Elevate your treats with this easy vanilla whipped buttercream frosting recipe with just simple steps to make a velvety-smooth frosting that adds a touch of vanilla goodness to your favorite vanilla birthday cake and vanilla cupcakes.
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This whipped buttercream frosting is simply my lighter, less sweet version of the very popular and traditional buttercream frosting recipe.
Made primarily from butter and confectioners' sugar, the whipped version adds a higher content of heavy cream to make the frosting even more fluffy and creamy.
This perfectly textured whipped cream buttercream frosting is ideal for decorating all your cupcakes, layer cake, brownies, cheesecakes, and cookies. It's the recipe to remember for elevating all your desserts without needing a pastry degree.
Ingredients You Need
You need these ingredients to make my whipped buttercream frosting:
- Butter: Use unsalted butter with at least 80% fat and softened at room temperature, for a lightly salted version use semi-salted butter.
- Sugar: Use extra fin sugar like powdered sugar, icing sugar, or confectioners sugar. Don't use granulated sugar, as it may result in a grainy buttercream with a not-at-all-smooth texture.
- Heavy cream: You can use heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (double cream) or milk.
- Vanilla: As an option, pure vanilla extract adds a delicious flavor to this plain frosting, or you can use the seeds of a vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste.
How to Make Whipped Buttercream Frosting
Here are some quick visual instructions. Don't forget that full instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the main recipe card below!
Step 1: Place softened butter cut into pieces in the mixing bowl of an electric mixer or in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
Step 2: Whip on high speed until butter turns white for about 3-5 minutes, it increases in volume and is very creamy with a fluffy consistency.
Step 3: Add the sifted confectioner's sugar to the creamy butter in batches while leaving the mixer running at medium speed and until incorporated.
Step 4: Add the vanilla extract and heavy cream and whip on high speed for a further 5 minutes or so, until you have a fluffy buttercream frosting is thick and smooth.
How to use this buttercream
- Classic Cakes and Cupcakes: This classic buttercream frosting is perfect for frosting cakes, a sheet cake and cupcakes like in these chocolate cupcakes or vanilla bean cupcakes.
- Decorative Piping: Utilize various piping tips to create flowers, rosettes, stars, and other intricate designs on your baked goods. Whipped buttercream holds its shape well, making it suitable for detailed decorations.
- Filled Desserts: Use whipped buttercream as a filling for pastries like eclairs, cream puffs, or whoopie pies. Its light texture complements the pastry without overpowering it.
- Cookie Sandwiches: Spread or pipe a generous amount of frosting between two cookies for a delightful treat. You can match the cookie flavor with the frosting for a cohesive taste experience.
- Dessert Toppings: Dollop or pipe whipped buttercream on top of dessert bars, brownies, or fruit tarts for an extra touch of sweetness and elegance.
Tips for this recipe
Variations & Substitutions
Recipe Questions
Can whipped buttercream frosting be flavored?
Absolutely! You can add various extracts, fruit purees, zests, or melted chocolate to flavor your whipped buttercream frosting according to your dessert needs.
How long can whipped buttercream frosting sit out?
Whipped buttercream frosting can generally sit out at room temperature for several hours due to the sugar content, which acts as a preservative. However, if it's very warm or if the frosting contains perishable ingredients like cream cheese, it should be refrigerated.
Can you color whipped buttercream frosting?
Yes, whipped buttercream frosting can be colored with gel or liquid food coloring. Gel coloring is recommended as it's more vibrant and won't alter the consistency of the frosting.
How can I get whiter buttercream?
To achieve a whiter buttercream, use clear vanilla extract and a touch of purple gel color to neutralize the yellow tint.
Why is my buttercream frosting grainy?
Your buttercream frosting may be grainy due to insufficient mixing or the sugar not dissolving completely, ensure thorough mixing and use superfine sugar for smoother texture.
More Buttercream Recipes
I hope you love this Whipped buttercream frosting. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Happy Baking!
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Whipped Buttercream Frosting
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Description
Easy whipped vanilla buttercream frosting recipe, to fill and smooth a 2 tiers 6 inch/15 cm cake or decorating 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) Butter - unsalted and softened
- 350 g (3 ¼ cups) Powdered sugar - sifted icing sugar
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) Heavy cream - full-fat
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt - optional
Instructions
- Place the softened butter cut into pieces in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk at high speed for about 3-5 minutes until you obtain a smooth and creamy mixture.
- Lower the speed of the mixer and add the sifted confectioner's sugar in several batches until completely incorporated.
- Add the vanilla extract and full-fat heavy cream and beat on high speed for a further 5 minutes until you have a smooth, voluminous frosting.
- Beat the whipped buttercream with a rubber spatula or the flat spatula of your stand mixer for 2 minutes at low speed to evacuate air bubbles and obtain a smooth frosting.
- Use immediately on your cakes or store in the fridge under plastic wrap.
Notes
Conservation: 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Category: frosting, icing,
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Calories: 101
- Sugar: 23
- Sodium: 15
- Fat: 1
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Carbohydrates: 23
- Cholesterol: 3
Hello,
I would like to make a chocolate buttercream, how much chocolate should I add to this recipe? Should I use powdered or melted chocolate? Thank you for your answer
Hello, yes it's possible to make it in chocolate with melted chocolate or cocoa powder.
Hello can this frosting be put under sugar paste please?
Yes, it's a stable enough cream to fill a sugar-paste cake or as a covering frosting before applying the sugar paste.
Hello, if we keep the buttercream in the fridge, the day we want to use it to make cupcakes, do we have to beat it again? Thank you for your answer.
Yes, because it will harden in the fridge and to make it smooth you'll need to whip it with a mixer.
Really excellent, I followed it to the letter and it's perfect, thank you for your explanations.
Thank you very much for your feedback
I enjoyed it a lot, thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your feedback ❤️
Can we use don dairy whipping cream?
Hello yes, considering the small amount of whipped cream you don't risk messing up the recipe by using non-dairy whipped cream, just it must have a good percentage of fat equivalent to dairy whipped cream.
I’m baking a wedding cake, and the cake will be standing outside of the fridge for a bit of time. What vanilla buttercream recipe do you recommend. As well as what vanilla cake recipe. I need layers. Might be a 2 tier cake.
Thanks☺️
Hi, for a wedding cake that will be out of the fridge for a while, I'd recommend using either this American buttercream, Swiss meringue buttercream, or a chocolate ganache—these are all stable options at room temperature and great for a wedding cake that will be on display for a long time.
For the cake itself, you could use a Molly cake, a sponge cake, or a buttermilk cake, as they all work well for layered cakes and are sturdy enough for a two-tier design. Let me know if you need any more tips!
I use this recipe all the time. I also add a softened block of cream cheese to the butter, whip it until light and fluffy then add powered sugar by the cupful until fluffy and add your vanilla and salt. It's yummy.
Hello,
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I have used it a couple times now and get so many compliments! It’s the perfect level of sweetness! Definitely my new go to!
Hello if I add a half cup of butter to the 1 cup of butter. How much more of the other ingredients do I add? (Heavy cream, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract)
Hi! If you add ½ cup more butter (so 1½ cups total), just increase the other ingredients by 50% as well:
• 525 g powdered sugar (about 4¾ cups)
• 120 ml heavy cream (½ cup)
• 3 tsp vanilla extract.
That way, you keep the same texture and flavor balance!
Can you use coconut cream instead of heavy cream?
Yes, you can use coconut cream instead of heavy cream. As long as it’s thick and full-fat (like canned coconut cream), the texture should stay the same. Just avoid using light or watery coconut milk, as that could affect the consistency.