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.

Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Recipe by My Cake School! A fluffy, pipeable, crusting buttercream 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.

Fabulous Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com. This recipe pipes beautifully and crusts for easy smoothing. My Cake School.

Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

BY Melissa and Bebe

This fluffy vanilla buttercream recipe is perfect for piping and works great with the viva paper towel method! Good flavor, and contains shortening which makes is a bit more heat resistant.

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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

*If I use a high ratio shortening (such as CK or Sweetex brand) I decrease the shortening amount to 1 ¼ cups (236 g.) and increase the milk, ¼ cup plus 2 to 3 Tablespoons milk or enough to make it the consistency you like.

*I used to always use water for this recipe, but I switched to milk for flavor & also because when you use a higher fat milk for your liquid, the buttercream still has a nice crust to it, but it doesn't crust quite so quickly or so hard as if you use water.

*Makes about 6 cups of frosting-- you can half it, or freeze the leftovers if you don't need this much! (One cup of frosting frosts about 12 cupcakes with a simple swirl using a 2D tip)

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360 Comments

hi!
instead of using butter flavoring what if I use all butter flavored Crisco?

@Nora, I'm sorry that we didn't see your question earlier! While this recipe is more heat stable, even an all shortening based frosting will suffer in extremely hot conditions. It's best to keep frosted cakes out of the heat of the day--at least, keep them indoors until absolutely necessary, and out of the direct heat of the sun.

@Amber- I've never tried it with butter-flavored Crisco but it seems that it would work fine! I imagine that it would have slightly yellowish tint though with the additional coloring in the butter flavored crisco.

When using this recipe or the other buttercream recipe, they both call for milk. If using milk Can I leave the cake out, or should it be refrigerated? It's close to 95 degrees here in the northeast mountains of Georgia and I don't want the icing to spoil if it's too hot

Hi Julie, If you are serving the cake outside, I would keep refrigerated until about 1 hour, keeping it inside until just before serving outside. The amount of sugar in the recipe keeps the buttercream from spoiling, but 95 degrees is just too hot. We think it is best if eaten within 3 days in a normal air conditioned home. It is also fine to refrigerate the completed cake, letting it come back to room temperature before serving.

I used the fluffy buttercream recipe yesterday on my granddaughters watermelon cake. The tutorial is on your site. When I made the buttercream it was very stiff, so I added extra milk. I believe this made it softer and runny. Could the temperature inside the house (78) have played a part in it being softer than normal? It didn't crust and I even refrigerated it before using.
The ruffles just mushed together and were wet looking.
Everyone loved the decoration of the watermelon and loved the buttercream icing. I just wasn't happy and thought I could have done a better job.
Thank you both for doing this for us starting out in cake decorating. I am a hands on person, and watching the videos have helped me tremendously.

Hi Julie, I am sorry you had a problem. I don't think the temperature of 78 degrees was a problem. You were correct to add additional milk if the buttercream was too stiff. The milk should be added a teaspoon at a time because a small amount of liquid can soften up the buttercream quickly. In the future, if the buttercream consistency becomes too soft, just add additional powdered sugar to get back to a consistency you like. Also, a crusting buttercream such as this one will not crust ( or will take forever to do so) if the cake is cold when frosted. The cake should be room temperature before the final coat of buttercream. Hope this helps. You are just starting out so please be too hard on yourself.

I am making my nephews wedding cake and want to try this icing for the cake. I bought high ratio shortening for the first time and have a question on your recipe...do you use both Cisco and high ratio together? If so, how much of each? I am having a hard time determining that in the recipe. Thank you very much

Hi Diane, We don't use Crisco and high ratio together. You would use only the high ratio shortening with the butter. In the paragraph beginning. If I use Sweetex...........you will find that the high ratio shortening is decreased to 1 1/4 cups . This is because when using high ratio in a recipe it will accept more liquid than when using Crisco. Here is a link to the High Ratio Buttercream recipe, if you would like to try a recipe using only High Ratio shortening . https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes-tutorials/fluffy-hi-ratio-buttercream/. Let us know if you have other questions.

Does this frosting taste food? I dont like using Crisco but I dont have Sweetetx?

Hi Heidi, My favorite buttercream is the Classic Vanilla Buttercream, it is an all butter buttercream. However, if a cake is going to be in hot or humid conditions it does not hold up very well. I do like the taste of Fluffy Buttercream and it is more reliable in warm weather.

Hello ladies i have a question for you. When you say "pop corn salt" what brand are you using? I did search it in the internet and found several brands like pop secret, morton popcorn salt, flavacol, etc. Is this realy the salt we are using. I am sorry but i am new to this. HOpe to get an answer soon. Thanks in advance. Annj