This is my recipe for a classic Vanilla Buttercream. Simple to make, it’s beautiful creamy, fluffy and suitable for frosting, layering and piping! It’s absolutely dreamy on a soft buttery Vanilla Cake, or on Vanilla Cupcakes.
Vanilla Buttercream
Let’s face it – a cake without frosting is like a party without music …… it’s just not as fun! 😅
And of all the frostings in the world, I feel like Vanilla Buttercream is the most classic that every cake maker needs. It’s creamy, fluffy and easy to make and easy to work with. It spreads smoothly, pipes beautifully, and works for everything from simple cupcakes to tall layer cakes, making it a great all-rounder for both everyday bakes and special occasions.
🧁Sweetness note!🧁
Buttercream is meant to be sweet and rich, you can’t reduce the sugar or butter without affecting the result. If you want something lighter, use my Secret Less-Sweet Fluffy Vanilla Frosting instead – same fluffy texture, with about 70% less sugar. That is the frosting I use when I want cupcakes with tall swirls of frosting as I find buttercream too rich used in large volumes.
Ingredients for Vanilla Buttercream
Here’s all you need to make Vanilla Buttercream.
Unsalted butter – I only use 100g / 7 tbsp butter in this frosting, a tiny amount compared to buttercream. It adds a bit of richness to the frosting so it’s not too fluffy and aerated like whipped cream. Make sure it is softened to room temperature so it whips up easily.
Soft icing sugar (powdered sugar) – This is used to add a little sweetness to the frosting. We only use 2 cups (250g) which is significantly less than the 1kg / 8 cups that would be used if we were making the same volume of buttercream frosting.
🇦🇺 In Australia, use soft icing sugar, not pure icing sugar (that one’s for things like royal icing, which sets hard).
Vanilla extract – Use vanilla extract for better flavour rather than imitation vanilla essence which is artificial. If you want little vanilla bean specks and even better vanilla flavour (like pictured in the top photo), use vanilla bean paste!
Salt – To bring out the flavour of the vanilla and butter. Just a touch!
Milk or cream – If needed, just to loosen it a touch to make it softly spreadable. I usually only need it on cold days, when the buttercream is a little stiffer because of the cooler air temperature.
How to make Vanilla Buttercream
Note: The video and step photos incorrectly show me using the whisk attachment rather than paddle attachment! Oops. 🙂 I will replace shortly! A paddle attachment is better because it doesn’t create as many air bubbles in the buttercream so it looks smooth and creamy.
If using a handheld beater, you don’t need to worry about this as they are not as powerful as stand mixers.
Cream butter – Using the paddle attachment for a stand mixer or a handheld beater, beat the softer butter for 3 minutes on high until it changes from yellow to almost white, and it becomes fluffy and creamy. This step is key not only for creamy fluffy texture, but also so the buttercream is not too yellow.
Add icing sugar / powdered sugar gradually in 3 lots, beating slowly to avoid a powder storm!
Beat 3 minutes on high – Then once the icing sugar is mostly incorporated, beat on high for a full 3 minutes until the buttercream is beautifully fluffy and creamy.
Finish – Add the vanilla, salt and milk only if needed to make it lovely and soft but still holds its form (eg for piping). If you want to tint the colour, add food colouring at this stage too. Then give it a quick beat for 30 seconds to incorporate and your frosting is ready to use!
Use immediately to frost on cooled cakes and cupcakes!
What to use Vanilla Buttercream Frosting for
Vanilla is the ultimate all-rounder flavour so you can use this frosting for any flavoured cake, cupcake, sheet cakes or to sandwich biscuits. It’s sturdy enough for piping delicate borders, rosettes and decorations, and to make a 100% smooth frosting surface on a cake, but soft enough to smear casually with a spatula for beautiful swirls.
For me though, I especially love vanilla buttercream with a beautiful soft Vanilla Cake (pictured in post) or on Vanilla Cupcakes (pictured above). The double vanilla hit is just divine – simple, classic, and never gets old! – Nagi x
Vanilla buttercream FAQ
Buttercream is perfect for making ahead, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature and mix on low before using to re-fluff to freshly-made-perfection.
Once frosted, keep the cake in the fridge or in a cool pantry.
If you beat too much or you use the whisk instead of paddle attachment, the buttercream can become so aerated it has visible air bubbles in it instead of being 100% smooth. To be honest, this doesn’t overly bother me most of the time (and in fact, I like the filling inside cakes to be super fluffy) but sometimes you want a silky smooth finish on your cakes.
So if you want to remove the bubbles, you can do one to these:
Stick blender – Just blitz, moving it around to get it all through the frosting, and this will remove all the air bubbles leaving behind a smooth frosting.
Hot knife – Run your offset spatula or knife under warm tap water then use that to spread across the surface. This will lightly “melt” the frosting and make it smooth.
Buttercream naturally has a faint off-white tint because butter is yellow and vanilla extract adds a touch of brown. Beating the butter longer helps lighten the colour, and using paler butters (like Lurpak) can make a difference too. But if you want a truly bright white finish, a small amount of white food colouring is the only way to get it there. This is one I use.
Note: Clear vanilla does exist and this too would help make the buttercream whiter without using food colouring. But the ones I’ve found are imitation essence rather than extract, so the flavour isn’t as good so I haven’t tried clear vanilla yet.
Yes, it should be but as a precaution it is best to check the icing sugar / powdered sugar you’re using to ensure no gluten has been snuck in there!
Tablespoon and cup sizes differ slightly from country to country. In most recipes, the difference is not enough to affect the outcome of the recipe, but for baking recipes, you do need to be careful. This recipe works fine using cup measures in any country, except Japan – please use weights (click Metric toggle button above ingredients).
Watch how to make it
Find 10 different flavours for buttercream in my cookbook Dinner (page 308!).
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Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 250g / 2 sticks unsalted butter , softened
- 500g / 1 lb soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , SIFTED (Note 1)
- 3 tsp vanilla extract or upgrade to vanilla bean paste
- 2 – 4 tbsp milk or cream, to adjust thickness, if needed
Instructions
- Cream butter – Beat butter with paddle attachment in stand mixer for 3 minutes on high until it changes from yellow to almost white, and it becomes fluffy and creamy. (Note 2)
- Add icing sugar / powdered sugar gradually in 3 lots, beating slowly (to avoid a powder storm!) then once mostly incorporated, beat on high for a full 3 minutes until fluffy.
- Finish – Add vanilla and milk, then beat for a further 30 seconds. Use milk only if needed to make it lovely and soft but still holds its form (eg for piping). Use immediately to frost on cooled cakes and cupcakes! I especially love vanilla buttercream with a beautiful soft Vanilla Cake (pictured in post) or on Vanilla Cupcakes.
Pro tips
- Remove unsightly air bubbles – Use a stick blender! Just blitz it around the bowl and watch the bubbles disappear. 🙂
- Make it pure white – Vanilla buttercream is not pure white because of the butter and vanilla extract (which is brown). To make it pure white (like wedding cake white!) use a white food colouring (like this one). To make it whiter without using colouring, use a pale yellow butter (like Lurpak). You can also use a clear vanilla extract if you can find a good one which I have yet to find (most are imitation essence).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
I have no idea how that frosting got there. 😇
