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This is THE original salted buttercream frosting recipe that went viral and has been shared by hundreds of thousands of people – and this recipe has been read tens of millions of times!
Millions Have Enjoyed this Recipe
Millions Have Enjoyed this RecipeThis was my very first viral recipe here on The Kitchen Magpie! If you like this, you should try my Lemon Buttercream Frosting recipe. This recipe is the best thanks to sweet and salty mixing together!
When I first wrote this recipe 9 years ago, no one was using salted butter in their frostings – or at least there weren’t any posted online that I could find.This recipe made it in to my cookbook, that’s how amazing it is! This recipe was one of the first on my website and has been viewed by tens of millions of people over the years! Isn’t that crazy?
This buttercream icing is still is amazing, melt in your mouth, whippy, ultimate swirly cupcake worthy. It was fantastic on the homemade chocolate cake I made to go with it the very first time I whipped it up. The cake was dense and moist, and paired with a light as air buttercream icing… heaven. Angels dancing on your taste buds. I’ve tried it on every cupcake that you can imagine and it’s even amazing on vanilla. Salty vanilla icing on a vanilla cupcake is heaven for vanilla lovers!
Please go and have a read of my Buttercream Icing FAQ which answers a lot of the questions about this recipe asked in the hundreds of comments on this post below!
The most important is How to Fix Broken Buttercream, that’s a whole post in itself!
Frosting Ingredients
There are four basic ingredients for this buttercream frosting and I have kept it simple and straightforward for years now:
- Salted butter – a good quality, tastes-good-off-the-spoon butter is important!
- Vanilla – You need that classic vanilla taste
- Icing sugar – This is also known as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar
- Coffee cream – This is literally called coffee cream here in Canada but what it is is a cream that is 18% milk fat and up
Commonly Asked Frosting/Icing Questions and Answers
Do I have to refrigerate a cake with buttercream?
This buttercream has butter and it has whipping cream in it. I personally leave it out all day and it’s fine ( butter is always fine at room temperature) but the whipping cream? That’s a personal call for you. I have left it out overnight, but I honestly have to tell you to refrigerate it instead of leaving it out. But it’s really a personal decision. Apparently because of all the sugar you can leave a cake with buttercream frosting out for 2-3 days.
How long can you leave a cake with buttercream icing out?
I leave mine out for a day, not in the hot sun at all and it’s fine. According to the US food and inspection agency, you can leave a cake with buttercream frosting out for 2-3 days.
What is the best butter to use?
Salted and organic butter is literally the best butter that you can use. It is the salt that really makes this the best buttercream frosting ever. It’s actually a myth that salted butter is an inferior quality – it’s not. It’s the same quality.
How do I make the frosting stiffer?
You will want to use less cream in order to make the frosting stiffer. Start out with only a small amount of cream and add it until you get the consistency that you want.
How do you thicken up frosting?
This buttercream frosting is thick to start without adding in the cream! To start, beat in the icing sugar and see what the thickness of the frosting is. Then you can add a little bit of cream, a little at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. IF you go too far, you then can add more icing sugar/powdered sugar to thicken it back up.
How do you soften buttercream?
This one is easy, leave it out on the counter at room temperature for 45-60 minutes and it will be soft! If that doesn’t work and your frosting is too thick, then you might have to beat it again and add some more cream.
Can you store butter based frostings in the refrigerator?
You bet! Buttercream frosting/icing can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or two, as long as the whipping cream that you use wasn’t going to expire soon.
Can you freeze butter based icings?
I freeze it all the time! Simply defrost, mix and use as normal.
Tips and Tricks for the Best Buttercream Frosting
- Always use salted butter. When I first wrote this recipe in 2010 there weren’t many people that were food blogging compared to today, so I literally couldn’t find a SINGLE buttercream frosting recipe on the internet that used salted butter! Now I am sure that if I looked there would be tons of recipes similar to this one. Oh, how times have changed! So I had discovered that salt and sweet are a match made in heaven for icing and I never looked back. You can also read about the difference between salted and unsalted butter.
- Whip that butter, with a paddle beater if you have it, if not, don’t worry. You can also use the beaters on your handheld mixer just fine to beat the buttercream frosting! You want the butter to be smooth and creamy before you add the icing sugar.
- Fresh icing sugar makes all the difference. Icing sugar/powdered sugar/confectioners sugar goes stale, and you can sure taste it when it does! Crack open a fresh bag for icings, you won’t be sorry! Over the years many people have agreed that this is another trick to making great buttercream frosting.
- You can make this frosting as light or as heavy as you want by adjusting the amount of heavy cream that you use.
- Read this if you are looking for piping techniques.
Some More Frosting Recipes:
- Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Chocolate Buttercream Icing
- Pistachio Pudding Buttercream Icing
- Vegan Buttercream Icing
- Candy Bar Buttercream Icing
Happy baking everyone!
Love,
Karlynn
The Best Buttercream Frosting Recipe
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Course
- Dessert
- Cuisine
- icing
- Servings
- 16 servings
- Calories
- 223
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 1 cup of salted butter
- 3 teaspoons of vanilla
- 4 cups of icing sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons of coffee cream 18% and up
Instructions
- Get out the salted butter! Trust me and use salted butter, it’s the secret ingredient!
- Beat the butter until it is light and creamy. This is important as you are adding the icing sugar next. If the butter isn’t creamy you can get lumps in the icing.
- Add in the icing sugar. Again, if you are like me and can taste stale icing sugar, you will need a fresh bag.
- Add in the cream.. I used 4 tablespoons for my preference, you adjust to what you want.
- Stiffer icing = less cream. Lighter icing = more cream. Adjust the amount to your liking by adding one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
- Add the vanilla then keep mixing it until fluffy and thoroughly combined.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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jamiedodgerz says
can i add melted chocolate or cocoa powder to make chocolate icing ?
jamiedodgerz says
can i add melted chocolate or cocoa powder to make chocolate icing ?
Karlynn Johnston says
You most definitely can add cocoa, that’s how chocolate buttercream is made! I have yet to fiddle around and see the amounts to use, but 1/3 of a cup is a good place to start, most likely 1/2 cup would do it.
RaeAnn Curry says
I am all about the salted butter. Well, salt in general, really. I find that most things benefit from a little sodium – like crack for the taste buds! 😉
RaeAnn Curry says
I am all about the salted butter. Well, salt in general, really. I find that most things benefit from a little sodium – like crack for the taste buds! 😉
Karlynn says
You can make it slightly less creamy but mine always sticks so lovely as is.
This Coupon Lady says
Your recipe sounds decedent and I am going to try it tonight (:. On a layered cake should I use less creamer or will it still hold on the side of the cake? I usually use a medium consistence for the crumb layer and the final coating.
This Coupon Lady says
Your recipe sounds decedent and I am going to try it tonight (:. On a layered cake should I use less creamer or will it still hold on the side of the cake? I usually use a medium consistence for the crumb layer and the final coating.
Mary says
Karlynn, this icing is awesome! I will never use store-bought again! I always shied away from making icing, but it’s super-easy. Now, if you can figure out the right recipe for a chocolate icing…
Mary says
Karlynn, this icing is awesome! I will never use store-bought again! I always shied away from making icing, but it’s super-easy. Now, if you can figure out the right recipe for a chocolate icing…
Karlynn Johnston says
Oh, I know. A chocolate one that I like has so far eluded me, even bakery ones don’t usually ring my bell. Maybe this summer that will be my project! I am glad to hear the icing worked out so well for you!
Rachel says
Also, do how long will it last in the fridge if I just make the frosting ahead of time? I really don’t want to be stressed the day before the party (her actual birthday).
Rachel says
Also, do how long will it last in the fridge if I just make the frosting ahead of time? I really don’t want to be stressed the day before the party (her actual birthday).
Rachel says
I want to use this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake, but I want to decorate and freeze it ahead of time. Will this frosting hold in the freezer like Buttercream?
Rachel says
I want to use this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake, but I want to decorate and freeze it ahead of time. Will this frosting hold in the freezer like Buttercream?
Karlynn Johnston says
Hi Rachel, thanks for popping by. If you take a look at my recipe for the R2D2 cake, you can see that I took 3 !! days to create it. I also hate stressing out over the cake and have realized that it’s easier to make it slowly and then freeze it. I do the shape and crumb coating day one then freeze, the actual decorating day 2 then freeze again and then defrost for the day of. I am with the camp that thinks freezing cakes actually makes it more moist and I get rave reviews and recipe requests every time I do, so that’s usually proof enough for me.
It’s butter so it can last a long time in the fridge even with cream added, a few days for sure.
lisa says
where does one find icing sugar? and what type of coffee creamer, like half and half or like french vanilla? looks tasty and i’d love to try it!
lisa says
where does one find icing sugar? and what type of coffee creamer, like half and half or like french vanilla? looks tasty and i’d love to try it!
Karlynn Johnston says
Icing sugar can be found in the baking aisles of grocery stores, it’s also known as confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar. I use half and half cream, the richness of the fat is what helps make the icing even better! Like it needs it 😉
Tawnya Rigsby Cossa says
been trying to find a good buttercream recipe! gonna try this today! thank you!! yours is definitely an original!
Tangojuliet7 says
been trying to find a good buttercream recipe! gonna try this today! thank you!! yours is definitely an original!
Karlynn Johnston says
Hope you like it! Let me know what you think.
Karlynn Johnston says
This is mike
Jocelyn says
I agree whole heartedly with you…I ALWAYS use salted butter in everything I make!!!! It was refreshing to find a blog post that advocates it:-) I will have to try the cream…I usually just use water because I worry too much about it spoiling!!!!
Jennifer says
Thank you so much! I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe!
Jennifer says
I see that it’s ok to ice the cake and then put it in the fridge, but is it ok to make the icing the night before you bake the cake and store the icing in the fridge? I’m just wondering if it will spread the same? Thanks!
Karlynn says
Buttercream is a wonder to work with, because as it heats up, it softens but when it’s too soft, a couple minutes in the freezer fixes it right up. Leave it to soften on the counter before you create with it and it will be perfect!
Glen Nicolas says
Hi I tried this myself specific to the recipe and found that it was too sweet for my tasting. I had to add some more butter and squeeze about 2 teaspoons of lemon to make it not so sweet. I think 4 cups of icing sugar is more than you need. Actually probably 2 cups is alot better if you don’t want it to turn out too sweet. But, this is only my own opinion.
Joanna says
if you only use half the icing and then the same amount of butter, you won’t end up with a proper buttcream frosting. You need at least 3 – 4 cups of icing sugar.
Debbiemullins says
I think buttercream frosting is a bit on the sweet side too. I have fixed the problem by adding about 2-3 T of soft cream cheese. U dont really taste it but it makes it a bit less sweet and creamier too!
melissa says
This is the first time I have ever commented online about a recipe. How could i not with this one. It’s AMAZING!!! Thank you!
Karlynn says
Melissa, what a lovely comment, thank you, it completely made my night!
Karlynn says
Ohh yum! Let me know how that turns out!
Heather says
I’m going to be making this icing today… I’m going to try it with cultured butter and see how that goes. I bet it will taste extra good.
Jay says
Absolutely AWESOME recipe!!
I use salted butter all the time and I used blended cream for this (10%).
I had no issues with it softening while I was decorating and it held the shapes well.
I had just about enough to cover 1 box cake mix…probably would have had more if I wasn’t partaking in multiple taste tests!!
Karlynn says
Isn’t salted butter the best? And yes, lots of taste testing goes on in this house as well!
Kelly says
Ok, to answer my own question, YES! You most certainly can use coconut milk and it turns out so wonderfully yummy with just a tiny hint of coconut flavour. My new favourite.
Karlynn says
Kelly! I love you! My mind is totally whirring now with the possibility of a delicious coconut cake with frosting done with coconut milk! Great idea! This recipe is so versatile that you can add almost anything and it rocks.
Kelly says
I wonder, could you use coconut milk for this rather than the table cream?
lauren says
just wanted to let you know this recipe is perrrrrfection!!!! im not a huge fan of butter cream and the obvious taste of icing sugar. SO i added a good dolop of cream cheese (my favourite food pretty much) and I LOVE the texture and subtle taste in it…its not quite cream cheese icing and its pretty much butter cream! thanks for the recipe!
Veronica says
I love your recepie I iced some cupcakes and everyone devoured them!!! But now i want to make some and travel with them do you think it will chill ok?
Karlynn says
Hurray! I love hearing that my recipes were “devoured”, there is NO better compliment! The wonderful thing about buttercream is that thanks to the butter, they chill beautifully! The icing gets hard and keeps its shape, then when warmed up at room temperature,it returns to that silky, buttery texture that we love. I have frozen it, chilled it in the fridge, it always returns to its beautiful former self. Good luck traveling with your creations!