Classic Vanilla Buttercream

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!

Table of Contents

Why we Love it

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

Delicious and SO easy to make
Perfect for piping
It can easily be changed up with add-ins, extracts, and an adjustment here and there ;0) - A few examples are our Oreo Buttercream, Mint Chocolate Chip Buttercream, Strawberry Buttercream, and Peanut Butter Buttercream!
Develops a very light crust, which is great for those who use the Viva Paper Towel Method of Smoothing. Also, the Hot Knife Method of smoothing works great with this vanilla buttercream also!

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!)

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!

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

Course: Dessert

Servings: 0

RATE THIS RECIPE

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

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.

Loved This Recipe?!

Check out @mycakeschool for more!

4.52 from 139 votes (139 ratings without comment)

141 Comments

Alison Davis says:

January 5, 2013 at 12:01 am

I have made this recipe and other crusting buttercream recipes. I keep having issues with cracking. It worked out ok for my latest cake which was a take on your woodland cake; the cracking helped it look more like bark.

Anyways, how can I avoid cracking in the future when I use crusting buttercream? Mine never looks as smooth as yours. :(

BeBe says:

January 5, 2013 at 10:55 pm

Hi Allison, I'm sorry you are having a problem. If your cake base is not sturdy enough, when you move your cake the board will bend and even if it bends only slightly it will cause cracks in your crusting buttercream. Before your cake reaches the crusting stage you will want to have it on its final base. Melissa has a video in Decorating Basics entitled How to Cover a Cake Base, here is a link if you would like to watch it,

James Mundy says:

January 12, 2013 at 11:26 pm

I read the comments on the fluffy buttercream and it said that you can keep it in the refrigerator for 3 weeks and freezer for 3 months. Is that the same with this recipe?

BeBe says:

January 13, 2013 at 10:26 am

Hi James, I keep mine in the refrigerator 2 weeks and if your milk and butter are not near expiration date when used you could probably keep longer. Yes, it can be frozen for 3 months. After the frosting thaws, you will need to fluff it up with your mixer and it will be fine.

Shelley Danjou says:

January 23, 2013 at 7:34 pm

I'm a little confused. In the recipe it says to use 2 sticks of butter (226 grams) and 8 cups (2 lbs) powdered sugar for a single batch. But in the video you are making a double batch of frosting and using 4 sticks of butter but still 2 lbs of powdered sugar. So is the correct recipe for a single batch actually 2 sticks of butter with 4 cups (1 lb) of powdered sugar and the double batch would be 4 sticks of butter with 8 cups (2 lbs) of powdered sugar?

Thanks

BeBe says:

January 23, 2013 at 7:49 pm

Hi Shelley, in the video I added 2 lbs. of powdered sugar to the 4 sticks of butter, mixed that with most of the milk, then I added 2 more pounds of powdered sugar. Maybe you skipped the video ahead and missed that part :)

I also want to say......this is not in the video, if you slow down your mixer speed to "very slow" the last 2 to 3 minutes of beating it will greatly reduce the number of air bubbles in your buttercream.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Shelley Danjou says:

January 24, 2013 at 12:50 am

Great, thank you so much. Yes, I had to stop the video (can't understand why my 6 year old doesn't find this as stimulating as I do). I'm going to certainly try this recipe. The one I have been using uses twice as much butter and I have had a problem with air bubbles and greasiness at times.

Thanks so much for the prompt response and for all that you and Melissa do! I LOVE this website!

amber rowland says:

February 5, 2013 at 7:53 pm

I have a strange question. I have heard of using different flavored International Delight creamers instead of your milk or heavy cream you may be using in your frosting. Would that work in this recipe and if so, should I also leave out the vanilla?

Taylor Elliott says:

March 12, 2013 at 4:48 pm

Hello ladies! So I'm making a two tiered square cake for my grandmothers 90th. It's indoors and on that day it'll be about 50 degrees outside. Will this recipe hold up alright?

BeBe says:

March 12, 2013 at 5:35 pm

Hi Taylor, there should be no problem.

patricia reed says:

May 9, 2013 at 3:59 pm

when using cream cheese frosting do you still dirty ice? thank you Milissa

Melissa Diamond says:

May 9, 2013 at 5:07 pm

Hi Patricia--Not everyone crumb coats/dirty ices their cakes but I almost always do, with whatever frosting I'm using. I like that first thin layer to catch all of the crumbs.