Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream
This delicious Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is crusting recipe that is perfect for cake decorating! This American Buttercream is similar to our Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe, however, it has a lighter, fluffier texture due to the shortening in the recipe.
Table of Contents
Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream: A Crusting Recipe
- What is a crusting buttercream? As the name suggests, crusting frostings like this one develop a very thin crust when exposed to air. In as little as 5-10 minutes, a cake frosted in a crusting buttercream can be lightly touched without removing any of the frosting. Beneath that thin layer, the frosting remains soft.
- Many cake decorators love to use the "Viva Paper Towel method" of smoothing when working with crusting buttercreams. Simply frost the cake, sweep around the sides and top with your spatula (or bench scraper) of choice, and then allow it to sit for a few minutes before smoothing over it with a paper towel.
- (Viva brand paper towels are a popular choice for this paper towel method of smoothing because it has no quilting or impressions.)
- You can find more information on this method of smoothing here: Leopard Print Buttercream (using the Viva Paper Towel Method).
Helpful Hints
- This Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream frosting contains both butter and shortening. Because of the shortening, it is slightly more heat resistant than an all-butter frosting recipe, and it is lighter in color than an all-butter buttercream recipe.
- If heat is more of a concern, you could switch to an all shortening (no butter) frosting recipe like this one: High Ratio Frosting. All frostings will melt if the weather is hot enough, but shortening certainly is more resistant than butter.
- If you are looking for a crusting frosting that does not contain any shortening, we love our Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe also. You can find it here!: Classic Vanilla Buttercream.
- We often use clear vanilla in our buttercream frosting recipes because real vanilla gives vanilla buttercream more of an off-white or ivory color. However, this may not bother you! It simply comes down to personal preference or the design of your cake.
Does Brand of Confectioners Sugar Matter?
** Important note about the sugar: We’ve had great results with Domino’s confectioners sugar and US Sugar (we buy ours from Costco). Some brands of confectioners 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.
Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. confectioners' sugar 910 g
- ½ cup 1 stick (113 g ) unsalted butter softened (soften on countertop rather than microwave for best results)
- 1 ½ cups solid vegetable shortening such as Crisco or Trex 286 g. or 10 oz. by weight. ** If using hi ratio shortening, see below)
- 2 Tablespoons clear vanilla extract 24 g
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon butter flavoring if you are leaving out the butter and using all shortening
- ¼ teaspoons lemon or almond extract 1 g OPTIONAL
- ¼ cup milk 57 g any milk is fine but I like milk with higher fat content. You could substitute water too (See below)
- ½ teaspoon salt to cut the sweetness. We use popcorn salt because of its fine grain. If using table salt you can dissolve it in the milk before adding.
Instructions
- Cream butter, shortening , salt and extracts until creamy and smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and milk. Mix thoroughly on medium speed for approximately 8 minutes. For the last two minutes decrease the mixing speed to VERY SLOW ( number 2 speed on a KitchenAid) until creamy and smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally during the mixing process.
Notes
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Hi Melissa, It does not need to sit. It can be used as soon as you make it.
Tnks BeBe :)
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Hi Natalie--Sorry for the delay! When frostings get so firm, it is because they have butter (yum) ;0) -- So, our "classic vanilla buttercream" and the Swiss Meringue Buttercream in our Recipes section get firm especially quickly when chilled. However, I love both of these recipes and as long as you allow them to warm to room temperature before the event, they will return to their original soft state.
The same goes for our "Fluffy Vanilla" recipe which is part butter, part shortening. It just takes a little longer to firm up than the ones above.
The hi ratio shortening recipe (all shortening, no butter) also eventually firms up a bit in the fridge but it takes longer. You should ask what kind of frosting the bakery uses...most likely, it has a lot of emulsifiers in it to keep it soft. The other possibility it is a whipped cream/whipped topping frosting. I hope this helps!
THANK YOU!! :)
hi i was wondering why my buttercream turned out so bubbly
Hi Nicole, try adding a bit more liquid, I think that will help with that problem
ok thank you
what is the consistency of this bc recipe (fluffy vanilla bc)?
I LOVE this recipe. I adjusted it and use all shortening and water. I also adjust the flavoring and sometimes use almond, butter, caramel, rum, coconut, or chocolate flavor depending on what flavor I would like to achieve.
Just recently, I accidentally created another flavor with this recipe. I mixed two cups of the frosting with two packages of cream cheese and OH MY what an amazing flavor!
Lastly, because I use shortening and water, I don't need to refrigerate the frosting. I make large patches and store then in food-safe five gallon buckets that I purchased at Lowe's home improvement.
Thanks Melissa!
I have so much trouble getting my icing smooth so that my rose petals don't have ridges. What am Indoing wrong? I've made 3 batches today. Please help!
Hi Julia, I usually need to beat mine 6 to 8 minutes depending on temperature of the room and/or ingredients. During the last 1 to 2 minutes beat on low speed to eliminate air bubbles. When you first start beating your buttercream can look right and ready for your cake when actually it is a little stiff, and beating a couple more minutes will give you an entirely different texture. If you are doing all of that and still getting ridges you may need to add more milk......add 1 teaspoon at a time. You can re-mix one of the batches you have already made and see if that makes a difference. Let me know how it goes.