If you are looking for an easy and delicious icing for your cupcakes or cake, this Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting can’t be beat!
I debated and debated posting this recipe because the Internet isn’t short of buttercream recipes by any means. Just search Pinterest and you’ll find hundreds of recipes all claiming to be the best. I am not sure if this recipe is the best (because I haven’t tried every variety there is!) but I am sure that this is my favorite recipe.
I am a self-declared icing connoisseur. As a kid at family birthday parties, I always ate the extra icing off everyone else’s cake. I was the one with the fork scraping the icing off the cake plate, not really even acknowledging the actual cake part. Since then I have tried many recipes for buttercream and I have found one thing in common, they are all way too sweet for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the so sweet it burns your teeth icing from the grocery store bakery just as much as the next person, but I would never make that at home for fear of an immediate diabetic coma! In my other recipes on the blog that have icing, I always use the disclaimer that my recipes are on the milder side on the sweet scale.
After playing around with recipes for a while, I have found there there is a very fine line between too sweet and not enough sugar. If you don’t add enough, all you can taste is butter. Normally, too much better is not a bad thing, but in the case of icing, it definitely is. I also go heavy on the vanilla extract because it gives the icing lots of flavor, without having to add more sugar.
I love making homemade icing because it makes any cake taste so much better. I very rarely make a cake from scratch, but with the addition of homemade icing, any cake can taste delicious. This Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is simple, delicious, and can be made by anyone, baker or not!
Easy Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4-5 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp.pure vanilla extract use clear if you are keeping your icing white
- 1-2 tbsp. heavy cream
Instructions
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add your butter and mix on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes.
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Once creamy, slowly add powdered sugar, 1/2 a cup at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stop at 4 cups of powdered sugar.
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After the 4 cups are added, add the vanilla and 1 tbsp. of cream. Beat on medium to combine.
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At this point, taste the frosting. Add more powdered sugar if desired. Also, add more cream if it is not to your desired thickness. If you are piping the frosting you may want it thicker, so be careful with how much cream you add.
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Once you have achieved your desired flavor, turn your mixer on medium-high and beat for two minutes to really fluffy up the frosting.
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Store in a covered bowl until needed or pipe immediately onto your cake or cupcakes!
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Enjoy!
This sounds delicious!!
Thanks Meg!
I bet they taste as good as they look!
Thank you! They were very tasty!
Your photos pop with color making the butter cream frosting look so scrumptious.
Thank you! I love the coral color!
Buttercream is my absolute favorite icing! It’s rich and doesn’t taste like pure sugar. This recipe is awesome, thanks for sharing! =)
Yum! Buttercream is my favorite… i can never make it just right, though.
That sounds like a great icing! I will have to try it the next time I need a buttercream. Thanks for sharing it!
I find most frosting too sweet – but I love that you upped the vanilla – it looks prefect
Thank you! I love the strong vanilla taste!
I’m kind of the yin to your yang. If we’d grown up together, I would have given you the icing off my cupcake if you would have shared the bottom. Still, there is nothing I love more than a beautifully iced cupcake or cake and you’ve definitely mastered the technique. Your recipe sounds delightfully simple too, with no crazy processed stuff, so I’d use it in a heartbeat.
Haha! We would have done so well together at cake serving functions!! thank you so much! I hope you try the recipe!!
Thanks for sharing us.
i like cupcake, because it’s cute