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Classic Vanilla Buttercream

Last Updated On: January 19, 2024 | Published: March 20, 2010 by Melissa Diamond | 141 Comments
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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!

Vanilla Buttercream in mixing bowl.

Why we Love it

There are so many reasons to love this delicious vanilla buttercream! Here are just a few:

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.

The BEST Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com! A crusting buttercream recipe. So delicious and easy to make!

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

Another bonus for this vanilla buttercream recipe is that it can easily be doctored to complement the type of cake that 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!

**We also have a delicious Vanilla Bean Buttercream recipe which swaps out vanilla extract for Vanilla Bean Paste- it has wonderful flavor (and pretty flecks of vanilla in the frosting too!)

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Don't let the term "crusting buttercream" scare you! This frosting develops the slightest "crust". It's something that most people would not even notice when biting into a slice of cake.

However, if you are cake decorator using the Viva Paper Towel method of smoothing or an impression mat (as in our quilted buttercream video), you'll need a crusting frosting.

A frosted cake develops its "crust" after sitting out about ten minutes. When lightly touched, it will leave an impression without removing any frosting.

You can reduce the amount of sugar used in this recipe for an even lighter crust. I often do this when making this recipe for cupcakes (use 4.5-5 cups of confectioners sugar).

Another way to reduce the amount of "crust" is to use whole milk or cream. This won't prevent crusting altogether, but it will give you a softer result than if you were using skim milk or water as your liquid.

We have a couple of great shortening based buttercream frostings in our Frosting Recipes section. One popular option is our Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream, which contains both butter and vegetable 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 vegetable 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.

Today's classic vanilla buttercream recipe is the one that I make most often. We hope that you enjoy it!

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 brand of confectioner's sugar used.

Personally, we've always had great results with Domino's confectioners sugar as well as US Sugar (sold at Costco). I'm sure there are others! 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 was a go-to of ours years ago.) Something has changed.

I've read that sometimes it is the type of anti-caking agent that certain brands use that cause grittiness. Your best bet is to do a little experimenting to find the brand that gives you the best results.

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.

Cold Temperatures: Butter-based frostings like today's recipe also become very firm in the refrigerator (just like a stick of butter). So, cakes frosted in buttercream should be removed from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This is not only helpful for the frosting, but it also allows the cake layers to warm and soften.

Everything tastes great with vanilla frosting!

Some of our most popular recipes are vanilla buttermilk cake, lemon cake, yellow cake from scratch, strawberry cake, and chocolate cake from scratch.

Delicious Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com! You'll love this easy and flavorful crusting buttercream recipe! MyCakeSchool.com Online Cake Tutorials, Recipes, and More!
The BEST Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com! A crusting buttercream recipe. So delicious and easy to make!

Classic Vanilla Buttercream (Crusting Recipe)

BY Melissa and Bebe
This easy, delicious Vanilla Buttercream Recipe is so versatile! It is a wonderful recipe that develops a light crust and is perfect for decorating cakes and cupcakes.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Course: Dessert
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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.
4.52 from 139 votes (139 ratings without comment)

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141 Comments

  1. Can I add food colouring to your Vanilla Buttercream icing recipe. I want to add the colour purple for "International Women's Day" celebration.

    Reply

  3. 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 !

    Reply

  4. 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?

    Reply

  5. 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.

    Reply

  6. Hello. Had an issue with the buttercream starting to “coddle”. What could have happened?

    Reply

  8. 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.

    Reply

  9. 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.

    Reply

  12. 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! :)

    Reply