Vanilla buttercream frosting is soft, sweet, and takes just five minutes to make. You only need 4 ingredients to whip up this creamy classic!
Vanilla buttercream frosting is something every home baker should have in their repertoire. This recipe is foolproof and truly versatile! It’s perfect for cupcakes, cookies, and layered cakes, and you likely have everything on hand. Using only 4 ingredients you already have in your kitchen, this silky and perfectly vanilla buttercream will become your favorite!
If you or someone you love only has eyes for vanilla dessert you should make my restaurant level crème brûlée or this silky and easy vanilla pudding! Maybe you are just a chocolate lover at heart like me, so be sure to make this rich chocolate cheesecake, chocolate mousse or my chocolate buttercream frosting recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Easiest buttercream! Made with 4 ingredients you already have in your kitchen, this easy vanilla buttercream frosting is ready in a pinch!
- Light, fluffy and perfectly sweet. Whipping in heavy cream to the buttercream gives it an extra fluffy and soft texture and keeps it from being overly sweet.
- Perfect base recipe. This is the perfect base to adapt to any flavor. You can adapt it to any flavor you desire and put it on your favorite cakes, cookies, or bars.
Professional Tips for Making Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Sift the confectioners’ sugar. Powdered sugar has the tendency to clump over time. Since the sugar isn’t heated, it is good practice to sift it before adding it to the butter. Some clumps can be stubborn and not come out during mixing.
- Use cold, heavy cream. Cold heavy cream will help you get the fluffiest and most stable vanilla buttercream frosting.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl when mixing. Butter can stick to the bottom and sides of your mixing bowl and not be incorporated properly. Once you frost a cake or pipe it onto cupcakes there will be lumps of butter.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter for baking because you want to control the amount of salt you are adding. In frostings and buttercreams the butter is there for stability. It will firm up when cold, which helps the buttercream support the cake layers or its shape when piped.
- Powdered sugar: Confectioner’s sugar is used in American buttercreams because it is ground finely into a powder. This allows it to create a smooth, silky buttercream without having to be heated.
- Vanilla extract: Pure Vanilla Extract adds a beautiful flavor and, together with the heavy cream, is reminiscent of ice cream. You can also use vanilla bean paste or scraped vanilla beans, the buttercream will then be spotted.
- Heavy cream: Be sure to use full-fat heavy cream, which is sometimes called heavy whipping cream. It will add more flavor and help the buttercream whip up to a perfect consistency. You could substitute whole milk or other milk alternatives but the buttercream won’t whip up as much.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Add food coloring! Use gel food coloring to add vibrant color to your buttercream. American buttercream is perfect for piping flower decorations or making pull-apart cupcake designs. You could also use it for a painted buttercream cake.
- Mix in some flavor. Mix in rainbow sprinkles for a funfetti buttercream that pairs perfectly with my funfetti cake. You could also mix in crushed Oreos for cookies & cream or mini chocolate chips.
- Flavor with extract or alcohol. Use almond or coffee extract. You could even try orange blossom water or with peppermint extract like I did in these peppermint mocha brownies. Add alcohol to taste at the end in addition to the heavy cream. I like brandy, bourbon, Frangelico, Grand Marnier or Amaretto.
- Use jam or dehydrated fruit. Take inspiration from my strawberry cake. You can use strawberry jam or freeze-dried strawberries to flavor this buttercream. You can even use this easy blueberry sauce, just immersion blend the sauce and add it to the buttercream.
How to use Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Use it to frost cupcakes! Fill a piping bag and use this buttercream to top chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, or these lemon cupcakes.
- Topping for bars, brownies, or blondies. What better way is there to elevate your homemade brownies? You could use a strawberry variation on these strawberry brownies or cookies & cream variations on these Oreo brownies. Try replacing the cream cheese frosting on the banana bars with cream cheese frosting.
- Make a layered cake. Layer this vanilla buttercream frosting between moist chocolate cake, coconut cake, classic yellow cake, or moist vanilla cake.
- Pair it with cookies. Use it to sandwich or frost on top of these funfetti cookies, brown sugar cookies, or chewy sugar cookies. And try lemon variations with these lemon cookies.
How to Make Homemade Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Use these instructions to make this silky and easy vanilla buttercream frosting! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Prepare Buttercream Frosting:
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and lightened slightly on medium-high speed.
If your butter is straight from the fridge, cut it into small cubes and place it in the stand mixer bowl. Mix at medium to high speed and heat with a kitchen torch. Keep the torch moving to keep from melting the butter.
Step 2: Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, allowing it to mix in completely before adding the next batch.
Step 3: Once all the sugar has been incorporated add the vanilla and mix on medium speed until light and smooth.
Step 4: Switch to the whisk attachment and add cream while mixing on medium-low speed. Then, increase the speed to high and whisk until light, fluffy, and white.
You can use clear vanilla extract for a whiter frosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the vanilla buttercream in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 month or in the freezer for 3 months. Simply allow it to come to room temperature while mixing on low speed in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Once smooth and light, switch to the whisk attachment and beat until light and fluffy.
This vanilla buttercream is very stable because of the high ratio of sugar in comparison to a Swiss meringue buttercream or Italian meringue buttercream. It stands up nicely in the heat but is the sweetest of all the buttercreams. When sitting at room temperature uncovered, the buttercream will start to form a thin crust on the outside, but the inside will stay soft.
The most common reason for runny or soft buttercream is incorrectly measuring the vanilla extract and heavy cream. I suggest using a kitchen scale to measure out the ingredients.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
vanilla buttercream frosting
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- 6 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup heavy cream, cold
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and lightened slightly on medium-high speed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, allowing it to mix in completely before adding the next batch.
- Once all the sugar has been incorporated add the vanilla and mix on medium speed until light and smooth.
- Switch to the whisk attachment and add cream while mixing on medium-low speed. Then, increase the speed to high and whisk until light, fluffy, and white.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Before You Go
Check out our other cake and cupcake to pair with this buttercream frosting! You should also check out our different frostings, including this decadent chocolate fudge frosting or the silky cream cheese frosting!
