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:
Skinny Chocolate Cake
I love this recipe. Perfect amount of vanilla flavor. I’ve used it a few times and never disappoints. Sometimes I use a little less vanilla and replace that amount with almond extract for an amaretto flavor.
THE BEST BUTTERCREAM seriously! And so easy! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I made cupcakes for my daughters birthday, both funfetti and chocolate. Large enough batch that I added cocoa to the vanilla and turned it into two flavors which made it so much easier. I even had leftover frosting after two full boxes of cupcakes. They were very fluffy. I would prefer a little creamier, but again, a very good solid recipe. I will make this again and added it to my personal favorite pins board.
This is the fluffiest, most yummy buttercream frosting Iโve ever made! Iโve paired it with a Hersheys double layer cake for my daughterโs 11th birthday! Thank you for the recipe!
Umm? perfect????????????
First time making buttercream icing and this was a huge hit!! Even my husband who usually says things are too sweet said it was great.
Going to make it now..
To bad
Hi, I’m English and a lot of frosting recipes require shortening? Which I’m really not sure what it is?
I was grateful there was none in this!
I made a smaller cake and just halved everything, used skimmed milk, and it seems to have worked fine!
Beautiful thank you!
Came out great ! First time I have ever made frosting. This recipe is simple and easy to follow and definitely better than packaged frosting !
Shortening is a solid form of vegetable oil. It leaves a greasy film on the roof of your mouth when used in frosting. This recipe is way better in my opinion, lol
If I ice my cupcakes tonight for a party tomorrow , can I leave out or should I refrigerate?
Hi Jessica! I’d recommend refrigerating them!
Hello I absolutely love this recipe have been using it on all of my cakes and cupcakes thank you so much!! I was just curious if I were to decorate cupcakes about 3-4 days beforehand will they still be okay to eat??
Hi Kyran! So glad you’re loving the buttercream! And yes, they will keep! Just refrigerate them. I actually just used this to make daughter’s birthday cake 3 days ago and we have leftovers in the fridge that are still good.
im making a cake and imma use this frosting. wish me luck!!!
Love this buttercream recipe. I made it yesterday and it was a big hit. Taste and texture were both perfect.
Can i double the recipe for a layered cake? I know it might seem like a lot of buttercream frosting, but its a 4 layer cake.
Sure!
Amazing thank you
After making this I felt like it was far too sweet, and my family who taste tested it for me agreed (and they love frosting). was I doing it wrong or is that just how buttercream frosting is supposed to taste?
Buttercream is easy to tell apart from other frostings, due to the amount of sweetness you taste when you eat it, no surprise as it is basically all sugar. However, some do cross the line. A perfect buttercream should have a sweet taste but the cake should be able to balance it out. I recommend using vanilla buttercream on chocolate cake because the richness of the chocolate should be able to balance the amount of butter and sugar from the buttercream. To finish your question off, buttercream is very sugary, however when eating it, you should still get the distinct taste of the vanilla and not as much taste of butter.
This is my go to frosting, except I add 1/2 t. almond extract and 1/2 t. salt to cut the sweetness. The kids say it’s like eating ice cream. That heavy cream is fire!