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 and Bebe,
I LOVE the site, thank you soooo much, I am going to have soooo much fun practicing all the techiniques.
I normally use only all vegetable shortening for my buttercream, since I live in Costa Rica (small country in Central America) its really humid here , so I dont use milk in the BC only water.
The issue that am having is that the BC does not crust even if I let it out for an hour on my counter top (actually if its hot and humid outside it starts melting off the cake :<), and when I let it set in the fridge it gets hard but when I try the Viva towel method the BC ends up in the towel instead of the cake.
Any advice???
Thank you sooo much :)
Thank you sooo much
Again, love this site!!! What would be the best way to achieve an ivory colored frosting? Any ideas would be appreciated!
Nevermind! I just realized I could order Ivory gel. I hadn't ever seen it before! Thanks anyway!
@Lonnie--Yes, ivory coloring gel (we happen to have Americolor brand). Also, if you use real vanilla extract rather than clear, it also gives your buttercream an ivory tint.
@Su--I'm not sure if this would apply to you, but are you spreading on the final coat of frosting while the cake is still cold? If so, this has a huge effect on the buttercream's ability to crust. At least, it takes much, much longer. I often crumb coat my cakes when they are partially frozen, but then I let them settle for several hours and allow them to reach room temperature before applying the final coat. If you want to skip the crumb coat, then definitely wait until the cake is at room temp before frosting (assuming that you want the icing to crust).
Also, for many years I used the "hot knife method" exclusively. You may want to experiment with chilling your cakes and then applying your frosting with a very hot spatula. Then, you can just keep your cakes in the fridge on extremely hot days. I'll let you know if I find any other tips for you!
Fondant over a thin coat of shortening-based buttercream is also a good option for very hot conditions.
Thanks I've learned so much. Can't wait to try your BC using hi ratio shortening. I'm from Louisiana so where can I purchase it locally.
where do I find high ratio shortening?? This isnt a grocery store thing is it?? ugh....
I've been on a quest for months to find it locally and I have yet to find it. I hate to order it on line because of shipping costs. Just had to vent. Any online suppliers you'd recommend?
Hello Melissa and Bebe,
I just joined the site last week and have learned so much...you both are very good at explaining everything in such detail. Thanks for sharing all of your expertise and tips!
Michaela
Hi Michaela, thanks for posting your nice comment. I'm happy you are enjoying the site.
Hi Brenda and Lauren, under the Fluffy Hi Ratio Buttercream recipe (it's the first recipe under frostings), there are 3 comments about where members have found Hi Ratio Shortening. They are posted by Elizabeth, Chris, Tina and one from me also, I think.
Does this buttercream need to be refrigerated?
Sorry I didn't see the link that let me see the first 100 comments and how you had already address if this needed to be refrigerated. It's Monday here and I wanted to make this batch ahead of time for a cake on Friday. I guess I could make it, then freeze it but I'm already competing with regular food in the freeze/fridge (smile).