This White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe belongs in your recipe file of favorites! Not only does it have a wonderful white chocolate flavor, but it’s creamy consistency is perfect for piping. What’s not to love?
If you are a fan of white chocolate, this is the frosting that you’ve been waiting for. Actually, we’ve been waiting for it too! For nearly eight years we’ve been chugging along on our cake site without a go-to white chocolate buttercream recipe. Ohhhhh, we didn’t know what we were missing!
What I love most about frosting recipe is that the white chocolate flavor really shines through. The recipe calls for white baking chocolate (we really prefer this over white chocolate chips or candy melts). You are going to love the flavor.
How to Make White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
*You can find the full recipe card at the bottom of this post
This easy-to-follow recipe involves combining the melted white chocolate with the usual key players…butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and milk (or cream).
- Cut/chop the white chocolate into very small pieces, put into a microwave safe bowl and add 4 Tablespoons milk or cream. Chopping the chocolate into small pieces will help it to melt more quickly and evenly.
- Microwave the chopped white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl for 15 seconds and let sit for a minute, stir and microwave again 15 seconds letting it sit a minute to soften further, stir. (Repeat heating in small increments as needed).
We do it this way so that we do not accidentally overheat or burn the white chocolate. The heated chocolate will continue to melt as it is stirred. The melted chocolate should not be hot when added to the mixture and so allow to cool as needed.
- Beat the butter until softened and smooth, add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add the white chocolate and milk mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Add another Tablespoon milk if needed. Beat on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes and it will become smooth and creamy.
- This recipe makes 5 cups frosting, which is enough to frost a 2 or 3 layer eight inch cake. If you will be doing a lot of decorative piping, you will need additional frosting.
What Cakes Pair Well with White Chocolate Frosting?
This luscious, white chocolate frosting is a heavenly complement to so many cake flavors. It’s perfect with fruity cakes, chocolate cakes, and more! Here are a few favorites:
Strawberry Sour Cream Cake with White Chocolate Frosting
White Chocolate Raspberry Cake
White Chocolate Cranberry Cake
White Chocolate Peppermint Cake
Is this White Chocolate Frosting Good for Decorating?
Yes! This white chocolate buttercream is not only delicious, it pipes perfectly!
As an added bonus, this frosting recipe develops a slight crust, making it perfect for smoothing using the Viva Paper Towel Method of Smoothing for those of you who prefer this technique! (We use this technique in this tutorial)
If you’ve ever had Grainy Buttercream, Read this!
** We’ve had great results with Domino’s confectioner’s sugar in our frostings. 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 brand of confectioners sugar.
White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
This white chocolate buttercream has a nice white chocolate flavor, is smooth, creamy, and, pipes beautifully!
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (339g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften in the microwave)
- 8 ounces (227g) white baking chocolate (I used 2 Ghirardelli Premium Baking Bars)
- 5 cups (575g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons (42 g) milk or cream
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt - optional to cut the sweetness
Instructions
- Cut/chop the white chocolate into very small pieces, put into a microwave safe bowl and add 4 Tablespoons milk or cream.
- Microwave for 15 seconds let sit for a minute or two, stir and microwave again 15 seconds letting it sit a minute to soften further, stir. Be careful not to over heat the chocolate. The chocolate will continue to melt as it is stirred. Let the chocolate cool down before using.
- Beat the butter until softened and smooth, add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add the white chocolate and milk mixture. Add vanilla. Add another Tablespoon milk if needed. Beat on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes and it will become smooth and creamy.
- Makes 5 cups frosting. Makes enough to frost a 2 or 3 layer eight inch cake. If you will be doing a lot of decorative piping, you will need additional frosting.
Here’s our White Chocolate Buttercream in action, as the frosting for our White Chocolate Raspberry Cake! YUM!
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Maria, Thank you so much for your follow up information on the frosting, very helpful!
Hi! I just made this white chocolate buttercream and it is delish! It seems a little soft to pipe ruffles or rosettes. Any suggestions? This would be perfect pairing for white cake/ raspberry filling, thanks in advance
Hi Laura, Try adding a bit more sifted powdered sugar.