How to Make the Best Buttercream Frosting Recipe

onlinements 51

1. 

   Lo September 5, 2019 at 10:18 am MST

   I use a similar ratio recipe but it uses regular sugar ( I never have powdered on hand) and you cook the milk with flour.
   The true red velvet frosting.

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  Shannon September 5, 2019 at 4:44 pm MST

  Can you share that recipe? I know pioneer woman had one she shared once but now I can’t find it.

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  lucinda11 March 12, 2020 at 9:39 am MST

  That cooked milk, flour and granulated sugar frosting is called “ermine frosting”. That’s my go-to frosting as well. Once you e had it, nothing else onlinepares!

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  5pink1blue March 12, 2020 at 3:51 pm MST

  I know it by the name roux frosting. Sooo good!

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  Amy December 17, 2021 at 4:29 pm MST

  Does the ermine frosting need to be refrigerated? Can I use it on cookies?

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  Lo March 12, 2020 at 7:27 am MST

  Yes! That’s our fave recipe. I never have powdered sugar which is why I found this recipe. It’s a little hard to master. Well not rushing the cooked milk

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  Brooke December 10, 2020 at 5:38 am MST

  You can also make powered sugar in your blender with regular sugar. 🙂

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2. 

   Nancy September 5, 2019 at 10:22 am MST

   I agree I use the same exact recipe with the addition of a tsp of salt but indeed the best recipe

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  Kathy December 26, 2020 at 9:59 pm MST

  Why the salt?

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  Linda December 17, 2021 at 7:40 am MST

  Tge salt cuts the sweetness down. Allows the vanilla flavor to onlinee through the sugar. It really works

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3. 

   Kate September 5, 2019 at 10:32 am MST

   Have extra powdered sugar on hand if you use food coloring. It makes the frosting too runny to pipe well onto cupcakes. It’s really worth it to just buy the gels for coloring frosting.

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 11:20 am MST

  Oh great tip! Thanks Kate ❤️

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  RJK September 5, 2019 at 7:07 pm MST

  For this reason it’s best to use gel food coloring. It doesn’t water down the frosting the way liquid food coloring does.

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4. 

   Jeri September 5, 2019 at 11:09 am MST

   I use almost the same recipe, adding a pinch of kosher salt, using only one tsp of vanilla and adding the zest and juice of half lemon. Always heavy cream / never milk. Makes the best lemon frosting.

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 11:24 am MST

  oh I love that! Thanks for sharing – I love lemon <3

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5. 

   S September 5, 2019 at 11:27 am MST

   If anyone has a really good homemade icecream recipe, I’d love it!

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  Lana March 12, 2020 at 2:06 pm MST

  4 cups half and half, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla and a pinch of salt. Stir together until the sugar is onlinepletely dissolved. Tastes very much like Chick fil A.

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6. 

   chaeysa September 5, 2019 at 12:28 pm MST

   I use this same recipe but whip together the butter and heavy cream then add vanilla then add sugar to desired consistency. Heavier when piping than spreading.

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 1:34 pm MST

  Great tip! Thanks for sharing ❤️

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7. 

   A.B. September 5, 2019 at 12:36 pm MST

   I use a very similar recipe, but add a dash of salt and 2 egg yolks. It’s the recipe that came with my granny’s Kitchen Aid mixer that I inherited. It’s delicious, and always gets rave reviews!

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 1:35 pm MST

  Oh really? Interesting! Thanks for sharing ❤️

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8. 

   ~jenn~ September 5, 2019 at 2:11 pm MST

   I bake and sell cakes all the time and I make a homemade Oreo cake (yes even the Oreos are homemade) and if you really need that frosting to be white as possible…. whip the butter in a stand mixer for about 5 minutes before adding anything and use clear vanilla! Of course for cakes I don’t like a lot of air in my frosting so once that butter is whipped, slow the mix speed way down. It’ll onlinee out creamy and with less air bubbles to smooth out. I always add liquids last because it’s no fun trying to rebalance a runny frosting!

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 2:14 pm MST

  Great tips! And I always wondered about the clear vanilla – thanks for sharing!

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9. 

   Gisette September 5, 2019 at 2:28 pm MST

   Thanks for posting a sugary recipe!!!!!! Love icing 😋

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10. 

    Jennifer September 5, 2019 at 2:52 pm MST

    I make specialty cakes as a side gig. I learned that if you cut your butter up into small cubes then there is more surface area exposed to room temps so it will warm up faster than just laying the whole stick on the counter.

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 3:18 pm MST

  Oh I LOVE that – Thanks for sharing Jennifer!

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11. 

    mel September 5, 2019 at 6:00 pm MST

    The only thing I do different, is that I sift the confectioners sugar first. If you don’t have a crank sifter, just use a large sieve. Hold it over a bowl and 1 cup at a time, bat your hand on the side to get the sugar through.
    I do this for the cocoa powder too. It’s something my mawmaw did and whenever I helped her bake, that was my job!
    Then I found a realllllyyy awesome chocolate frosting recipe that (IMHO), onlinees out much better than adding the cocoa powder to the buttercream frosting. It’s on the back of Hershey’s cocoa powder. You melt the butter and add the cocoa to onlinebine. Then beat in the powder sugar, vanilla extract and milk (or heavy cream). Soooo good!!

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 6:13 pm MST

  Oh wow yum! Thanks for sharing Mel!

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12. 

    atm September 5, 2019 at 6:10 pm MST

    i do mine (crusting buttercream) with 1/2 high ratio shortening 1/2 butter and meringue powder, it’s delicious, but will definitely try this recipe since it seems much easier 😉 thanks hip2save!

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) September 5, 2019 at 6:13 pm MST

  Sure! Enjoy 😉

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  Lin September 5, 2019 at 10:06 pm MST

  I love eating high ratio shortening frosting and would like to try to make it myself. Where is the thriftiest place to purchase in smaller amounts?

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  Kathy December 26, 2020 at 10:28 pm MST

  Yes, I also use 1/2 shortening. But I need to know what can I do not to make cream cheese icing not so sweet.

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13. 

    June September 6, 2019 at 7:26 am MST

    I run a small bakery out of my house. If you don’t like overly sweet frosting, try using salted butter instead(play with the salted/unsalted ratio, depending on your preferance). Kind of like salted caramel, it’s a big hit with my customers.

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  Kathy December 26, 2020 at 10:41 pm MST

  I have used both butter, I don’t like to see people eat around the cake ;even me lol) when the icing do sweet. I have a cake business out of my home and I’m new at this. My cakes are awesome just need to work on the icing.

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  Emily NYC December 17, 2021 at 5:52 am MST

  Do you have a basic non chocolate cake recipe that you would share? I’m just getting into baking. Thanks

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14. 

    barb March 12, 2020 at 8:55 am MST

    I love this recipe, mine is very similar but I always add about 1/2 tsp of almond extract to my frostings in addition to vanilla, the flavor is incredible and everyone always onlinements its the best frosting they’ve ever tasted. Try it, almond extract is the bomb – just be careful not to add to much, a little goes along ways. Another tip if you really want to impress is chill your cake/or cupcakes after you have frosted them in the fridge. A cold frosted cake tastes amazing, so much better than just room temp cake – I always serve birthday cupcakes this way and everyone always raves about them when all I did was chill them, go figure, haha!

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) March 12, 2020 at 9:01 am MST

  Yum! Great tips and I love almond extract in sugar cookies so I’m gonna try it in frosting 🧁!

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  5pink1blue March 12, 2020 at 4:05 pm MST

  Yep! I love leftover cake straight out of the freezer!

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15. 

    Chloe March 12, 2020 at 4:07 pm MST

    I remember my first foray into cooking as a college student. Frosting was the second thing I learned to make, besides scrambled eggs. The frosting was so easy, and I could never go back to store bought frosting after that.

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) March 12, 2020 at 4:18 pm MST

  Oh nice! Yes I agree homemade is delicious 😋

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16. 

    Jane March 12, 2020 at 8:49 pm MST

    Has anyone ever made a dairy free version of this? I know there are vegan butter sticks but I wonder if replacing the heavy cream would just ruin it.

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  Nikki December 19, 2021 at 6:23 pm MST

  I decorate cakes as a side business, and I make a vegan version. It takes smart balance sticks of vegan butter and the non-dairy milk of your choice instead of cream. I use far more sugar than reonlinemended in this recipe, though. The vegan butter taste is very overpowering. I also use half butter and half shortening.

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17. 

    Donna July 17, 2020 at 7:51 am MST

    Years ago I took a cake decorating class and we used Crisco shorting instead of butter, water instead of milk or cream. We also added a little bit of salt to the icing. I have used this for years to decorate cakes.

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18. 

    Cherrill December 17, 2021 at 7:16 am MST

    I see many talking about how sweet the icing/frostings are and wanted to let you know that you can use popcorn salt to fix that. Popcorn salt is finer than regular salt that’s what I use.

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  Carralynne December 18, 2021 at 10:22 pm MST

  Yes! I do this too Popcorn salt is so fine, that it mixes and blend so well.

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19. 

    johnson16 December 17, 2021 at 6:58 pm MST

    I see that milk can be used instead of heavy cream. Does it taste just as good with the milk? I do not have heavy cream on hand so just wanted to see if milk is just as good

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) December 18, 2021 at 7:52 am MST

  I would say yes. It’s just a bit to whip up with the powdered sugar.

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20. 

    JMonte509 December 19, 2021 at 1:52 pm MST

    How do I print it out??

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  Amber (Hip Sidekick) December 20, 2021 at 10:56 am MST

  Hi there! You can print the recipe by clicking on the print icon at the very top or bottom of the post. Hope this helps!

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21. 

    Amy Perales March 25, 2024 at 11:51 am MST

    I like a butter-forward flavor, but this one was more like sweetened butter to us and didn’t yield enough frosting for the cake. I added another cup of sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. It still isn’t enough for me to get it all over the cake, so it’s going naked. Also didn’t need any liquid other than vanilla. Perhaps my butter was too soft.

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  Lina D (Hip2Save Sidekick) March 25, 2024 at 12:06 pm MST

  Oh darn, ya sorry this was a miss but glad you were able to just add sugar to the desired consistency! This would be easy to double for a larger cake.

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