A Better Buttercream

Creating a good buttercream frosting is a delicate balance. It needs to hold its shape without being too stiff. It shouldn’t be so moist as to look like it is sweating in the sun. But the worst buttercream offenders are grocery stores! You can almost feel the sugar granules in your teeth and they use shortening—ewww!

This is my favorite buttercream recipe. It sets up nicely and holds its shape whether you are frosting a cake or swirling it onto a cupcake.

Homemade frosting tastes so much better than store bought and is really quick and easy to bring together. Bonus it saves you a bunch of money on overpriced store cakes too! It is scary to think how much grocery store cakes cost for something we could make at home and have a better taste for maybe 15% of the price.

Chocolate cupcake on blue background

A Better Buttercream Frosting

3 sticks of butter (1 1/2 cups) (real butter)

6 Cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp milk

1 tsp real vanilla extract

pinch of salt a teeny pinch.

Chocolate flavored cupcakes frosted with pink buttercream frosting.

Start with very soft butter. If it is a cool day letting it rest on the counter may not be good enough. I have been known to put mine int he microwave for 15-20 seconds. Trust me you want soft but not melted. It makes the blending MUCH easier.

2. Put your soft butter in a very large (steep sided) bowl. Add the powdered sugar 2 cups at a time and mix with a hand mixer on slow. The softer the butter the less powdered sugar will be potentially flying around.

3. Once the butter and powdered sugar are mixed add the salt, milk, and vanilla. Mix it up some more. 3 minutes should be good.

4. Now the fun part–color! Make it as bright or tame as you like! The sky is the limit.