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 was asked to make a zebra print cake. My question is: Can I use this instead if fondant to cover my cake? The black will be fondant but I'm not used to working with fondant enough to cover a whole cake yet.
hi i am new to your site and it is really inspiring love it i live in the uk what can i use instead of crisco or what is vegetable shortening many thanks
Hi Denise, we have been told that in the UK the product you can use instead of Crisco is Trex. A vegetable shortening such as Crisco is made from soybean oil and other hydrogenated oil that remains solid at room temperature.
Hi iPopCakes, yes, this would be fine to use for a zebra print cake.
Have you seen Melissa's video of a Zebra Print Cake? Here is a link
Hello! I was wondering if you have ever tried Torani or DaVinci coffee flavoring syrups in place of the liquid for a different flavor? I have heard of people substituting them for milk or water but wasn't sure if it was possible. Thank you!
Hi Nicole, yes you can use either of those to flavor your buttercream. I would just be careful not to add too much. I would reduce the amount of milk or water, add your Torani or coffee flavoring a bit at a time until you achieve the flavor you like......then add more milk or water (whichever you use in your recipe) to achieve the consistency you like your buttercream to be.
Thank you so much, Bebe! I will definitely give it a try!
Hello Melissa and BeBe, I used this recipe for the first time today (has been using the Wilton recipe) and it was very good, but I found that my frosting did not crust. It was very soft after sitting on my cake after 30 minutes. I usually use the hot knife and viva methods to smooth my cakes but I was not able to because the frosting kept sticking. Do I need to let the frosting sit longer or did I miss something?
Hi, was your cake at room temperature when you put on the frosting? If your cake was cold it would take a very, very long time (hours) to crust. When using a crusting buttercream it is best to have the cake at room temperature.
Let me know.
Thank you...Yes, I am still in the learning phase so I freeze my cakes, take them out, level, and then frost. I will try letting it sit for a while on my next cake!! The frosting got rave reviews so I definitely want to make this my go to recipe;)
Hi L cressel, the next time your buttercream will crust perfectly:)
Hi! I am fairly new to using buttercream. I think I went about it backwards because I have much better luck with fondant. I am having a lot of trouble with getting my frosting to crust. I let my cake come to room temperature, but it never did crust very firmly. I am using walmart brand shortening. Could that be my problem? I love the flavor!