Smooth Vanilla Buttercream
This vanilla buttercream recipe is for my "double batch" which perfectly fills my 4.5 qt. KitchenAid bowl and can frost about 4 dozen cupcakes! If you would like to cut this recipe in half, you can easily do that by dividing each ingredient below by 2!
Ingredients
Method
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also use an electric hand mixer, but a stand mixer will be best), cream the room temperature butter on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Scrape the bowl down with a rubber spatula and continue mixing on medium speed for another 5 minutes until the butter is VERY light in color and has a silky texture.
- Add in a tiny pinch of salt as well as the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
- Next, add in the powdered sugar and heavy cream. Before mixing, cover the top of your bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel in order to avoid a mess! If you would like to skip that step, simply add in the powdered sugar and heavy cream in small increments, mixing in between, until its fully incorporated.
- Scrape down the bowl one more time before the next step.
- Set your mixer to medium speed and let that go for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT SCRAPE THE BOWL AT THIS POINT! Now, lower the mixer speed to low and let that go for about 2 minutes. This will give you a very smooth texture for your buttercream!Please keep in mind that mixer speeds can vary! You need to keep an eye on your buttercream as it's mixing during this step so that you can stop the mixer as soon as you have the smooth texture that you're looking for. Some may take longer than 10 minutes, some may take less.
- You are now ready to decorate your cupcakes or a pretty cake! If you would like to save your buttercream for later, simply store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to one week.
Notes
- As mentioned above, this recipe is for a double batch which will perfectly fill a 4.5 qt KitchenAid bowl (the standard bowl). The reason I always make a double batch is because this gives me the best possible texture for American buttercream. Since there is so much going into my bowl, there is no room for extra air to get in as the buttercream is mixing. If you would like to cut this recipe in half, the flavor will stay the same, however, the texture will not be as smooth as the double batch (and that is perfectly okay!)
- Weigh your powdered sugar! I have found that the best way to avoid overly sweet American buttercream is to weigh your powdered sugar with a food scale. When you scoop powdered sugar with a measuring cup, it is very likely that each cup will contain a slightly different amount than the last. By weighing your powdered sugar, you can easily avoid adding too much so that you don’t have that gritty texture or an overly sweet topping for all of your yummy cupcakes.
- When mixing in the powdered sugar, I like to do it all at once to save time. In order to avoid that big sugar mess in the kitchen, I like to wrap the top of my KitchenAid bowl with plastic wrap before turning on the mixer. This keeps the powdered sugar in the bowl and just makes the process go so much faster! You can also wrap a kitchen towel around the top and hold on to it while you mix.
- As with anything, this buttercream is best served fresh! That being said, you can absolutely save it for later if you want to make it ahead of time for a dessert that you will be serving later in the week. Simply store your buttercream in an air-tight container and place that in the fridge for up to one week. Let it get to room temperature before decorating your desserts and then you’re good to go!
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