American Buttercream

This American buttercream recipe is my absolute favorite! It tastes similar to storebought, but it’s not as sweet and is made with real ingredients.

There are several different types of vanilla frosting, but American buttercream is one of the easiest and most popular. Other types of buttercream include Swiss meringue buttercream, Italian meringue buttercream, German buttercream, and Russian buttercream. While each has its own unique flavor and texture, American buttercream is known for being quite sweet, creamy, and easy to work with.

Because it’s made with a high ratio of powdered sugar to butter, American buttercream frosting is especially great with recipes that aren’t as sweet such as this Earl Grey yogurt cake. Lemon desserts like this lemon buttermilk cake or these lemon shortbread cookies are also a beautiful match with this basic vanilla frosting recipe.

In this comprehensive guide I try to cover everything you need to know about making the perfect vanilla frosting including choosing the best vanilla, how to store it, how to customize it, and more.

🥇 The Best Vanilla For American Buttercream

Vanilla is expensive. In an ideal world, we would all use pure, high-quality vanilla extract or whole vanilla beans, however, this is not always the case. Although I am listing options, the best vanilla for American buttercream is the one you have on hand or can afford.

• Whole Vanilla Beans—Using whole vanilla beans is the pinnacle of vanilla flavor. To use real vanilla beans in this recipe you will need approximately ⅓ of a whole vanilla bean. Take a small sharp knife and split the bean in half down its length. Use the flat edge of the knife to gently scrape the vanilla bean seeds from the inside of the bean. Add the scraped seeds to the butter and mix well before adding the powdered sugar. After the sugar is mixed in you can mix in more vanilla seeds if you like a stronger vanilla flavor.
• Vanilla Bean Paste—You can substitute vanilla bean paste at a one-to-one ratio for vanilla extract. It’s a great choice for buttercream because it tastes great and contains vanilla bean seeds for visual appeal.
• Vanilla Powder—I feel like vanilla powder isn’t as common a choice as vanilla beans or extract. Made from dried vanilla beans that have been ground into a powder, vanilla powder is a great choice for anyone that wants real vanilla flavor without alcohol. I recommend adding vanilla powder ¼ teaspoon at a time to taste.
• Pure Vanilla Extract—Pure vanilla extract has become a luxury and I treat it as such. If you’re going to use it anywhere, use it in a recipe like this where the vanilla is the star of the show.
• Artificial Vanilla Extract—This is what I use 99% of the time. Whether baking a batch of vanilla cupcakes for a birthday party or a school bake sale, artificial vanilla extract has a tried-and-true nostalgic vanilla flavor I really like.
• Clear Artificial Vanilla Extract— I always have clear artificial vanilla extract on hand. It’s a great choice when you want that nostalgic vanilla birthday cake flavor without adding additional color to your buttercream.

🧈 Salted vs. Unsalted Butter

I use salted butter for all of my recipes. That being said, unsalted butter is also a terrific choice for vanilla buttercream. If you use unsalted butter, simply adjust the salt amount to taste after mixing to suit your preference.

🧐 How To Substitute Shortening For Butter

For a firmer texture, substitute ¼ cup (56 grams) of plain vegetable shortening for the butter. This can come in handy if you are frosting cakes in the summer. The shortening doesn’t affect the flavor at all and it helps prevent the frosting from melting in the heat.

🥛 How To Make American Buttercream Thinner Or Thicker

To make American buttercream thinner, simply add milk or cream by the teaspoon until it reaches your desired consistency. To make it thicker, add more powdered sugar or reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe. For best results, adjust the consistency gradually, adding the liquid or powdered sugar in small increments.

🌈 How To Use Food Coloring With Vanilla Frosting

Vanilla buttercream frosting is generally a pale yellow color due to the amount of butter. Using pure or artificial brown vanilla extract makes the yellow even more pronounced.

• For A More Pale Color—Try using clear vanilla extract instead of brown.
• To Make True White Frosting—Add one drop of white food coloring and mix well. Repeat until your desired shade of white is reached.
• Gel Or Oil-Based Colors—I like the control and colors available in gel and oil-based food coloring. A small amount on the tip of a toothpick can go a long way! For beautiful modern colors, check out Colour Mill (not sponsored, I just really love their colors).
• Liquid Colors—There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the old-school four-pack of red, yellow, green, and blue food coloring and there are many online resources on how to mix different shades.
• Powdered Food Coloring—Add this according to the manufacturer’s directions.

😋 Adding Flavors To Basic Buttercream

One of my favorite ways to change up the flavor of basic buttercream is to substitute almond extract for vanilla extract. Here are a few more ideas that are absolutely delicious (you may have to adjust the amount of powdered sugar in the recipe to account for any additional sweetness):

• Add microwave lemon curd by the tablespoon after mixing until you are happy with the texture and flavor.
• Sprinkle ⅛ teaspoon espresso powder into the buttercream and mix. Repeat to suit your taste. Do not feed this to small children or eat it before bed!😅
• Try stirring in your favorite jam to taste.
• Grind freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries. Add the powder, ½ teaspoon at a time, until satisfied.
• To make chocolate frosting, mix in cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon at a time to suit your preference.
• Add lemon zest to make a bright lemon frosting.
• You can also add things like sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, Skor bits, or anything else you like. Keep in mind, larger bits such as chocolate chips may not pass through the tip of your piping bag.

🍰 Covering Different Cake Sizes

This recipe yields about 1 ½ cups of frosting which is approximately enough to cover:

• Six standard cupcakes with a large piped swirl of frosting on each.
• 12 standard cupcakes with the frosting lightly spread on with a knife or spatula.
• A single-layer 8-inch round cake, top and sides.
• A 2-layer naked-style cake (one layer of frosting in the middle of the two layers, and a thin see-through coating on the top and outside of the layers).

Please note, the coverage I’ve listed is an approximation. Other factors can come into play, like whether or not you use a scale, how much milk you add (if any at all), or the size of the piping tip you choose. Everyone’s definition of how-much-is-too-much frosting is different so I always make a double-batch and freeze any leftover frosting for another time.

🥵 Weather Conditions

American buttercream is relatively stable and holds up well in a variety of weather conditions however, in warmer temperatures or muggy weather it may become softer and prone to melting.

To prevent melting in warm or hot weather:

• Substitute some of the butter with vegetable shortening.
• Store your decorated baked goods in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them.

🤨 Crusting Of American Buttercream And Why It Happens

When the surface of American buttercream dries out, it forms a slightly harder layer on top called a crust. Buttercream crust is actually desirable for some cake decorators because it allows a smoother more stable surface to apply additional layers of frosting. To prevent crusting, keep your frosting covered with a damp cloth, damp paper towel, or plastic wrap until you’re ready to use it, and then work quickly when applying it to your baked goods.

💞 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

✔️ Vanilla frosting is so easy to make!
✔️ You have complete control over the quality and ingredients.
✔️ It’s highly customizable.

📋 Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Vanilla—Jump back up to this section to read about the best vanilla to use for homemade vanilla frosting.
• Powdered Sugar—This is sometimes called icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar.

It’s important to note that when making substitutions in recipes, the texture and flavor may be slightly different. However, these substitutes are the best options if you are looking to change the original recipe.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Butter—For a firmer texture, substitute ¼ cup (56g) of vegetable shortening for butter. This can come in handy if you are frosting cakes in the summer when it’s hot outside. The shortening doesn’t affect the flavor at all and helps prevent the frosting from melting in the heat.
• Vanilla—Jump back up to this section to read about different vanilla options, or this section to read about adding flavors to basic buttercream.

👩‍🍳 How To Make American Buttercream

STEP 1—Place the butter, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl.

STEP 2—Use a hand or stand mixer to beat the butter until creamy and smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.

STEP 3—Sift the powdered sugar through a fine mesh sieve into the bowl. I like to press the powdered sugar through the sieve using the back of a soup spoon.

STEP 4—Sifting the powdered sugar helps prevent lump frosting.

STEP 5—Mix the sugar in on low speed until the butter and sugar are just combined.

STEP 6—Increase the speed of the mixer and whip the buttercream until it becomes light and fluffy about one minute. Use immediately or store for later.

🗣 Expert Tips

1. For smooth creaminess, use room temperature to soft butter.
2. Cream the butter for at least one minute (two minutes is better). This helps make the frosting light and fluffy.
3. If you like a less stiff buttercream, add milk or cream by the ½ teaspoon until you reach the consistency you like.

📝 Recipe Notes

• This recipe doubles and triples well.
• For best results, measure ingredients with a kitchen scale.
• If your butter is too cool to mix smoothly, heat it in the microwave in 10-second increments at 50% power. It’s ready when it squishes slightly when pressed with a fingertip.
• Mix the butter for at least one minute, and two minutes is even better. This helps achieve a light and fluffy texture.
• To prevent lumps, be sure to sift the powdered sugar into the butter.
• When experimenting with additional flavors or colors add them gradually to avoid overpowering the frosting.
• You can store powdered sugar frosting in an airtight container for later use. Plastic or glass containers are both good options. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months. You can also leave buttercream icing at room temperature for up to two days, however, be sure to keep it away from direct sunlight or heat.

💃 More Sweet Treats

Cupcake Baking Tip

A weird/interesting thing happened when I first posted this recipe in 2010.

I was baking cupcakes to go along with the buttercream in the photos. I baked the first dozen cupcakes at 350ºF (180ºC) until golden, about 22 minutes. While they were in the oven I read over the recipe and realized that I was supposed to bake them at 325ºF (160ºC). I reduced the temperature in a panic for the second batch of cupcakes and here’s what happened:

This cupcake-baking tip was just a random fluke that happened to me, however, thousands of people on Pinterest swear it works!