Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (also called American Buttercream) is my go-to frosting recipe for cakes and cupcakes; it's simple and delicious.

Note: Find the full recipe for Classic Vanilla Buttercream at the bottom of this post.

I'm baaackkkk! Well, almost. If you hadn't noticed, I have been a bit of a stranger to my blog over the last few months. That's because we moved to a new house and decided to do a complete kitchen renovation. And subsequently, I've been without a full kitchen for almost 3 months. But the good news is, it's finished! Whew! That was really hard for me, since I LOVE baking.

My new kitchen is so nice and I can't wait to show you pictures. Stay tuned. That will be another blog post in the very near future. I want to show you all the before and after photos too. But first, let's talk about FROSTING!

Many Uses for this perfect buttercream!

I've been wanting to do a blog post on my favorite frosting for the longest time. Of course, you might have already seen it paired with some of my most popular recipes like Baseball Cupcakes or Red Velvet Cupcakes or my famous Ugly Sweater Cake. My Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is the one I make the most of all my icing recipes. It's like old faithful. I can really depend on it coming out perfect every time and it's only 4 ingredients!

The key to making Classic Vanilla Buttercream

The main ingredient, of course, is butter. Plus, lots of powdered sugar, a little cream and some vanilla extract. The real key to this recipe is to start with room temperature butter, then beat it with an electric mixer for 3 minutes. This is an important step. The butter changes in those 3 minutes. It gets light and fluffy.

I always use my KitchenAid Mixer to make all of my frosting recipes. Here's the one I have (affiliate):
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You could also use a hand held mixer like this one:
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How to make classic vanilla buttercream frosting

This is just an overview, scroll down for the full recipe.

Place room temperature butter in a large bowl, beat it with an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
Then you gradually add the powdered sugar, cream and vanilla.
Once that is completely combined, turn up the mixer and beat again for 3 minutes. That's it! You're done.

The frosting is ready to use. It's perfect for cupcakes. This recipe is enough for 12-18 cupcakes, depending on how high you pipe it. Pour the frosting into a large pastry bag fitted with your favorite pastry tip. I used a large star tip, a French star and a round tip on the cupcakes in the above photo to show you all the different looks you can get. In the above photo, starting from the left, the first two cupcakes have frosting piped with a large star pastry tip (1M). The next two cupcakes have frosting piped with a French star pastry tip. And for the last two cupcakes, I used a large round pastry tip.

I've included some links to the tools I used to decorate these cupcakes. First, I scooped the Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting into these Wilton Pastry Bags, fitted with the pastry tips below (affiliate):
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Here is a set of pastry tips that includes all of the ones I used:
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You could also use this Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting for a cake. It's enough to frost a 8-inch or 9-inch round layer cake.

More TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

Kitchenaid Mixer

Ateco Disposable Pastry Bags - 18-inch (Box of 100)

Wilton 1M Pastry Tip (Set of 2 - it's the one I used for the cupcake in the first photo)

Chefmaster Food Coloring Gel in Rose Pink (If you want to color your buttercream)

Non-Stick Muffin Baking Pan - Set of 2

One yellow cake cupcake with a swirl of vanilla frosting and sprinkles on top.

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (also called American Buttercream) is my go-to frosting recipe for cakes and cupcakes; it's simple and delicious.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Baking, Dessert, DIY, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 20

Mix Time: 6

Servings: servings

Calories: 155kcal

Author: Lise Sullivan Ode

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
▢ 4 cups powdered sugar or 16 ounces
▢ ¼ cup heavy whipping cream or 3 tablespoons milk
▢ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric mixer or stand mixer. Beat for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Add powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Note: If the frosting is too thick, you can add a little more cream. Just add one tablespoon at a time, then mix thoroughly until you get the consistency you like.
Now it's ready for filling and frosting your cake. Or you can use it to decorate cupcakes. You will have enough frosting for an 8-inch round two layer cake (filled and frosted) or 24 cupcakes.

Notes

If you don't have heavy cream, you can use milk or water instead. If using milk or water, I would try 3 tablespoons instead of ¼ cup. If it's too thick, add another tablespoon.

Nutrition

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Comments

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)