Easy Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter (softened)
- 1.5 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
For a sweeter frosting, mix in an additional 1/4 C
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Tiny pinch of salt
Instructions
-
In the large mixing bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar. Mix with a hand-held mixer until smooth and fully combined.
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Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt
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Continue mixing on medium speed until everything is well combined.
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Pipe the frosting onto cupcakes or frost a cake.
Note
Frosting can be made 1 to 2 days in advance, cover tightly and transfer to the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting cupcakes/cakes.
Heavy Cream: You may replace the heavy cream with milk, but the frosting won’t be quite as creamy.
Recipe Variations
- Vanilla: For a vanilla buttercream frosting, double the vanilla.
- Chocolate: Sift 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and mix it into the frosting base until well combined.
- Caramel: Mix in 1/4C caramel ice cream topping.
- Strawberry: Add a 1-ounce frozen strawberries to the bowl at Step 2 above.
American Buttercream
- Combine
- 2 sticks softened butter
- 1/2 C shortening
- scant salt and 1 tsp vanilla
- Combine with
- 12-14 oz confectioner sugar
- Beat everything using your paddle attachment
- Add
- 1/4 C buttermilk
- 2 TBL (1 oz) sour cream
- Blend until combined
- Ice round cakes on a lazy susan
- You can elevate the cake by putting a flat mixing bowl on the lazy susan at the beginning
- Put a blob of icing on the cardboard cake round to “hold” the cake still
- Cut the puffy top off so that layered cakes will sit evenly.
- Using a long knife or long saw blade, cut even layers
- Cut a notch in the side of the cake to help with alignment later
- Ice between layers
- Create a “crumb coat” of icing that will be covered up later.
- Put the crumb coat into the fridge for 20-30 minutes to harden
- Apply the final outside layer of icing.
- To create “writing chocolate” combine 1 C chocolate chips and 2 tsp canola oil. Stir together, then microwave for 60 seconds. Stir to mix, then put into a piping bag or squirt bottle. As you are writing, back up and the end of each letter.
