I know there are lots of recipes out there for a delicious Buttercream frosting. Frosting is one thing I am very particular about. I always feel like I can get away with a box cake or cupcake mix as long as the frosting is excellent.
I think homemade frosting is always worth the extra trouble because the taste difference is really something. And it is nice to have a quick and easy basic buttercream recipe that you can fall back on and so far this one has never let me down.
I have used this buttercream recipe with caramel cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes… it is really versatile and so quick! You can add cocoa powder, citrus juice, caramel sauce… any little extras you might like and it still turns out to be eat by the spoonful delish.
I personally prefer to use butter instead of shortening for buttercream and what I often find is that some buttercream recipes call for so much butter… I find many recipes are just greasy and like a big bite of butter. (Blech!)
So this recipe calls for just four ingredients- cream cheese, butter, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Simple and fast and hopefully you think it is a home run too!
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
- 4oz cream cheese, cubed and chilled
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add butter to your stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment until smooth and creamy.
- Add cream cheese and mix until well incorporated.
- Add confectioner's sugar ½ cup at a time- scraping the bowl down after each addition with a spatula.
- Once you hit 2 cups of confectioner's sugar you might start tasting the frosting to see if you need more sugar. I usually like about 2½ cups to 3 cups of sugar.
- Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix.
- Done!
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This should easily frost 12 good size cupcakes. If you are making a layer cake or something you might consider doubling the recipe.
This makes a nice thick frosting for me but if you want a little more creaminess to yours, you can add one to two tablespoons of heavy cream along with the vanilla.
And again you might stop at 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar and see if that works for you. I find this frosting needs about 2 1/2 cups to get to the proper thickness for me but you might taste as you go and adapt to your preference.
And there you have a super simple and very fast basic cream cheese Buttercream frosting recipe! How cute are these with just some simple sprinkles for a child’s birthday party?
You might also like these recipes:
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting– seriously this is heavenly!
Fun Lemonade Cupcakes– triple lemon flavor and so fun for summer!
Salted Caramel Starbucks Cupcakes– so fun! Perfect for bake sales and parties!
Can’t wait to eat all these yummy cup cakes
Thanks for the frosting recipe..do you have cupcake recipe to go with the frosting…My son graduating in June and heading off to college..woohoo!! and I’m going to have a sweet table set up..so the cupcakes will be a hit..thanks
Hi Tina,
I have made a few yellow cupcake recipes and have not found any that I have loved enough to share. I use box mix most of the time 🙂 Here is one from Gale Gand you might try:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/the-perfect-yellow-cupcake-recipe.html
Is this a crusting buttercream? does it get a little hard on the outside as it sits, like for piping?
Hi Stephanie- I find it to be firm for piping but crusting doesn’t sound very good does it 🙂
I am going to be making a baby shower cake for July and I was wondering how this frosting would hold up outside? I am able to keep inside but the party is outside. Also can you add coloring to it? I use gel coloring so it should not water it down. This looks like a really good frosting and I can not wait to try it
Hi Calina- will it be incredibly hot? I live in Sacramento and July is always triple digits so I would be nervous with any cake outside for long… If it isn’t as hot for you, I would think you could take it outside for a short time- 1-2 hours- and be OK as long as it was well chilled beforehand in the fridge. This is more of a creamy frosting not a stiff frosting so I don’t think it would hold up well in super hot or humid climates. You could always whip up a small batch of the frosting and spread it on bread or something just to test it this month and see how it holds up. 🙂
Im going to try out this buttercream frosting for my husbands birthday!
I have a great “homemade yellow cake mix” recipe i found on the food network site from the
Food Network Kitchen you could try. its moist and yummy in cake or cup cake form. i usually
make it the day before and wrap it in plastic wrap before frosting it. The flavor gets better.
Thanks for the recipe!
It would be nice if I had the option to email this recipe. Please offer the option . Thank you.
Hi Bonnie,
Here is the link to the recipe:
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2013/12/perfect-chocolate-buttercream-frosting-recipe/
You can copy that link and paste it in the email body.
HTH!
Is this right!!?? 1 1/2 cups of butter!! That seems like so much!!!! The chocolate buttercream had 6 tablespoons. the proportions just seems really off to me.
Hi Angeline,
It is a buttercream frosting so there is quite a bit of butter. This also has 3 cups of powdered sugar. You can reduce the amount of butter and add cream instead if you prefer.