Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe

April 20, 2021lindsaynewman120

I think that a good buttercream frosting recipe is an important tool to have in your baking arsenal. You don’t even have to be a serious baker. You may just have a special event in your life where you one day want to be able to show someone you care by baking a homemade cake or cupcakes. As someone who has dedicated a fair amount of time to becoming a decent home baker here’s my secret: boxed cake mixes make pretty darn good cakes. If you’re going to cut a corner, go for the cake mix. But don’t skimp out and go for canned frosting. Homemade buttercream frosting makes all the difference. And this vanilla buttercream frosting recipe is really easy and really delicious–promise.

Now there are lots of different types of frostings out there. There’s Italian meringue buttercream, swiss meringue buttercream, Ermine (or cooked) frosting, 7-minute frosting. Many of these frostings require more advanced techniques and cooking a sugar liquid of some kind. My Easy Vanilla Buttercream recipe is what is called an American Buttercream. No heat required, just butter and sugar, a touch of heavy cream and vanilla, and a good stand mixer or set of beaters. It’s the easiest type of buttercream frosting, and it’s super versatile.

4 tips for making vanilla buttercream

You want your butter to be softened but just a bit colder than room temperature. If it’s too soft it will become too difficult to work with when it comes time to frost your cake/cupcakes.
Beat your frosting until it is FLUFFY! A certain amount of air is key to a delicious, silky buttercream. Often I find that this is where people go wrong. If you don’t beat your buttercream frosting long enough then you don’t get that delightful, lighter-than-air texture you crave.
If you’re going to color all your frosting one color, add it to the bowl while it’s mixing. This will save you the trouble of having to mix it in by hand later.
Make your frosting when you’re ready to frost your cake/cupcake. You can make it in advance and store it in the fridge, but it’s hard to get it to the same consistency again that makes it as easy to work with.

As for the technique, it’s very simple:

Add all your ingredients to the mixing bowl of your stand mixer. Beat them at medium-high speed for about 5-7 minutes, until light and fluffy. Start by mixing the ingredients slowly at first until the sugar is incorporated (or you’ll end up with powdered sugar everywhere). Once the sugar is incorporated, crank up the speed to medium-high, and let your mixer do the work.
Scrape the sides of the bowl down at least once to make sure the butter is fully incorporated.
You can use a set of hand mixers if you don’t have a stand mixer. They will work just fine, but your arm might get tired 🙂

The best part about this easy vanilla buttercream frosting (aside from the fact that it’s simple and utterly delicious), is that it’s incredibly versatile. It’s great for covering cakes, doing piping work, frosting sugar cookies, or decorating cupcakes. Plus you can use the same frosting base and add different flavorings. I use this to make lemon frosting by swapping the vanilla extract for lemon extract or fresh squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest). I also make berry frosting by omitting the heavy cream and mixing in cooked and strained berry compote.

If you’re not ready to get that adventurous yet making your own frosting variations, that’s OK! (I’ll be posting more frosting variations to help guide you along the way.) In the meantime, I can’t wait to hear about your creations with my Easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe. Don’t forget to share your comments below!

If you’re looking for a great vanilla cake recipe, try the Funfetti Cake (with or without the sprinkles) by CakebyCourney. Hands down my favorite cake recipe I’ve tried to date, and works great as cupcakes as well. I used this recipe for the cupcakes in these photos.