This flavorful, versatile Classic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe is one of our favorites! It has wonderful buttery vanilla flavor, it’s perfect for piping borders or buttercream flowers, and it is so simple to make.
Our classic buttercream develops a light crust, and so if you are a fan of the Viva Paper Towel Method of smoothing, this vanilla buttercream smooths like a dream!
The butter in the recipe also makes it ideal for the hot knife method of smoothing, which involves frosting the cake, chilling until the frosting is firm, and then smoothing it with a hot spatula or bench scraper.
Of course, your frosted cakes don’t have to be perfectly smooth. I LOVE textured buttercream as well as the look of piping all over a cake. This vanilla buttercream frosting is versatile enough for just about any sort of buttercream cake or cupcake design you can think of.
This Vanilla Buttercream recipe can be easily doctored
Another bonus for this vanilla buttercream is that you can also easily doctor it to suit the type of cake you are making. For instance, add mini chocolate chips for a Chocolate Chip Buttercream, add a bit of peppermint extract to make Mint Buttercream, crushed Oreos for Oreo Buttercream, or any number of fruit extracts for various fruit flavored frostings. The possibilities are endless!
How to Adjust the Amount of Crusting
- As I’ve noted in the recipe below, you can reduce the amount of sugar used in this recipe for a lighter crust. I often do this when making this recipe for cupcakes.
- Another way to reduce the amount of “crust”. This won’t prevent crusting (we like a little bit of a crust for decorating purposes), but it will give you a softer result than if you were using skim milk or water as your liquid.
Vanilla Buttercream and Heat Considerations
Keep in mind that this is an all butter (no shortening) recipe, and so it doesn’t hold up as well in hot conditions. For hot summer days, you’ll want to keep the cake or cupcakes inside until the event, or opt for a shortening-based frosting.
Just as a stick of butter will melt if placed outside on a hot day, so will buttercream ;0)
Which Frostings are more Resistant to Heat?
We have a couple of great shortening based buttercream frostings in our Recipes Section. One popular option is our Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream, which contains both butter and shortening.
Another popular recipe that is shortening based and contains no butter is our High Ratio Frosting. Just like the others, this is a crusting recipe that is great for piping!
The more shortening that your frosting contains, the lighter the color will be and the more heat resistant it becomes. You do have to rely more on extracts and flavorings when using shortening-based frostings to make up for the absence of butter. However, in times when you need a more heat resistant frosting, shortening-based is a good way to go.
This classic vanilla buttercream recipe is the one that I make most often. We hope that you enjoy it!
Is your Buttercream Gritty? It shouldn’t be! Helpful Tips:
There’s nothing worse than finishing a batch of buttercream only to realize that it has an unpleasant gritty consistency. In my experience, it has everything to do with the type/brand of confectioner’s sugar used.
We’ve had great results with Domino’s confectioner’s sugar and US Sugar (we buy ours from Costco). Some brands of confectioner’s sugar don’t work as well with buttercream frosting recipes.
If a package doesn’t say pure cane sugar, it contains beet sugar which is more likely to give you a grainy outcome.
In addition to that, we’ve noticed that even some brands that say “Pure Cane Sugar” will give a grainy consistency. One example is Dixie Crystals (although it used to work great for us a few years ago.) Something has changed.
I’ve read that sometimes brands will use an anti-caking agent that causes grittiness, but it’s hard to say. Your best bet is to do a little experimenting to find the brand that gives you the best results.
Anyway, this recipe should not be grainy, and so if it is, experiment with a different confectioners sugar.
Classic Vanilla Buttercream- A Crusting Buttercream Recipe
This easy, delicious Vanilla Buttercream Recipe is so versatile! It is a wonderful recipe that develops a light crust.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened but cool to the touch and holding it's shape
- 6-7 cups (690-805 grams) powdered sugar (depending on desired consistency. More sugar=more crusting). If you prefer a frosting that crusts less, see our note at the bottom of the recipe. *see our note about brands above.
- 2 tsp. vanilla (8 grams), use clear imitation vanilla if you like a whiter frosting
- 1/4 c. (60g) whole milk or more if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (3g) to cut the sweetness (preferably fine grain or popcorn salt). Adjust to taste.
Instructions
- Cream the (slightly 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. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) 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 1/2 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.
Notes
**FOR A SOFTER BUTTERCREAM with a much lighter crust, I cut the amount of sugar from 6 cups to 5 cups, and adjust the amount of milk until you reach the consistency you like for piping. This lighter consistency of buttercream works great with cupcakes or cakes that don't require the Viva method of smoothing.
If you’re ever in the mood for something a little chocolatey (which is me, always) then save a copy of our Classic Chocolate Buttercream also! Just as with our classic vanilla, this chocolate frosting recipe is butter-based, silky smooth, and perfect for piping! You can find it here: Classic Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
You can never have too many options when it comes to frosting recipes! I hope you’ll give this one a try. Make sure to stop by our Recipes Section for all of our favorite cakes, cupcakes, frostings, and fillings!
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Thanks for stopping by! Now, let’s go make some frosting!
Hi Badette, I am sorry you are having a problem. Are you beating the buttercream long enough? You can beat it on medium to low speed and it will become very smooth. You can beat it longer than in the instructions. If the buttercream is too stiff, you will need to add more liquid 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches the spreading consistency you like. Is the buttercream gritty? That could be due to the powdered sugar you are using. The package should read, Pure Cane Sugar. If it does not, it is made from beet sugar and will cause the
buttercream to have a gritty taste. We used to use the brands Domino and Dixie Crystals, both were pure cane sugar. Dixie Crystals must have changed their formulation because it now causes our buttercream to be gritty. You may need to experiment with different brands if grittiness is a problem for you. I am not sure what you mean by roughness so let me know if I have not answered your question.
Help. I need to know which frosting recipe will be the best one to pipe rosettes onto a cake with. My daughter-in-law has asked me to do my grand baby’s smash cake for her first birthday coming up in the spring. I will be doing a chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream and I was looking at your classic vanilla buttercream and your fluffy vanilla buttercream. I was thinking the fluffy, but then I read the comment where the lady tried it on for her daughter’s birthday cake and the rosettes fell off. I have time to practice. Also, can the fluffy recipe be frozen?
Thanks – Melanie
Hi Melanie- Either recipe would work well. It’s a good idea to crumb coat the cake just before adding the rosettes so that they will adhere nicely. You shouldn’t have any trouble, although it’s nice that you have plenty of time for a trial run! ;0)
I was just wondering if a frosting made with butter and milk needs to be refrigerated once it is on a cake or can it be left out like a shortening based frosting? Thank you.
Hi Sonja, A cake frosted with buttercream made of shortening and water can be left out without concern. If your buttercream is made with butter and a bit of milk, it can be kept in a cool part of the house and should be eaten by the second day. It can be kept longer if it is covered and refrigerated. The cake will be best if allowed to come to room temperature before serving.
What is the best buttercream recipe to decorate a wedding cake.
Hello, I tried making this buttercream. It turned out really grainy. I couldn’t pipe it at all because of how grainy it turned out.
Could you help me troubleshoot why this could have happened? The butter I was going to use was at room temperature. But because the recipe called for ‘cool to the touch’, I popped it in the fridge for a couple of minutes before trying to make butter cream. Could this be one of the reasons? Could it be due to sugar? I used C&Hs confectioners sugar. I used Kitchen Aid Stand mixer.
Hi Shivani, I’m sorry that your buttercream had a grainy consistency. It definitely shouldn’t be. I would experiment with a different confectioner’s sugar. I’m not sure if you noticed our note beneath the recipe and so I’ll paste it below– I really think it must be the sugar.
We’ve had great results with Domino’s confectioner’s sugar and US Sugar (we buy ours from Costco). Some brands of confectioner’s sugar don’t work as well with buttercream frosting recipes. If a package doesn’t say pure cane sugar, it contains beet sugar which is more likely to give you a grainy outcome. In addition to that, we’ve noticed that even some brands that say “Pure Cane Sugar” will give a grainy consistency. So frustrating! One example is Dixie Crystals (although it used to work great for us a few years ago.) Something has changed…it’s a mystery. Anyway, this recipe should not be grainy, and so if it is, experiment with a different confectioners sugar.
Thanks for the quick response. I probably failed to read that note as I was working on this late in the night. In your experience, have you seen one brand of sugar working really well with one recipe of buttercream and failing miserably in another?
I used the same C&H in fluffy-vanilla-buttercream recipe (https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes/fluffy-vanilla-buttercream/) and it worked wonderfully in that recipe. Hence my confusion. At some point I was also thinking if it could have been the speed at which I operated the stand mixer? I did run the Stand mixer at 6 for a brief period and then 4. Would 6 be too fast? I don’t know :(. Anyhow, I really appreciate you taking time to answer my question! Thank you.
The sugar which i powdered can i use for this recipe..
Hi Aathi, We have never made our own powdered sugar so I’m not sure of the outcome. If you give it a try, please let us know the outcome.
Hi Melissa? Love love love your website. I’m growing a pastry business in NYC and I’m amateur baker although I’m doing for over 15 years I never went to school or anything like that so I find this site very educational and helpful especially for bakers like me that can not afford a pastry school.
I have to make a unicorn cake which has piped flowers on top and side. Was wondering if the buttercream recipe is thick enough to hold the side flowers when it is a room temperature ? Will they stay there whitout falling all over to the bottom ?
The reason why I asked is because I tried the same thing last weekend whit a cream cheese frosting and it didn’t work really well.
Thank you!
Natalia from Brooklyn
Hi Natalia- Thanks for your kind words about our site! We are happy to have you!
Yes, buttercream holds up much better to piping flowers, etc. than cream cheese frosting. Our unicorn cake is a buttercream cake also– I happened to use a different version of buttercream (which contains some shortening) for that video, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use this one either. It’s a great recipe. Good luck!!
https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/unicorn-decorating-tutorial/
How many cupcakes will this batch of frosting make if I am going to pipe a swirl around each one all the way to the edges of the cupcake? I have to make 80 of them.
Hi Tina, On a standard size cupcake, using a 2D or 1M piping tip, you should be able to pipe a simple swirl onto 10 cupcakes. Of course, that depends on how tight or high your swirl will be. Since you are going all the way to the edge of the cupcake you probably will not get 10. As you will read in the directions, when frosting cupcakes we often use 5 cups of powdered sugar instead of 6 for a lighter crust on the cupcakes and then the recipe will give you 5 cups instead of 4 1/2 cups of frosting. I would double the recipe to take away the stress of running out.
Help! Help! Help! I think my buttercream has to much salt in it. I had to triple the recipe and I made have put to much salt in it. How do I fix it with out throwing it out. :(. I could kick myself
Hi Claudia- I’m sorry! You could try adding more sugar and milk? Or you could make a half batch (minus the salt) and combine it with what you have already. Good luck!
Hi! Thank you for getting back to me so quickly what I thought was my really salted butter cream frosting. I said I had to triple the frosting for the 10 inch round cake that I was doing but actually I had to quadruple the frosting. I had not mixed it well enough and just overly tired from doing this cake. I got up the next morning And remixed the frosting and it was wonderful. I did your doctor lemon cake and everybody raved about how moist the cake was.
I had to make to 2 10 inch round cakes and did a simple Chambon catch syrup and a raspberry filling catch up. I’m uploading some pictures that I did of the cake. Please remember that I I am just a beginner and thank you for all the things that I’m learning from you.
Hi Claudia! I’m so glad that everything worked out with the frosting and that you got rave reviews on the cake- it looks beautiful! Thanks so much for following up and sharing a photo ;0) Happy baking! xoxo
I need to stop posting things from my phone. Sent the wrong picture and what is a catch Syrup and a raspberry catchup filling. I really need to see what I am writing or rather speaking before I send it out. Just think of me as an old woman and tired after making this cake. I will now upload the correct picture hopefully. At my age you have to have a good sense of humor . Thank you for teaching an old dog new tricks
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.