American Buttercream

Buttercreams come in all different varieties and flavors. One of the easiest and more used ones is American Buttercream. This buttercream recipe will be your go-to frosting to cover a birthday cake or pipe on some delicious cupcakes.

About American Buttercream

• This recipe is very easy to prepare and comes together very quickly. The number of ingredients is just a handful, and the process is easy to follow.
• Unlike Swiss Meringue Buttercream, American buttercream requires no cooking or heating ingredients.
• The list of ingredients includes room-temperature butter, sifted powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla extract.
• American Buttercream can be adapted to different frostings, such as chocolate, confetti, or fruit.

How To Make This Frosting

• We start with room-temperature butter. When pressing it down, the butter should be soft enough that your fingertip leaves a dent. Too soft butter makes the buttercream too runny, and too cold butter will be difficult to beat, making the American Buttercream lumpy.
• Use the whisk attachment to beat the butter on medium-high until it is light, fluffy, and almost white in colour. Scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times to ensure that all the butter is whipped properly. This may take about 8-10 minutes.

• After reaching the desired butter consistency and colour, add the powdered sugar. It is important to add a small amount, ¼ cup at a time.
• The recommended ratio of the butter to the sugar is 1 to 3. With this ratio, American Buttercream will not taste like butter, and the sweetness will have a good balance.

Why Heavy Cream

• One important ingredient is heavy cream. Heavy cream or milk smooths out the buttercream, making it more spreadable and easy to work with.
• In the end, add vanilla extract. If using any other extract, such as lemon or mint extract, add it after the vanilla extract.
• If the buttercream is too stiff, add a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream, and if it is too runny, add ¼ cup powdered sugar to reach the right consistency.
• This buttercream can be flavoured with cocoa powder, caramel, ganache, fruit reductions, etc.
• Add a few drops of gel food colour at the end to tint the frosting.

See recipes using American Buttercream;

Coconut Cupcakes,

White Cupcakes/Blackberry Frosting,

Oreo Cupcakes

📖 Recipe