Quick and Almost-Professional Buttercream Icing

awesome frosting. easy to decorate with. the only changes i made was that i melted the butter and added 2/3 cup of cocoa to make the frosting a chocolate flavor.

This is a great buttercream icing recipe. I followed it fairly closely, thought I did add extra vanilla, which then necessitated adding some extra 10X sugar to make up for the extra liquid. It does not make all that much, so I will prob double it when decorating a cake. It made enough for me to not-over-generously ice 18 cupcakes. Great taste and consistency. GO BULLDOGS! ;) TY for a great recipe!

This icing recipe is my absolute favorite out of all that I've tried! I used it to pipe on decorations for my daughter's horse birthday cake. I needed to add almost 2/3 cup more powdered sugar to make it stiff enough to pipe on. To decorate a 9x13" cake, you will want to double the recipe. (Make sure you use clear vanilla if you want white icing.)

This recipe is for REAL frosting not the garbage that comes from the store. I followed the recipe without changes. This was served with SCOTTLEY'S BASIC YELLOW CAKE and the filling from ALMOND CREAM-PUFF RING. My brother ate two pieces and took half of the rest of the cake home with him. I will never buy frosting again ever.

This recipe was good. I didn't love it, but I usually dont like any plain buttercreams. If you're going to pipe the frosting, don't add the milk. If you are going to add food coloring, add it before the milk (or else it might get too liquidy).

This icing was just what I was looking for as I didnt really want to take the time to do boiling icing. Not too too sweet but very creamy. I will use this again. Alot of flavorings can be added to this.

I was a little disappointed with this icing when I first made it. It was good and easy, but there was just a little lacking in terms of flavor. I made it again and this time used salted butter instead of unsalted (as a previous reviewer suggested), doubled the vanilla (previous reviewer again), and used evaporated milk (next time I might try cream, but I didn't have that on hand) instead of regular milk. I used extra sugar to compensate for the extra vanilla and the thin texture it had the first time (don't want to reduce the milk because I needed every drop of frosting) and it was perfect. I doubled the recipe and it was just enough to frost a 3-layer cake. I'm giving the original recipe 4 stars.

This was the lightest fluffiest frosting I have ever made at home. It was as good as the bakeries use for sure! I used this for soft sugar cookies and it made them over-the-top great, but truly this would fabulous on a cake. I will have to remember this one the next time I need birthday cake frosting, this is that special. This dried perfectly for stacking decorated cookies too! Thanks, this is awesome!!!

This is so much better than store-bought icing! Just be sure to use real butter; it makes all the difference.

The consistancy was fine but it tasted too sugary and not creamy enough.

this is a great recipe. i used it after i covered my cake with another recipe that really didnt work at all. this is the right consistency. you should put in the refrigerator before using so its hard.

Perfect! Only change was to use fat free half and half in place of the milk because I needed to use some up. Frosting came out sweet and satiny, and piped nicely onto my cupcakes. I didn't bother with food coloring this time, as I wanted an ivory/white frosting. This recipe made enough to frost a dozen cupcakes generously.

This is the best buttercream I've ever tasted. My recipe is close, but the extra vanilla puts it well over the top. I used salted butter, and added a little pinch of salt which I think helps balance out the flavors a bit. Amazing texture, perfection.

The instructions don't really give you much to go on. After a bit of research, I found that the icing comes out perfect if you do the following; 1) allow your butter to be room temperature (about 3 hours in my area did the trick. I am in Vancouver, BC). 2) Whip you butter for at least 5 minutes (more if you can) to allow enough air to form in the butter. Make sure to use the whipping extension on your mixer. 3) Switch to your mixing paddle on your stand mixer and add half of the icing sugar and whip for about 3 minutes before adding the other half of the icing sugar. Then whip again for 3 minutes. 4) Don't add all of the milk at once. Add a tbsp. at a time until your buttercream is soft and fluffy but not falling off the paddle.

Followed the recipe exactly. The butter is a nice change from shortening, and it is just as beautiful. I doubled the recipe and had no problem frosting 3 dozen cupcakes. I even did the little swirly thing on them....and that takes a lot of frosting! I used gel food coloring, and it turned out vibrant without affecting the consistency.

Wow! What a great frosting! Due to health issues in my family, I made it dairy free by using Earth Balance instead of butter and rice milk instead of milk. It's still an awesome recipe! Tastes amazing and is light, fluffy, and creamy. Thank you!

Really good frosting. Not sure how much milk i used, cause i just add a few drops at a time until i get it to the consistency i like. Otherwise, i followed directions precisely.

Made this yesterday and I think it was gone before we even got to frost the cupcakes with it! Everyone wanted recipe and LOVED it....it's sooo simple and yummy! :) Making it again today! :) Be sure to let your cake/cupcakes COOL COMPLETELY before frosting or it will melt and not look fluffy! :) The frosting melts in your mouth. I also doubled ingredients to be able to frost 24 cupcakes!

I made this to frost my big cookie cake I made. I used 1 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar instead of 2. I also reduce the milk to 1 tbsp. It turn out just right for me and not too sweet!

all below are right. I LOVE frosting, but I know some people don't like it toooo sweet. this is sweet, but not so much as to turn people off like some frostings. 8 million times better than store bought. EASY to make. When I first put the powd sugar in with the butter, I thought "this is too dry" it's not gonna work, but then by the time I added the vanilla & the milk, per instructions, it was perfect! I used this a couple of times, both to color and decorate character cupcakes by frosting and piping. It made great Diego cupcakes ! and it just made awesome, Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Oscar cupcakes last wkend !

Very god buttercream icing. Instead of using vanilla extract I used blackberry. I spread it on a white cake mix and served with fresh blackberries. Yummmy!!

Awesome! I will make this every time--no more store bought frosting! I doubled the recipe so there would be enough to frost a cake.

Good. I added lemon extract instead of vanilla plus a teaspoon of lemon zest.

This was a good recipe, one of the better I have used. I had trouble getting it to peak though, and it wasn't quite to the sweetness I was expecting, so I had to add a little extra sugar until I got the consistency and sweetness I wanted. it tasted great on the Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls I used from All Recipes.

I was in a fix when I realized one of my children broke the seal on my can of frosting tonight. This is the first time I've made my own icing. My husband loved it. I didn't add or change any ingredients. I gave it four stars because it was a little runny. (which could be a mistake that I made.) Thank you for helping me out of a fix. Cheers.

First time making frosting and it was all a success! I am not a big fan of buttercream, and neither is my husband, but this one we all loved. My child cannot have enough. And my husband and I are for the first time interested in the frosting! (I don't know if this is good or not for us, but definitely says a lot about the frosting.) My tweaks: I made this with MARGARINE (salted, in sticks), and I cannot imagine the result getting better. I halfed the milk (1Tsp). This recipe frosts 12 cupcakes (without piping).

Best icing recipe I have found. Everybody raves about it. It makes an incredible chocolate icing when you add cocoa powder. The recipe doesn't make a lot, so you may need to double or triple, depending on how much you need.

Awesome....this is now my go to!

This was a great recipe for a fluffier, creamy buttercream. It does, however, need salt. Most buttercreams call for some salt and this was too sweet without it. I multiplied this recipe 6.5 times for 55 cupcakes (had lots leftover) and added about 1 tsp of salt and cut the milk in half. It had a great flavor and was the right consistency for piping cupcakes. I did put them in the fridge to set a bit before serving as it was a bit soft. There were lots of compliments and most people ate more than one. Will definitely use again. Will probably add food coloring before milk, and may use a little less milk than I did, for a slightly thicker result.

My first go at making buttercream frosting, and boy am I pleased! I followed the recipe exactly, to make my version of oatmeal cream pies. My hubby is normally not a huge fan of buttercream, but he couldn't stop eating this kind! I'm excited to add other flavorings in the future!

Excellent with no modification, and really easy to make.

Tasted great, but it was impossible to use for piping. If you add any food coloring, it becomes really runny and just slides right off the cake. I added almost 2 cups of confectioners sugar in addition to what the recipe called for to try and thicken it up, and I still wound up scraping it all off the cake and starting over with a different recipe.

Great great buttercream recipe, taste just like our local bakery's buttercream! I use it for filling and icing cakes and it stands up perfectly. I always add pecans to it for the filling and get complimented on it every time I make this icing!!!

I made this for the middle layer of a layer cake I was making and I followed the recipe to the T. It taste really yummy and made the perfect amount that I needed. So if you are needing to frost a lot then I would adjust the recipe.

I looked high and low for a buttercream recipe without shortening. This one is perfection. Will use again and again.

Let me add my 5 star recipe to all the others. This is perfect flavor, consistency for piping, and so smooth. Thank you for posting your wonderful recipe.

I have never used butter instead of shortening in frosting before. I made it in a pinch and it turned out better than expected. Frosting stiffens up in the fridge, so if you make it ahead of time or refrigerate your cake, leave it out for a while before using/serving.

Soooooo good! I am personally not a huge fan of buttercream frosting to start with but wanted something simple to use on a V day cake. This was the perfect recipe! I had to add more milk to the recipe and next time I will probably double the recipe because my husband loves a lot of frosting. This is definitely the recipe to try. Very easy and very delicious!

I must first say that I do not like frosting. At all. But I'm making cupcakes for a bridal shower coming up and I thought I'd give this a whirl. It was very very easy. I used the KitchenAid instead of gently stirring with a spoon. I also only had salted butter in the house. I added a little extra milk (I used skim) and added some chocolate syrup and cocoa and it came out terrific. For someone who doesn't like frosting, this was pretty darn good. ... Don't use salted butter!

This is the ideal recipe for piping decorative borders and for piping cupcakes. Best icing recipe I have found on this site! I too doubled the recipe as I made 12 very large cupcakes and was afraid it would not be enough. The only changes I used half and half instead of milk and used 1tsp of almond flavoring and 2 tsps of clear vanilla. Excellent! This will be a keeper for all occassions

I've made several versions of frostings over the years, including this one. This amount will frost 12 cupcakes.

This was a delicious icing that I colored rainbow and used to top matching rainbow cupcakes. However, I still felt that it was missing something. The taste was good (though I could still detect a hint of the powdered sugar's flavor), but the texture left something to be desired. I will tweak next time but this is acceptable in a pinch like I was. Thanks so much!

Easy and worked great for my 1st real decorating project. It tastes good too. :)

This was great- and easy!

Love this Buttercream recipe. I have used it several times and it always comes out looking and tasting great!!!

This tasted exactly like the buttercream you taste on cakes from stores. Followed this recipe to a T, and it came out great. I personally don't care for plain vanilla buttercream, so I think needs better flavoring, but this is the best base recipe I have found so far.

2nd time making it, first time used pure vanilla extract and 2tbs of french vanilla coffee creamer instead of milk, was amazing, 2nd time used Madagascar vanilla paste was very good but my preference is your old club house brand.

I dislike shortening so much. I try never to use it. So finding this recipe, that uses butter instead, was such a lucky find! We loved it. I made the "simple white cake" here on Allrecipes, cut it in half, and made a two layer cake. A double-batch of this frosting covered it all with VERY little leftover to decorate - so increase the recipe accordingly. This is a definite keeper for me. The only complaint I can see is if someone needs a true white frosting - this won't work.

Really like this - really is better than store bought! It does seem a tiny bit thinner than some of the stuff you'd get at a store (but I'm a home-made nut; much prefer home made as compared to store bought); but if you refridgerate your frosting for an hour or so prior to use; it does thicken up the frosting a bit (if you're going to eat it as is, as my kids wanted to; it works fine either way); makes it more the consistancy you'd need for piping; and it stays put once you have, too; So if you'd want an easier to spread option; use it strait away after you've made it; if you want a thicker icing better for modling and piping; put it in the fridge for a while first. Definitely a keeper!!

Very good! I think I beat my frosting too long because it has lots of large bubbles in it, but a quick beating with a wooden spoon solves that problem.

quick and easy frosting...good flavor!

It was amazing! I will never buy canned frosting again!! I made this frosting to decorate a cupcake cake in the shape og a 1 for my daughter's first bday. I needed 3 batches! But I think 2 would be plenty if I were just frosting 48 cupcakes, and not having to fill in the spaces between the cupcakes to make my shape. TRY IT!!!! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! I got so many rave reviews on this.

Super tasty and really easy. I gave it 4 stars because it didn't fluff up as expected but that could be due to the fact that I mixed by hand instead of an electric mixer. Will be making this again for sure!

THE BEST!!!! I've never liked buttercream frosting because it's usually too sweet and greasy tasting for me, but this is absolutely MARVELOUS! Not too sweet, delicate flavor, and light. This is now my recipe to cover all upcoming birthday cakes. No more canned frosting for me. There is no comparison between the two. If frosting 3 dozen cookies, 4 servings of frosting is about right.

Easy, fast and good. Very fluffy.

I thought it tasted like it was missing something...I didnt like how runny it turned out. I will continue to find something better

For the longest time I wouldn't even make cakes because I dis-liked store bought icing and couldn't find a home made recipe I liked. Well, I found it and I wouldn't change a thing about the recipe. It is one of those that I could just eat it all out of the bowl recipes! Thank You

I didn't like this recipe at all. I followed it exactly and made it twice as I needed a lot of icing. I was looking for professional icing like you find in the bakery, needless to say I was very disappointed.

This is my favorite buttercream frosting. It's simple to make and never fails. I follow the recipe exactly except I sometimes add a little extra vanilla or sugar. I most recently used this to frost Red Velvet Cupcakes from this site (the recipe that uses instant chocolate pudding) and it was perfect for piping on the cupcakes.

This is delicious and the texture is fluffy. It does not leave a gross coating in your mouth, unlike the frosting recipes that use shortening.

A 5 star buttercream icing for sure! Super easy and delicious. I doubled the recipe, and as far as the consistancy goes if you want it thicker then just add less milk!! And, most definately use SALTED SWEET CREAM BUTTER! One thing I did that pushed this icing over the edge was I added a splash of cold French vanilla coffee from this morning. Wow!! SO delicious! Added red food coloring for my strawberry cake. Thanks for this recipe! :)

Great texture and super easy to make. I followed the recipe exactly and it was a tad too sweet for me. I will make it again though, and try with a little less sugar.

I absolutely love this icing! I always get a ton of compliments on it and it has the perfect consistency for decorating cakes. I always have to double it, or tripple it in order to make enough for my cakes, but it's fantastic! (:

I LOVE this recipe!!! Very fluffy and creamy and not too sweet. I added about 2/3 cup baking cocoa to make chocolate and it turned out so good. Like another reviewer>> I could sit and eat the whole bowl and I'm usually not a frosting person.

I LOVE this recipe! I am very picky with frosting and usually leave it on the plate....but not this one. The flavor and consistancy is perfect. It's so smooth and creamy. The recipe does yeild a small amount if you're trying to ice a cake. With one recipe I was able to spead a generous amount between two 8" round layers and crumb coat it but didn't have enough icing left to properly spread between two 10" layers. I did doudle the recipe and it too turned out perfectly. Thanks for the PERFECT buttercream recipe!

I put this frosting on sugar cookies and they were all gone that day. Very good.

This was a great recipe!! My friends and I made Mickey Mouse cupcakes with this frosting and it was delicious! (Even though some of it started to melt...) I added double the amount of vanilla extract and a little bit of almond extract. Amazing!

This worked well for what I was doing, and the frosting tasted good. A LOT of butter though.

Followed recipe. Kind of soft, but delicious! Can try placing in fridge for a bit to firm up like another reviewer suggested.

I added a 1/3 cup of baking cocoa to make chocolate. Very awesome!

This icing was pretty good. I used it on snickerdoodle cupcakes and threw in (a little too much) cinnamon sugar and it was very light but very sweet(probably due to the cinnamon sugar). Next time I will mix mine more and use a little less milk because it was not as fluffy as I had liked. I love that it uses all butter though.

This was wonderful in that it made a perfect amount to frost 12 cupcates and 1 8" round cake, and used ingredients I have on hand. About the only time I have heavy cream or shortening, both common ingredients for these types of frostings, is during the holidays. It went together like a dream, and it's just sweet enough!

I made this for icing cupcakes for my daughters birthday party. It was awesome, I did add a touch more vanilla and used salted butter as that's all I buy and we all loved it!

this recipe saved the day! i originally found another butter cream recipe on this site but it turned out like doughnut glaze. and so, i continued to venture through pages of butter cream recipes that had a good star rating and were simple enough. finally, i found this recipe. it was almost perfect! smooth, thick, and not too buttery. :) i will be using this recipe again :)

OMG, i have been searching for the consistency to pipe and have failed miserably!! not one frosting attempt has been sucessful until this one!! Absolutely wonderful!!

Way too watery, followed the directions to a T, it's kinda like water

Terrific! Will never use canned again. This is easy and delicious. I did use salted butter because it is all I had in the house. It still tasted great. I creamed the butter and then added the powdered sugar and vanilla. I used a bit extra vanilla. Then after everything was mixed I added milk to get it to the consistency I wanted. Ended up using very little milk. I doubled the recipe and only used 1 tablespoon. Partly because of the extra vanilla I am sure and I wanted it a little stiffer. The recipe doubled allowed me to frost my 9 x 13 cake and have extra to pipe with. This frosting was excellent for piping! Definitely recommend. Thank you for sharing.

Perfect! I made a batch of this to use for cake pops but found myself sampling it a few extra times... yum! I used vanilla bean and I loved how pretty and speckled this was! I don't know how far this would go for icing a cake, but it worked perfectly for 24cupcakes worth of cake pops.

this icing did turn out wonderful! I paired it with "heavenly white cake" and it was a knockout combination.

Creamy and delicious!

Awesome frosting!!! I needed a frosting for sugar cookies, and I needed it in a hurry. This was so good,even my 4 year old loved it. And, it worked out great! Will use this again and again.

Great thick frosting and looks fab on cupcakes-very easy to make and tastes like the bakery

Extremely to sugary. I follwed this recipe exactly how it is stated. I've been searching for a good buttercream frosting and have yet to find one. Typically if it was too sweet i wouldnt mind because i like sweets, but it was just not appealing to my taste buds at all. It also only made enough to ice the middle and top of the cake.

Great icing. Couldn't be easier and I didn't change a thing (other than doubling the recipe to frost a 2 layer cake).

This is the BEST frosting we've EVER had!! My hubby and kids ask me to bake cakes just so they can eat the frosting! Fantastic!!

This was so good and very easy. I loved the texture of the frosting, fluffy and light. I put this frosting on top of the Sweet Vanilla cupcake that I found on this site.

Love this recipe!! Especially with added coco to make it chocolate frosting! I put this on the 'Best Chocolate Cake You Have Ever Eaten' recipe from this site, and brought it to work for a birthday party, and it was gone, with the icing scrapped from the pan! lol! :)

Absolutely the BEST buttercream frosting! I added maple extract instead of the vanilla to gv it a mapley taste.... Almond extract would be yummy too! I will DEF use this again! Added to my recipe box!

Really nice crusting buttercream recipe - you just need to TRIPLE this at least in order to decorate a cake!!!!!!! This icing was delicious because of the butter in it. I doubled this recipe and could barely coat a 9x13 inch cake. I wish I would have tripled it but I ran out of butter!!!!

This is the best buttercream icing I've made! The key really is to beat it for at least 3 minutes - such a wonderful fluffy texture. I've never done this with frosting before, but it really makes the difference! I used Mexican vanilla extract, it adds a great flavor. Using real unsalted butter is important too. I whipped up 1/2 batch of this recipe to frost "banana oat bars" from this site. ***** UPDATE 01/28/11: I doubled the recipe and it was just perfect for 24 cupcakes.

WOW! I had all of these ingredients on hand--this tasted soooooooooooooo wonderful. I added a cube of almond bark to the mixture...I dont know if made the texture better or worse, but man it tasted good! I had to MAKE MYSELF STOP eating the icing. Will definitely use this again!

I was not a fan of this frosting and neither was anyone else. Too sweet and not in a good way, either. The consistency was not anything like a buttercream that you would find at a bakery. Very disappointing.

Delicious! I doubled the recipe and still only covered a 9x13 with none left over, so it is a small amount.

Made this with a homemade strawberry cake recipe and it was really good. One of the better recipes I have found for this type of icing! :)

This is just like my mom's fabulous icing and since she does it off the cuff she can never explain to me exactly how she does it. Got ya now Mom!

this is great! i tripled the recipe and had more than enough to frost a 2-layer 9-inch chocolate cake. i tinted it pink for my daughter's birthday cake and it looked fabulous. the flavor is excellent, very vanilla-ee :)

Wow! This icing is great! It holds up very well in the humidity, although, I did add 1 egg white to a doubled recipe. I used it on my brother's birthday cake. It did not melt as most icings do and it didn't harden. Perfect! The cake had so many complements. I will be using this recipe again.

Soooo good! I paired it with the Simple White Cake recipe.

This is the very best tasting icing I have ever had! I will never use another recipe! It taste so buttery! And I do not even like icing!