Classic American Buttercream Recipe

Nila Jones
Classic American Buttercream Recipe
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  • Yield:Makes about 2 cups of buttercream, enough to generously frost 8 cupcakes
  • Active time:8 minutes
  • Total time:8 minutes
This recipe appears in:
The World of Buttercreams: 6 Varieties to Try at Home

Classic American buttercream. [Photograph: Nila Jones]

This classic American buttercream is deliciously creamy, super sweet, and incredibly fluffy, and one of the easiest buttercreams to master. It's just a matter of beating softened butter until it's fluffy, adding powdered sugar, cream and a little vanilla and whipping it all together. No cooking required! It has a pale, ivory color and it's a bit firmer than most other buttercreams, because of its high butter content. This also means that it doesn't hold up very well in warmer temperatures, because the fat in the butter will melt.

About the Author: Nila Jones is a gutsy home baker-turned-blogger who secretly prefers cake batter over cake and who has made it her personal goal to demystify so-called difficult recipes so that everyone, even the most ignorant novice baker, can bake like a master. Make sure to check out her blog The Tough Cookie for more amazing recipes!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch of fine table salt

Directions

  1. 1.

    Add the butter to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk or paddle, or a medium mixing bowl if using a handheld mixer. Beat butter at medium speed until creamy, smooth, and lightened in color, about 2 minutes.

  2. 2.

    Add sugar, cream, vanilla, and salt and mix at low speed until somewhat incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until buttercream is smooth and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. (If the buttercream is too thick, add a little more cream, if it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar.)

  3. 3.

    Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container or a zipper-lock bag for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months. To use buttercream that has either been refrigerated or frozen, first allow to come to room temperature then beat until smooth and spreadable again. Cakes or cupcakes decorated with buttercream generally keep for up to 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Serve buttercream at room temperature.

Nila Jones
Contributor

Nila Jones is a gutsy home baker-turned-blogger who secretly prefers cake batter over cake and who has made it her personal goal to demystify so-called difficult recipes so that everyone, even the most ignorant novice baker, can bake like a master baker. Make sure to check out her blog The Tough Cookie for more amazing recipes!

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