Quick Buttercream Frosting

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Quick Buttercream Frosting

star rating (13) rate this recipe »
Published prior to 2008

You may use all butter in this quick buttercream, but using vegetable shortening makes a frosting that will be a little firmer in warmer temperatures. Also, using the optional meringue powder, while not necessary, will help your frosting holds its shape. This amount of frosting is fine to frost the top of a 9" x 13" cake. If you're frosting a layer cake, double the recipe to have enough frosting to pipe decorations.

1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter or non-transfat vegetable shortening (we used 1/4 cup of each)
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon meringue powder, optional, for "holding power"
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 to 3 cups (10 to 12 ounces) confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons (1 to 2 ounces) milk

Cream the butter and/or shortening until fluffy. Beat in the salt, meringue powder, and the vanilla. Add the confectioners' or glazing sugar, 2 tablespoons of the milk, and beat well.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Adjust the consistency of the frosting as needed by adding more confectioners' sugar or milk. If you're not going to use the frosting right away, keep it at room temperature, covered, to prevent it from developing a dry crust. Yield: 2 1/2 cups.

Reviews

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  • star rating 12/03/2011
  • rachb from KAF Community
  • Tastes so good! Super easy to make. If your doing decorated cupcakes make sure you double the recipe. You will not be disappointed with this one, a keeper!
  • star rating 10/26/2011
  • shmilypsta from KAF Community
  • WAAAAYYYY too sugary!! Followed the recipe exactly... only subbed 2T cherry concentrate as directed by the cherry cupcake recipe. Made way too much for the cupcake recipe and so overpowered the cake in its sugary-ness that it made them unenjoyable. My six-year-old wouldn't eat them, if that tells you anything! Because it was fluffy with a nice texture, I will try again only I will make serious adjustments.
    Sorry for the disappointment. This recipe does make a lot of frosting that can be stored in your refrigerator for future use (within a week or two). We'd love to hear about your adjustments to share with other who find this sweeter than expected. Irene @ KAF
  • star rating 10/23/2011
  • pmartin65 from KAF Community
  • This turned out well, and it really is very quick. It complimented my red velvet cupcakes nicely.
  • star rating 07/30/2011
  • Jenn from WA
  • This is such an easy and tasty recipe! I have made this twice, once with Fiori di Sicilia and once with vanilla bean paste. Both were excellent. Thanks for the great recipe!
  • star rating 06/01/2011
  • Andrea1987 from KAF Community
  • Have finally found the buttercream I've been looking for. I used half Smart Balance Original in the tub, and half non-hydrogenated shortening. Came out nice and the consistency was right where I wanted it. Used it to frost an 8 inch 2 layer gluten free chocolate cake mix from KAF. Delicious!!
  • star rating 05/28/2011
  • kkaschke from KAF Community
  • Could I make this into coconut buttercream by substituting coconut extract for the vanilla and coconut milk for the milk?
    Exchanging the flavorings will work just fine. Go by taste. Coconut Milk may make the final icing grainy. Stay with regular milk, the flavor change should be able to do the whole job. Frank @ KAF.
  • star rating 03/28/2011
  • claireelaine from KAF Community
  • Best Buttercream frosting that I have ever made...super easy, nice and fluffy, perfect for piping onto cupcakes. I made a plain batch, and then a lemon batch by substituting fresh lemon juice for the milk.
  • star rating 12/17/2010
  • kmtwriter from KAF Community
  • Tasty frosting. My cat's favorite recipe. He licked a half-dollar size bare patch on one cupcake before I caught him. The humans in the family enjoyed the rest of the frosted cupcakes.
  • star rating 11/05/2010
  • Dawn from RI
  • This is my go to recipe! Have modified it a tad, but the ratios are great to produce a nicely rounded buttercream that doesn't taste too sugary. Thank you King Arthur!!! :-)
  • star rating 06/28/2010
  • Allison from NJ
  • This is a great tasting recipe and was pretty quick to make. I used all butter, since I rarely keep shortening on hand. If you plan to pipe icing on cupcakes, you may want to make a double batch. I barely had enough to ice 24 cupcakes.
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