Whipped Buttercream Frosting

This whipped buttercream frosting recipe is perfect for those who love a light, airy, and not overly sweet frosting. It goes great with your favorite cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies, adding a touch of creamy goodness without being overpoweringly sweet.

Try this whipped buttercream frosting recipe with five ingredients (including granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar) and a few minutes of your time. It’s fluffy, sweet, and perfect for piping and will make your baked goods stand out.

This whipped buttercream frosting is not only great on its own, but it also works wonders on a chocolate mayonnaise cake. And if you’re looking for more ways to use this versatile frosting, it pairs beautifully with zucchini cake and pumpkin cake too.

Why I Love This Recipe

• Classic Flavors: The combination of butter, sugar, and vanilla extract creates a classic, time-tested flavor that everyone loves.
• Light and Fluffy: If you’ve always wanted a buttercream frosting that was both light and airy, then you’ll love this recipe. It’s perfectly light and just delicious!
• Surprisingly Simple: Despite its luxurious texture and flavor, this recipe is surprisingly simple to make. It’s a quick fix for any dessert.
• Perfect for Desserts: Since this whipped buttercream frosting doesn’t have a strong flavor, it’s perfect to use on your favorite desserts to let their flavors shine and not be overpowered by the frosting.

Key Ingredients

• White Shortening: This ingredient is a type of fat that helps to give the cake a light and fluffy texture.
• Butter: The fat in this recipe, it gives the buttercream a beautiful buttery flavor and also a delicious flavor.
• Granulated Sugar: This is what sweetens the frosting for the perfect level of sweetness without an overpowering flavor.
• Vanilla Extract: This ingredient adds a lovely aroma and flavor to the frosting that balances out all the flavors of the other ingredients.
• Hot Milk: It helps to dissolve the sugar and shortening, and also contributes to the consistency of the buttercream.

Equipment

• Hand Mixer – This is essential to effectively combine the butter, shortening, and sugar, and to incorporate the vanilla extract and hot milk into the mixture. It also helps to achieve the light and fluffy texture of the frosting.
• Measuring Cups and Spoons – These are necessary to accurately measure the ingredients.
• Mixing Bowl – You will need this to hold your ingredients while you mix them together using the hand mixer.

How to Make Whipped Buttercream Frosting

Preparation

Before you start, gather all your ingredients: butter, shortening, sugar, vanilla extract, and hot milk. Make sure your hand mixer is ready and clean.

Step 1 – Combine Butter, Shortening, and Sugar

Start by using your hand mixer to combine the butter, shortening, and sugar. This is the base of your whipped vanilla buttercream frosting recipe. The key here is to mix these ingredients on high speed to ensure they are well blended.

Step 2 – Add Vanilla Extract and Hot Milk

Once your base is ready, it’s time to add flavor to your frosting. Add the vanilla extract and hot milk to the mixture. These ingredients will give your frosting a sweet and creamy flavor that pairs well with any cake or cupcakes.

Step 3 – Continue to Mix

After adding the vanilla extract and hot milk, continue to mix the frosting on high speed. This step is crucial to achieve the light and fluffy texture that makes buttercream frosting so delicious. You should mix for approximately 5 minutes, but don’t forget to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.

Step 4 – Check the Frosting

Once your frosting has been mixed for about 5 minutes, it should be light and fluffy. This is the perfect texture for frosting your sweets, whether you’re making layer cakes, sugar cookies, or cupcakes. If your frosting is too thick, you can add a bit more hot milk; if it’s too thin, add a bit more sugar.

Step 5 – Decorate

Now that your frosting is ready, it’s time to decorate your sweets. You can pipe the frosting onto your cakes or cupcakes, or spread it with a knife for a more rustic look. 

Expert Tip

For the best whipped cream frosting, ensure your milk is very hot at 130˚ F but not boiling, before adding it to the mixture. Also, remember that the frosting may not come together immediately, but keep whipping at high speed until you achieve the desired light and fluffy texture.

Recipe Variations

• Chocolate: Add 2 ounces of melted and cooled chocolate plus 1 to 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder midway through the mixing process of this whipped buttercream frosting recipe for a rich, chocolatey flavor to make a chocolate buttercream frosting.
• Brown Butter: Swap half of the butter with brown butter that has been chilled until firm but flexible for a nutty twist to your frosting.
• Extracts: In addition to the vanilla extract, try a teaspoon or less of peppermint, orange, lemon, coffee, almond, or rose extract to infuse different flavors into your frosting.
• Liqueur: Instead of the milk, use one to two tablespoons of a liqueur like Kahlua, Baileys, Cointreau, Chambord, Poire Williams, Frangelico, Amaretto, Creme, or any other good-quality nut-, fruit-, coffee-, or mint-based liqueur that you like for an adult twist to your frosting.

What to Serve With

• For a classic dessert, try using this whipped buttercream frosting recipe to top off your favorite cake or cupcakes. The light and fluffy texture of the frosting complements the moist cake, making every bite a heavenly treat.
• If you’re a fan of sweets, consider using this frosting to decorate sugar cookies. The sweet and creamy frosting tastes wonderful with the crunch of the cookies, adding an extra layer of flavor.
• For a fun and creative dessert, pipe this whipped buttercream frosting onto layer cakes. You can even add decorations like sprinklers or edible flowers for a festive touch.
• If you’re looking for a simple yet delicious treat, spread this frosting on a warm muffin. The heat from the muffin will slightly melt the frosting, giving it a creamy and irresistible texture.

Recipe FAQs

Storing and Reheating

• Refrigerate: If you have leftover frosting, simply scrape it into an airtightly sealed container and store it in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for up to one week.
• Freeze: Unfortunately, our whipped buttercream frosting recipe does not freeze well. The texture changes upon thaw, making it difficult to pipe onto your cupcakes or layer cakes.

Serving Size

• What to Expect: This whipped buttercream frosting recipe will yield enough frosting to generously cover a two-layer cake or 24 cupcakes.
• How to Scale: If you’re planning to decorate more cupcakes or larger layer cakes, you can easily double or triple the recipe. Just ensure to use a larger bowl and your hand mixer can handle the increased volume. Follow the instructions as directed, and remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are well incorporated.