Happy mistakes. Today I made a happy, happy mistake. Whipped Vanilla Buttercream was the result! If you like this recipe you will also like my traditional American Buttercream Frosting.
Vanilla Buttercream
I walked away from my stand mixer while making buttercream. I walked over to my computer to check an ingredient and got sucked into a facebook rabbit hole of opinions and drama and insanity. Please tell me I am not the only one who does this?!
And seven minutes later I realized my mixer was furiously whipping butter and sugar into an awesomely light and sweet frosting.
I mean, I know I did not invent this technique. (Heck, I have done it before with whipped chocolate buttercream!) Everyone and their grandma (literally, my great-grandma did this, only by HAND) has done it. But I do not have a whipped vanilla buttercream recipe on my blog so HERE YOU GO.
Back to this awesome little treat!
I will be sharing the recipe for that beautiful pink velvet cupcake tomorrow… as I loved it SO much that I immediately made it into a layer cake. Because that is what I do. #iamcakemaker
Today is all about that whipped frosting amazingness.
How to Make Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
Having your butter and milk at room temperature helps greatly.
Substituting whipping cream for milk is a great idea, but not necessary if you get the butter whipped up nicely. (I do not recommend skim milk in this recipe.)
I have seen this recipe as a “quick one-bowl” recipe. To do this simply add all ingredients into the stand mixer then combine on low for one minute. After ingredients are incorporated, turn mixer to high and leave it for 5 minutes. This yields very similar results!
You can definitely leave out the almond extract if that is not your preference, but PLEASE try it once before deciding. If you have a nut allergy simply use Imitation Almond Extract. (You do not need to add more vanilla to compensate.) But do experiment with other extract flavors! Like coffee or root beer or lemon or orange!
And yes, yes you can decrease the sugar content if you want. I have seen it as low as 2 cups. Start with two and then taste test along the way to determine your ideal flavor and texture.
Pink Velvet Cupcakes are made from this Pink Velvet Cake Recipe!
Here is a PRO-TIP from a high-end Bakery owner:
If you want your buttercream even smoother, put it into the food processor! Right after you have followed the recipe directions above (using a stand-mixer) put the frosting into the food processor and process on low speed for about 5 minutes. It creates a SILK-like texture that is perfection!
Not only is this whipped buttercream one of the best tasting I have ever had, but it is PERFECT for piping!!
I tinted this frosting turquoise for a fun piping experiment:
Here is an amazing PRO-TIP on how to get WHITE frosting:
Use pale butter. Quite frankly, this often equates to the most inexpensive butter, which works for me. 😉
Use clear imitation vanilla extract.
And here is the tip that just might rock your world...
try adding the TINIEST amount of purple food color. A VERY small amount.
Here is the video where Cakes by Raewyn describes how to do this!! Trust me, it’s LIFE CHANGING!!! When you do this you don’t have to worry about the color of your butter or extract.
Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 226g) butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Almond Extract
- 32 oz confectioners sugar, sifted*
- 2 tablespoons whole milk, you can use up to 1/2 cup if you need a loose, creamy consistency
- pinch salt
- *You can use as little as 16 ounces if you want to decrease sugar
Instructions
- Beat butter in bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. (about 3 minutes)
- Add vanilla and almond extract.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add in confectioners sugar , milk, and salt; frequently scrape sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Once incorporated, whip frosting for at least 3 minutes on medium high to high. (My mixer went for 7 minutes)
- If frosting is too thick to spread, gradually beat in additional milk.
- Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
How is it your frosting is white in color and mine is butter yellow, which I really dislike. Can you possibly tell me also how to make this delicious frosting less sweet.
Could be the color of your butter. I use a pale butter. You can certainly use less sugar. Start with one cup and taste test from there.
What brand is pale butter?
I find the longer l mix the butter without any other ingredient the lighter it becomes
Add a pin prickly of Violet gel colour and beat longer. I do about ten mins
Whip it for longer the more air incorporated the whiter it gets, with butter it will never be perfectly white but you can add white gel coloring to brighten it up
Cheap butter
I use white vanilla, not caramel colored.
Add the tiniest bit (like the tip of a toothpick) of purple food coloring, it removes the yellow color.
how many cupcakes will this frost?
Depends on the technique you use and amount of frosting on each cupcake.
If I am piping frosting on, approximately how many will it frost? 12? 10? 24?
It depends on what style of piping you are doing! If it is a small dollop, you can easily do 24, if it is a mile-high rose (yay!) you can do closer to 12. 🙂
How many cups does this recipe yield?
This is my new go-to buttercream. Love the flavor the almond extract adds!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Hi
I am in need of a cake saver that is tall enough to store and display 3 layer tall frosted cakes.
Can you offer some suggestions and dementions to check .
Thank you
love love love to watch you bake and decorate!!!
Hi
This is Johnnie May Moss and I found a tall glass cake saver at Macy’s. Glass dome , tall with white cake stand. I believe it is a Martha Stuart brand. $122 reg. without sale price or discounts. I paid $60. As lucked out on sale with additional coupon. I think it is Simply yet beautiful .
Use a clear storage bin and flip in so the base of the cake is on the lid.
Hi Amanda,
I love this and whipped chocolate butter cream. The frosting is light and fluffy.Delicious! I have a question about it, since it’s summer out this butter cream melts down because of humidity. How can I prevent from melt? Let me know as soon because I’m planning use this recipe again for first birthday smash cake. Thank you!
Happy Baking 🙂
I absolutely loved this recipe. The only thing I would change in the future is the sugar content… It was WAY too sweet to my liking. I had to recheck the recipe to make sure it was right because it seemed overly sweet! However, it did say in the description that there could be less sugar added so I cannot fault the recipe for that!! I would really suggest adding in the sugar slowly and test tasting along the way until you find your happy place! I did feel that it spread really nicely and dried nicely as well!!
Does the cake and cupcakes have to be refrigerated once frosted or can the be left out and to be eaten within 2-3 days
Hi
I have a question a live in Panama with a very crazy tropical weather and i try your recipe but due to the weather it mealted … can I use some shorting to give them the firm aspect ?
Thanks for your time , love your page and ur live videos
Xoxo from Panama
While it will change the recipe a bit, you could substitute part of the butter with Crisco. I’ve done it for hot summer cupcakes before. 1/2 cup Crisco with one stick butter. Using heavy whipping cream instead of milk also helps get a nice fluffy buttercream.
Hi,
I just got my Russian piping tios. Will the above recipe work for the rose Russian tip? How do i make this buttercream stiff? Should i add more sugar?
Thanks in advance!
Rose M