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Perfect Italian Buttercream Frosting is a rich, smooth, and incredibly delicious traditional icing that is the best choice to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
This is the same kind of buttercream frosting that you’ll find on many professional wedding cakes. Its silky texture is unlike any other frosting or icing recipe that you’ll ever find, it is gorgeous when piped, and can be flavored and colored in countless ways.
Why this recipe works:
When you consider how perfectly smooth, rich, creamy, and heavenly this buttercream frosting is and how incredibly easy it is to use for decorating, it will soon be one of your favorites.
- Italian buttercream is considered more difficult than traditional American buttercream only because you must get the hot sugar syrup to an exact temperature, but once you get the hang of this recipe it is actually super easy to make.
- This frosting is a decorator’s dream! It is incredibly smooth and creamy. When refrigerated it gets hard because of all the butter, which makes it perfect as a crumb coat before your final layer of frosting or fondant is added.
- Italian buttercream holds up really well at room temperature. You can use it to decorate both cakes and cupcakes.
- If you like a frosting that is rich and buttery and not too sweet, this is your kind of recipe!
Whether you use it for a dry crumb frosting base only before adding fondant and fancy decorations, or you cover the entire cake in buttercream frosting, it truly is one of the most gorgeous things you can put on a cake.
How to make my Italian buttercream:
- First step is to get the sugar mixture to the soft ball stage. This is done by heating the sugar and corn syrup in a pot over the stove. You must use a good thermometer to ensure it is the correct temperature.
- Next you will beat the egg whites. Once they begin to get foamy but soft peaks haven’t formed, you will add the hot sugar syrup.
- Then you will add the softened butter, one cube at a time.
- Finally, you will mix in the vanilla extract. If you’re wanting to color the frosting, this is when you would add the food coloring.
Cooking tips:
- You must get your sugar to the soft-ball stage which is 235 degrees F. I live close to sea level, so this is the temperature I go by. At high altitudes, water boils at a lower temperature. For example, at 4500 feet above sea level, water boils at 204° F. If candy is cooked until it reaches the soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer, it will have cooked too long.
- I add a bit of corn syrup to my recipe because it adds a beautiful sheen, but this can be omitted if you want to make a pure Italian buttercream recipe.
- I recommend mixing the egg whites while the sugar syrup heats up. Ideally you want them ready as soon as the sugar syrup hits it’s temperature.
- When you whip your egg whites, you want them to have a lot of air and a beautiful sheen, but do not let them get to the stiff peak stage.
- Remember to be patient. I’ve had a lot of readers who had this recipe turn out perfectly and others who couldn’t get it to work. Once you start adding the butter, it will look awful, but you just have to keep mix and just like magic, you will end up with the best buttercream frosting.
Different types of buttercream frosting:
If you’re like me, you probably grew up making what is considered American buttercream. As far as taste goes, that is still my preference, but some consider it too sweet.
If you didn’t realize there are different kinds of buttercream frosting, here’s a quick summary:
- AMERICAN: Powdered sugar + softened butter + milk + vanilla
- SWISS MERINGUE: Egg whites + sugar whisked together over boiling water and then beaten with butter
- FRENCH: Egg yolks + homemade sugar syrup + butter
- ITALIAN: Homemade sugar syrup + egg whites + white sugar + softened butter
Related Recipes:
Since Italian Buttercream can be more difficult to make, you might be more interested in making these other super easy frosting recipes:
- Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Frosting
- Mascarpone Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
And what good is frosting without a delicious, moist, scratch made cupcake or cake recipe!
- Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes
- Carrot Cake
- Hummingbird Cake
- Lemon Cupcakes
- Orange Cupcakes
- Traditional Yellow Cake
- Super Easy Chocolate Cake
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Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 5 egg whites approx 185g
- 1 lb unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons corn syrup to a small saucepan, drizzle a few tablespoons of water over the sugar, and stir together until the sugar is all moistened. It will have a wet sand feeling about it. Cook the sugar over medium high to high heat to the softball stage of 235 F using a candy thermometer. Use a pastry brush to lightly water down the inner sides of the sauce pan to prevent crystallization. When the sugar is done, turn off the burner (if gas), or move the pan off the burner (if electric).
- Begin to whip your 5 egg whites with a whip attachment in a stand mixer. When the meringue begins to look opaque, but is not to any sort of 'peak' stage yet, slowly pour the cooked sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl, as the mixture is whipping on a medium speed. Allow the mixture to whip until glossy medium peaks form and the meringue is cool to the touch.
- Turn the mixer on a low speed, and add the 1 lb unsalted butter, one stick at a time. Be sure meringue is cool to the touch first so that the butter doesn't melt! Mix until the mixture comes together. Don't be scared! The mixture will separate and look terrible before it comes together again, which It will- I promise. Be patient.
- Once the mixture is smooth and wonderful-looking, add the 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and whip just until combined.
Notes
- You must get your sugar to the soft-ball stage which is 235 degrees F. I live close to sea level, so this is the temperature I go by. At high altitudes, water boils at a lower temperature. For example, at 4500 feet above sea level, water boils at 204° F. If candy is cooked until it reaches the soft-ball stage on a candy thermometer, it will have cooked too long.
- I add a bit of corn syrup to my recipe because it adds a beautiful sheen, but this can be omitted if you want to make a pure Italian buttercream recipe.
- I recommend mixing the egg whites while the sugar syrup heats up. Ideally you want them ready as soon as the sugar syrup hits it’s temperature.
- When you whip your egg whites, you want them to have a lot of air and a beautiful sheen, but do not let them get to the stiff peak stage.
- Remember to be patient. I’ve had a lot of readers who had this recipe turn out perfectly and others who couldn’t get it to work. Once you start adding the butter, it will look awful, but you just have to keep mix and just like magic, you will end up with the best buttercream frosting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in November 2017 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don’t worry – the recipe hasn’t changed!
Can you make this with plant butter?
I have only ever made it with real butter so I’m not sure it would turn out.
Hi Kristy,
Is it possible to add a quantity of lemon curd to the finished product without ruining the buttercream. I’m making a wedding cake and I’m not sure if I should mix the curd in with the buttercream for stability of a layer cake, or apply separately. I love this recipe it’s my go to for a beautiful smooth finish.
Thanks
Debbie
Personally, I would do a layer of lemon curd, freeze it, and then top with the frosting. It may work to mix it in, but I don’t know what it would do to the texture.
End result: fantastic! I followed the recipe, but it really looked like small curd cottage cheese and whey for a bit. Just when I was ready to dump it and start over, I decided to leave it mixing while I had a coffee. When I checked again it looked like large curd cottage cheese with less whey. 🤣 fast forward to several minutes later, and it was smooth perfection. The flavor is great. The level of sweet is great. I will definitely try this again. Thank you so much for including your reassuring words that it will look bad but keep mixing…. it seriously looked like a lost cause for a while.
Great commentary! You’re the kind of voice I want on my videos. 🙂 Glad it worked out for you!
Hi Krissy
I’ve been following your blog for a few years – love it. Today, when I opened my laptop this recipe popped up (very timely, I might add!). I’ve been looking for a cupcake frosting that will hold up in Southern California July. I need to make 4 dozen cupcakes for my granddaughter’s gender reveal party. I have to transport them for a 2 hour drive. Question: Do you think it would be okay to frost the cupcakes then refrigerate them? I could then transport them to the party in a cooler.
Thank you in advance.
First – thank you SO MUCH for being a loyal foodie friend. I truly appreciate it! To answer your question – this frosting holds up perfectly if chilled. In fact, it really needs to come to room temp (or close to it) before I eat it purely because of the amount of butter in the recipe. That being said, I think they would hold up VERY well if you frost, refrigerate, and then keep them cool for transport.
Like you I always fixed ABC so today was my daughter’s birthday and I thought I would try your recipe and it turned out great very first time. Love it now it’s my favorite.