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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I also sift the sugar
Hi Terri, I am sorry you are still having the problem. My brand of confectioners sugar is Dominos. Recently I brought Dixie Crystals brand, also a pure cane sugar and my buttercream was grainy. I went back to Dominos and it was not grainy, so now I am stumped by that. Are you creaming the butter, shortening and flavorings until smooth and very creamy with no lumps of butter? After gradually adding the powdered sugar, you may need to beat longer than 8 minutes. If you are using a hand mixer, you will need to beat longer. Test to see if it is grainy, if so beat a bit longer. Let me know how it goes.
Hi BeBe, I adhered to your advice and it turned out wonderful! I was not creaming the butter and other ingredients...I justmixed them with the milk and confectioners sugar. ..what a difference! Thanks BeBe! You saved me!!!!!
Hi Terri, Wonderful!! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Thank you again BeBe, the cake turned out wonderful! I have another question...what is the best icing to write on a cake or cake board? I think I have heard someone say chocolate? Would that be buttercream? My buttercream on the cake board is just okay at best..smudges easily..I am looking for something with a more polished look. How would I achieve that look? Thanks so much in advance!!
I have the same exact problem as the one posted by Coreen Mora in April. Sadly I don't see a reply to her post. I made this frosting last night and it is completely flavorless and very, very grainy. I'm in desperate need of a quick fix . I volunteer at a school for special needs and will be there tomorrow - I teach a class a decorating cupcakes and need to bring the frosting tomorrow - the girls are going to be decorating approx. 350 cupcakes for sale, but can't let them use this frosting. HELP. FYI, where I live cannot get hi ratio shortening, nor can i order online, international shipping would put me in debt. We have a store that caters to our small international community and carries items such as Crisco (can you believe it?) which is what I used..followed recipe to the T
Hi Max, I'm sorry that you are having an issue with the buttercream being grainy. BeBe and our member, Terri Tate, had a conversation about this about a week ago (June 3) - I'm pasting below, and I hope that this helps you too. If you are making this again, you can reduce the amount of sugar based on your consistency preference. As for the flavor, adjust the vanilla/flavoring amounts to your liking. The tradeoff of using shortening in place of butter is that you do lose some of the flavor that the butter normally provides. You may prefer our Classic Vanilla Buttercream which has the benefit of the flavor from the additional butter. :
BeBe June 3, 2016 at 2:08 pm • Edit
Hi Terri, I am sorry you are still having the problem. My brand of confectioners sugar is Dominos. Recently I brought Dixie Crystals brand, also a pure cane sugar and my buttercream was grainy. I went back to Dominos and it was not grainy, so now I am stumped by that. Are you creaming the butter, shortening and flavorings until smooth and very creamy with no lumps of butter? After gradually adding the powdered sugar, you may need to beat longer than 8 minutes. If you are using a hand mixer, you will need to beat longer. Test to see if it is grainy, if so beat a bit longer. Let me know how it goes.
Terri Tate June 3, 2016 at 3:34 pm • Edit
Hi BeBe, I adhered to your advice and it turned out wonderful! I was not creaming the butter and other ingredients…I just mixed them with the milk and confectioners sugar. ..what a difference! Thanks BeBe! You saved me!!!!!
My buttercream has also come out grainy with this recipe before. The last time I made it I put my shortening in the fridge about a day before I made it and it came out beautiful and was not grainy at all. My butter was room temp, but since shortening is easily creamed I decided to refrigerate that and it came out so much better. Hope this helps someone! Also, I do not overwhip my butter and shortening I cream it until just combined- I have noticed this will create an airy buttercream and I, myself do not like working with it like that. It's everyone's own preference, just thought I'd share!
That is really interesting about the chilled shortening, Valerie. I've never heard of that before but I appreciate the feedback! Figuring out why a recipe misbehaves for some and not for others can be a puzzle. Every little bit of input helps!
Hi BeeBee! I absolutely love the pink top with bow and ruffle bottom tiered cake. I wondered (I looked), it you might have a white chocolate buttercream recipe....or something without crisco/hi ratio shortening??? Thanks.
Hi Lisabeth, Thank you for the nice compliment on the cake. I'm sorry that we do not have a white chocolate buttercream, we need to post one. We have the Classic Buttercream recipe that is an all butter buttercream, here is a link, https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes-tutorials/classic-vanilla-buttercream/. Also the Cream Cheese recipe has no Crisco/hi ratio.
Hi all, I was wondering if you sift your confectioners sugar when making the fluffy, or any, of your buttercreams? And if you do, are the amounts used before or after sifting. Thanks so much!