add the colour purple for "International Women's Day" celebration.
Hi Josie, Yes, you can add food coloring to the buttercream recipe.
When I use to make a lot of icing while catering, one way I could tell if the icing had been whipped long enough was to lightly dampen my finger and touch the icing in the bowl. If my finger had frosting stuck on it, it needed to be whipped longer. If my finger was clean (without icing), that meant it had been whipped enough. Also, this was making "Crisco" frosting, I'm not sure if making buttercream icing! In Georgia, our weather is always sticky with humidity !
I recently learned that other parts of the US uses those 4 tbsp sticks of butter while the rest of us use the 8 tbsp sticks. Can you clarify what you consider a stick of butter, as I don't have a kitchen scale?
Hi Amber, I hope people are not confusing this. Half sticks of butter are sold and the wording on the package states Half Stick. When we list 1 stick of butter in a recipe, we mean 8 Tablespoons. Thank you for your post.
Hello. Had an issue with the buttercream starting to “coddle”. What could have happened?
Can I use vanilla Essence for this buttercream frosting
Hi Alicia, If the mixture begins to curdle, the butter could have been too cold, if you just keep mixing it will warm up and the mixture will come together and be fine.
Hi Chinyere, I have not used vanilla essence for buttercream. Vanilla extract has a stronger flavor than essence so I am not sure how much more you would need to use.
How many cups does this recipe make? It isn’t listed and I really need to know. Thank you! ?
Hi Lynn, Number 5 in the instructions -- 4 1/2 cups
Hi Melissa & BeBe! I am making a mocha frosting to be used as a filling. It will be 80 the day of the birthday and I would like to know which will hold up better as a filling - a buttercream thats all butter because I can get it hard in the fridge before setting it out, or one with half shortening? I do not have any high ratio shortening and cannot get any before the date of the party. I tried using Crisco the vegetable one and then the one for baking. Both stayed real soft and the baking one was actually super loose at room temp (tested it by leaving some on the counter before making the icing.) I don't really want to use a super sweet crusting buttercream for a filling, especially if its not high ratio and won't stablize the filling anyway.
Which way would you go with this since I can't get the high ratio shortening? Thanks for any advice! :)