The Best Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
This is The Best Vanilla Buttercream Frosting! It’s rich and creamy, and is super easy to whip up. It pipes beautifully, and is the perfect way to finish off all of your cakes and cupcakes!
We celebrated our daughter’s fifth birthday last week and even as I type this, I find myself still sitting here in a state of denial!
It seems like just yesterday I was sharing a tutorial on how to make her 1st birthday smash cake. But in reality, it was actually FOUR years ago!!!
When people say “the days are long but the years are short,” that is the absolute truth. I sure wish time would slow down with these babies of mine.
Our princess’s request for her birthday cake was a “pink cake with a ballerina on top.”
I was able to provide the pink frosting just fine, but after realizing my construction efforts are pretty subpar, I turned to Etsy for a ballerina cake topper. Which was GORGEOUS by the way! If you’re interested, this is the one I ordered.
As for the frosting, I made this one (and dyed it pink). This is my go-to frosting recipe, and in my opinion, is The BEST Vanilla Buttercream Frosting ever!
I’ve been making it for AGES so I’m surprised I haven’t shared it before!
I have another recipe for buttercream here on my site that I use a lot as well, but this one right here is my favorite because it doesn’t require shortening, and it’s SO SO delicious!
I add plenty of vanilla to give it really good flavor and it pipes onto cakes and cupcakes so well, and holds its shape beautifully! I think y’all are really going to love it!
If you share this Vanilla Buttercream Frosting or any other recipe from my site on Instagram, tag #belleofthekitchen so I can see what you’ve made! And follow me @thebelleofthekitchen, too!
Recipe: The Best Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks),, softened
- 4.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 4-5 Tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
Instructions
- Beat the softened butter over medium speed with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Continue to beat over medium speed as you gradually add the powdered sugar. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to fully incorporate all of the sugar.
- Once butter and sugar have come together, add the vanilla. Beat in the heavy cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. This frosting is perfect for piping, or for simply spreading onto cakes and cupcakes!
Notes
If you like this recipe for The Best Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, then you might also like:
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Which one is better to use I have both whole milk and heavy cream
nice
This looks like a great and easy frosting recipe. Can I freeze after decorating the cupcakes?
I use this recipe all the time to make my family’s special occasion cakes and get so many compliments on it! Thank you for sharing this recipe with me & my family. We’ve enjoyed it for many special celebrations and plan to use it for many more to come!
Is this too sweet? Can i reduce powder sugar? I am just starting to bake thanks
I thought it was a little too sweet and I used 4 cups of sugar. It depends on what you prefer.
This is right! You should not reduce the sugar but if you are still wary you can add in the sugar gradually. Most of the time the more sugar you add does not make it overly sweet! So I recommend using the amount of sugar stated in the recipie, sorry I replied late hopefully this helps in the future.
I made this recipe and I thought it was delicious! I used her exact measurements (except I precisely only made half because I had a small cake). It wasn’t too sweet. While I am sure you could use less powdered sugar, I would tread lightly because it also contributes to getting the correct consistency. if you use the same amount of butter/milk/etc. with less powdered sugar, it might be too liquidy
I’m going to make this recipe tomorrow but 4.5 cups of powdered sugar sounds excessive. Is this right? The video shows spoons going into the mixer.
That’s correct!
This buttercream frosting is the best. My cake with this frosting was a big hit with my family!! Easy to make too!! Thank you.
These look SO good! I LOVE buttercream!
This Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is sooo mouthwatering! This will be perfect for my cupcakes and cakes.
I wish I could eat it by the spoonful right now it looks so good!
I love buttercream frosting. This looks so delicious. I’ll be trying it!
Tastes 100x better than the store bought stuff. Also easy enough for a guy to make!
This was awesome!
We used it with choclate cake!
Totally!😝
This was very good! But for some reason it started melting? That might be that i added to much milk.
Sooo good great for my grandma’s cake
Can you make this frosting the night before and store in the fridge for the next day?
Yes!