Perfect 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 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. While it takes a little time to make and boiling sugar can be intimidating, this Perfect Buttercream Frosting freezes quite well, so you can make it ahead of time and always have some on hand.
Perfect Buttercream Frosting was a first in my kitchen. I’ve always been a cream cheese frosting or butter frosting kind of girl and I probably always will be, like my brown butter vanilla bean frosting or my blueberry cream cheese frosting. Yum! I’ll admit, I had never made a traditional Italian buttercream frosting before. This was the first time I had made frosting with a hot sugar syrup.
What are the different types of buttercream frosting?
- AMERICAN: Powdered sugar + softened butter + milk + vanilla
- SWISS: Egg whites + light corn syrup + white sugar + softened butter
- FRENCH: Egg yolks + homemade sugar syrup + butter
- ITALIAN: Homemade sugar syrup + egg whites + white sugar + softened butter
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. 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 Perfect Buttercream Frosting:
- 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 because it adds a beautiful sheen, but this can be omitted if you want to make a pure Italian buttercream recipe.
- 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.
I’ve talked before about my fear of boiling sugar. I’ve since gotten over that fear because I’ve found making homemade marshmallows is worth it, and am so proud that I’m not longer afraid to face boiling sugar because that’s how you make this buttercream. If you follow the directions exactly, you’ll watch magic happen right before your eyes. To think, whisking in melted sugar at the exact right temperature into whipped egg whites and then adding an obscene amount of butter yields absolute perfection – its like a chemistry class right in your kitchen!
What else you can make with boiling sugar besides buttercream icing?
- Raspberry Marshmallows – can you imagine how wonderful these are roasted and sandwiched between graham crackers and dark chocolate?
- Salted Caramel Sauce – put it on ice cream, put it on pie, put it on a brownie
- Marshmallow Creme – the homemade version is roughly 1000x better than any pre-made kind you’ll find at the store
- Chocolate Marshmallows – outstanding on hot chocolate
- Salted Mocha Caramels – probably the best caramels I’ve ever had
- Peppermint Marshmallows – these make fantastic Christmas gifts
Some of the tools I used to make this Perfect Buttercream Frosting:
Stand mixer: This is a kitchen must-have. I use mine almost any time I bake. It’s one of the few appliances I will allow to always remain on the counter rather than be put away.
Silicone spatula: Any time you’re working with a frosting, you’ll need a good quality scraper. These are the ones I use because they do the job right and don’t leave a nasty silicone taste when I like the batter off at the end!
Icing decorating set: You can always use the old snip-the-corner-off-the-ziplock-bag method, but using a real bag and an official frosting tip makes it oh-so-pretty. I know it’s wasteful, but I prefer the disposable bags for easy clean up.
Watch me make this amazing buttercream recipe in the video below!
Perfect Buttercream Frosting
RECIPE VIDEO
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
- Portion the sugar and corn syrup in 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 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 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 butter, one stick at a time. 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 vanilla and whip just until combined.
Notes
Nutrition
Be sure to check out my layered pumpkin cake where I fold hazelnut butter into this amazing buttercream frosting!
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This is known in the professional baking world as Italian buttercream!
Aloha. Can you double this recipe? I live in Hawaii and I’ve made Italian meringue buttercream before but just curious if you happen to know what the correct temperature would be?
Thank you…
Siona
Aloha! You can certainly double it, but the original recipe makes a lot! Cook the sugar to the softball stage of 235 F using a candy thermometer.
Actually, Krissy already made it clear that Italian buttercream did not have corn syrup. I believe that makes this a hybrid of Italian and French.
Disaster!! Never got thick and creamy. I did something wrong…possibly not mixing egg whites long enough, but don’t want to waste another lb of butter to try it again. I’ll stick with my powder sugar, butter, with a little milk and vanilla.
Sorry it didn’t work for you! Italian Meringue buttercream is definitely worth the process. Not sure why it didn’t work for you. I’ve made it several times and it always comes together perfectly.
The problem probably was putting butter to a hot meringue mixture… witch makes the whole cream runny and all nasty
Couple of questions: how many cups does this recipe make? How do you store it/can you store it? How stable is it at room temperature? Does it crust? Is it easy to color and use for figure piping (flowers)?
Thanks.
Hi Becki, I didn’t measure, but it looked like at least 4 cups. It was enough to frost a 4 layer 9″ round cake in between layers with a dirty crumb frosting and then a final outer layer. I would store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temp before spreading or piping. Its very stable at room temp and it does not crust like royal icing. It is easy to color as well as to add additional flavor (i.e. I added hazelnut butter for my pumpkin cake). Hope that helps! Krissy
Can we leave out the corn syrup?
Hi Melissa, I actually don’t know. This is the first time I’ve made it. If you make it and omit the corn syrup, will you let me know how it turns out? Thanks! Krissy
Yes leave out the corn syrup. I make the Italian merengue buttercream from the CakeLove cookbook. Is pretty much the same just without the corn syrup. Also, for chocolate, melt 1/2 cup 60%cocoa chocolate cups and pour in before adding butter. It’s sooooo God and not to sweet.
Is this granulated sugar or confectioners sugar?
Granulated sugar. Will update recipe to reflect. Thanks! -Krissy
Looks fabulous! But I’m wondering if this buttercream has another name, because it’s nothing like buttercream we’ve always made with powdered sugar and butter/shortening.
Hi Cindy, This is a Swiss meringue buttercream. Thanks! Krissy
This is not a Swiss meringue. Swiss meringue is made by adding the sugar to the egg whites and then tempering that in a double boiler BEFORE whipping to peak. That would be cooking the egg first. Your recipe is an Italian meringue buttercream. You are using a raw egg white meringue and drizzling hot syrup intro the mix.
Okay, thank you for the clarification! -Krissy
This is actually an Italian buttercream because with Swiss buttercream, you heat the egg whites. Never tried it but I’ll have to because I’m not a huge fan of American buttercream due to the sweetness. Thanks for the recipe!
It’s called Italian buttercream. They have different type of buttercreams for each country. Americans prefer the American butter cream with shortening, butter, poweder sugar, vanilla,etc. if I’m not mistaken the American version always has shortening in it.
In the video this is Italian Buttercream. It’s very good and not as dense and sweet as American.
Nope. Many, if not most, of us make buttercream using only butter, powdered sugar, Vanilla Extract, and a couple spoons of milk or cream to reach desired consistency. I prefer unsalted butter, Land O Lakes makes the best buttercream frosting. There’s not enough money on this earth to convince me to add shortening of any kind to my frostings.
Totally agree with Cheryl 🙂 Land of the Lakes is very good here in the States, but also to. I have found that Challenge Butter is little bit less in price but taste the same. But, I use them both. Sister In Law works for Milk Plant, and believe it or not most all the butter they produce is pretty much the same and the taste, just labeled differently…go figure, huh?
Raw egg whites could be a problem. Is there any alternative??
not for this version.
The high temperature of the sugar syrup cooks the egg whites, hence the”magic”. Thanks Krissy. I am an old foodie, before the term foodie.
I’ve used Pasteurized Egg Whites. But…make sure you buy the ones that have nothing added to them. The carton should only contain egg whites and absolutely nothing else. I also use them for making homemade angel food cakes with great results.
I know this is an older comment, but the sugar going into the egg whites is 235F/112C. The eggs are not going to survive that uncooked.
The hot sugar syrup cooks the eggs enough to be out of the danger zone ? The corn syrup is added for extra shine, it can be eliminated. Hope this helps everyone
The egg whites are cooked through when adding the hot sugar syrup so it’s safe.
Looks like a delicious recipe but a little concerned about the raw egg whites
Use fresh eggst and with the hot syrup is everything fine. You cook the eggwhites with the syrup.
Is there a chocolate version?
I haven’t made one yet. Stay tuned! Krissy
At the bottom of the recipe there was a comment ~ for choc add 1/2 cup of 60% cacao choc. and whip into mixture before adding butter . I haven’t tried it but did read that above. See ” J says” in the earlier comments
Is it safe to eat being the egg whites are raw and not cooked.
Hi Heather, I think its fine as long as you use high quality eggs, plus the hot syrup helps cook them. Krissy
This looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it! Can you please elaborate on the part about wetting the sides with a pastry brush? I’d love to give this a try and thanks so much for sharing! 🙂 Shelley
Hi Shelley, you just need to keep the crystals off the side of the pot. That’s all. Hope that helps! Krissy
Can you please give me the measurements in grams. Thank you.
How many tablespoons of water do you consider a few? It seems to vary with everyone!
2-3. It doesn’t matter that much because the water will evaporate. Hope that helps! Krissy
Hi, how much water do you add to the sugar and corn syrup mixture?
Thank you!
Hi Mari, It doesn’t matter because it evaporates in the cooking process. The water is just to keep the crystals off the side of the pot. Thanks, Krissy
If this recipe makes 4 cups. Isn’t that too much for the 12 cupcakes?
It’s a lot of frosting. If you make a mountain on each cupcake, its the right amount. 🙂
May I make some flowers with this recipe?
Think you!
Yes! It holds its shape well.
Mine never broke apart. It acted to liquid. Was the candy suppose to cool for a certain time.
Shoot. Sorry it didn’t work. The sugar syrup needs to be added while its hot. It takes awhile for it to come together. It never worked? Krissy
Hi there!
I just made this and the taste is great… however, fot some readon it is not thick enough 🙁
What can I do?
Keep mixing!
I made this yesterday, as well, and just now reading through the comments. Mine, also, never became what I would consider a frosting. It had the consistency of a velouté or chowder. I whisked for a very long time, even after the butter was added, with a KitchenAid stand mixer.
I ended up adding corn starch to the mixture to get it to a frosting consistency. Even at a fairly loose stage you could taste the chalkiness of the raw cornstarch.
I wonder what went wrong? Sugar was a piping hot 235°F per candy/fry thermometer. (First batch crystalized and had to be tossed, which I’ve read is more likely if you don’t add the corn syrup.)
Doh! I just realized, after more comment reading, that my measurements were off. :'(
I used 1.5 cups superfine sugar (probably way more sugar than 1.25 cups normally-granulated), and only 0.5 lbs of butter.
Will read more closely next time!!
Would love to know how great it is under fondant? Reaction if any? Crumbing the cake? Thanks in advance.
It’s perfect for use with fondant, especially after the crumb coat has been refrigerated. -Krissy
Would love to know if it works well as a crumb coat? Any reactions with fondant? Much appreciated
This is perfect as a crumb coat. Because of all the butter, it gets very hard/solid once refrigerated (which is why it tastes best at room temp). Anyway, when its cold, fondant rolls out perfectly on top. -Krissy
The recipe looks great. i just have one question, is there a substitute for Corn syrup that will work for this recipe?
You can omit if needed. It just gives it extra shine.
If you dont use the corn syrup you will just mix the sugar and water until it is 235?
I’ve never made it without corn syrup, but yes – that is what I would do.
Hello,
I am just curious, why add the corn syrup? Does it affect the consistency? I can’t wait to try this recipe, it reminds of of Italian Meringue except there is no corn syrup.
it gives it nice shine
The corn syrup also helps prevent crystallization because of the molecular structure. You do still need to wash down the sides of the pan, but it isn’t as much of a problem with the addition of the corn syrup. Hope this helps!
Your recipes are awesome..Please tell the cup(sugar) measurement and water measurement for this recipe. Thanks in advance
Thanks! The sugar amount is listed in the recipe.
I’m so bummed–I got to the stage where you add the butter and at that point it was smooth, creamy and tasty (It would not have held a shape well) but when I added the butter I only had one stick of real butter and the rest of it was margarine. Word of advice-Don’t use margarine. 🙁 It tasted gross. My question is-can you skip the butter part and just whip the egg white sugar mixture? I am so disappointed-I had stupidly even doubled the recipe b/c I wanted lots of frosting and just threw it all in the garbage.
Noooooo. Never use margarine! Like, for anything! And you can totally omit the butter, but then it wouldn’t be buttercream. It would just be meringue. 🙂
Margarine was originally invented to fatten up turkeys! It used to come with a packet of yellow coloring that you kneaded into it to make it look like butter. Nasty chemicals is all it is!
Yes….margarine is only one molecule apart from that of plastic…..never use it! Butter or organic coconut oil….much better choices.
Oh man, I know exactly how you feel mate, made the same mistake whilst making american buttercream. It tasted so gross and the consistency was absolutely terrible!(not to talk about the color).
But in the end I was able to save it by adding artificial flavoring, it wasn’t at all as I would have wanted it but somehow halfway edible.
I will never use margarine again, mark my words children…
Hi Krissy,
how many days ahead can i make this buttercream?
Thanks
Rutu
I think you can make ahead a good 4-5 days. It keeps well.
Will not use this recipe again. Icing does crust and because of the butter, does not do well at room temp either. On top of that, it isn’t very tasty. Waste of ingredients.
Sorry to hear that! The icing definitely does not crust and I didn’t say that it did in the recipe, so I hope I didn’t make you think it would. Buttercream is actually not my favorite as far as taste goes, but if its made correctly, it is very easy to work with, especially for decorating.
I was really excited to find this recipe, I’ve made caramels, and fudge successfully. Now, I’ve just wasted all those ingredients. Especially the butter! This just tastes like straight butter.
I won’t deny there’s a lot of butter in this recipe. Its all about personal preference. Sorry you didn’t like it.
Absolutely amazing…taste like butter, texture of whipped cream, pipes like buttercream! What more could you ask?
What size star tip did you use in these pictures?
I can’t remember. I never pay attention to the listed size. Sorry!!!
My family can’t do dairy. Has anyone tried this with some other than butter? I have butter flavored coconut oil but not sure it would whip the same. Any suggestions?
Hi if you don’t have corn syrup what substitute can I used. I am not in US
and here where I am in Spain I don’t think I am going to find it.
You can just omit. It only adds shine.
THE best recipe ever! It’s As soft as whipped cream frosting but perfect for the Indian summer when whipped cream frosting becomes runny very fast. Thanks for the recipe! ?
Hello, how many tablespoon does 185g of egg white equal
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+tablespoon+does+185g+of+egg+white+equal&oq=how+many+tablespoon+does+185g+of+egg+white+equal&aqs=chrome..69i57.1453j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=how+many+tablespoons+is+185g+of+egg+white+equal
what happens if i used salted butter? It’s all i have… would it taste weird?
I never think salted butter tastes weird. Just different. But, because it’s sweet, I’m sure it will work!
I wonder if I could make this with coconut sugar?
I typically don’t mess with the ingredients when its something like this because its more of a chemistry experiment and you have to be pretty exact.
Hi! This recipe looks yummy and perfect but I messed up on the 1st try… when melting the sugar it turned brown, it did not stay clear as shown.. what did I do wrong???? When pouring into the egg mix it turned into hard rock candy :/ thanks
You must have heated it too much. You have to be exact with the temp.
Temperature for the sugar mixture also depends on your altitude above sea level. If you live a few thousand feet or more above sea level, you have to adjust the temperatures for cooking any kind of sugars/sugar mixtures. I live at 6,000 feet or so above sea level & my adjustment is 12° less than the temp listed (so I would bring my sugar mixture to 223°F instead of 235°F). I would say if you’re at 3,000 ft. or above to start adjusting temps. The adjustment is down 1° for every 500 feet above sea level or down 2° for every 1,000 feet above sea level (that’s why I adjust down 12°). Hope this helps for anyone who had problems with sugar mixture cooking too much/overcooking!
Thank you for the info!
How well would this transport? Like in a car in the middle of summer???
It can’t get too hot. I’d say the frosting needs to stay under 72F.
It IS primarily butter, right? So, I’d be cautious about putting it in the car, in the middle of summer. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe a cooler, with ice packs might work.
Can this be colored? or would you need to use a special medium to add to the color then to the frosting?
I would us a gel instead of a liquid
You make this look so easy =)
Tried this. Still clumpy and not coming together. Did I do something wrong??
keep mixing!
This worked amazingly!! ?? Thank you for posting this recipe this is such an amazing one!
Hi, thanks for sharing this fantastic buttercream recipe. Can you use this buttercream for a wedding cake instead of the traditional buttercream?
Of course!
Italian meringue(which this recipe actually is) is all that oI pretty much use for my wedding cakes. Because it is butter only it will not hold up so well in the heat so I do substitute some shortening in place of butter for the stability wAnd does not change the light flavor
First off let me just say AMAZING!!! Now that I’ve made it how best to store for use a few days later???
Hi Krissy, I have been looking for a new buttercream to try as the traditional icing is just too sweet especially when covering your cake with fondant, most people will peel off the fondant before diving into a peice of cake then only having a few bites, so I’m eager to see if this is less sweet. I’m going to be making my moms birthday cake in the next few days and it’s going to be fairly tall but only 8-9 inches round as I’m going to be painting a picture of her on it. I was going to make a raspberry buttercream for the filling and crumb coating now I’m wondering if I could adapt this buttercream with the raspberry purée afterwards? Do you think it would hold well together? Also, would you be able to paint on the buttercream or do you think adding a thin layer of fondant would be nescessary for the art work? I know this is a long post and I’m sorry for taking up soooo much room! Oh, last one I promise! I have to travel about 7-8hrs on the road to get to my moms how well do you think it would hold up in a car, and do you have any suggestions on the best way to transport it that distance? Thanks again for sharing this recipe, I will for sure let you know how it turns out if you think I should go for it with the raspberry purée!
Well, I totally suck for letting my comments build up without responding to them. I’m super sorry for the delay, esp since you were asking about a specific event. I was gonna recommend adding freeze dried raspberries. Also, this frosting holds up great for travel with or without fondant if its refrigerated.
A whole POUND of butter? I can hardly believe this! I want to try it, but I’m not a real baker, I just love to bake.
I just made my parents the most amazing annversary cake ever!!!! I have never made a buttercream like this. It came out perfect and I LOVE the taste. So light and airy!!! TThank you so much!!! This buttercream is diffently a keeper!
Turned out just like the picture. Definitely taste like butter with a slightly sweet taste. It frosted 36 cupcakes. I live at 4600 feet above sea level so I took it to 225 degrees.
The frosting looks really beautiful n smooth, must da iced cake be refrigerated? When the cream made a head of time, must you store it in the fridge or can just keep at the counter untill use?
I like to refrigerate but make sure its at room temp before using/eating.
Do You think this icing could be made ahead of time and frozen for easy use later on?”?? Thank you for you help. Can’t wait to try this!
I’ve never frozen it. If you try it, will you come back and let me know if it works? thanks!
Hi Krissy, your first paragraph mentioned that this recipe freezes well. Can we get an update on how to use this buttercream after freezing? Thank you!
I just thaw in the refrigerator and give it a quick whip with a whisk. Works well if you make extra.
Hello ! Does this recipe yield enough buttercream to decorate 30 cup cakes ? Thanks in advance.
Yep!
I am making a cupcake wedding dress for a shower the nite before and won’t have the space to refridgerate it. Do you think it will hold its shape for about 14 hrs at room temp? Thinking about chilling the indiv cupcakes before frosting them may help? Cranking the A/C in the car for transporting?
Hi Cathey, I think if the temp isn’t above 72 you should be fine. Let me know how it works! -Krissy
Okay, so I am obviously impatient. The first time I made this frosting I was disappointed because it was runny like thin cream. I live in Australia, and I assumed I had too many things different to those in your recipe: I used white sugar (should I have used raw??), I used glucose syrup instead of corn syrup (corn syrup isn’t widely available in Australia, as in, I’ve never seen it in the shops!), and I used my Thermomix instead of a bench mixer. HOWEVER! I was determined to not give up, so I gave it another go, then when it was the same consistency as last time, I just left the Thermomix running. After about 10-15 minutes of mixing on speed 3, it separated, then BOOM! PERFECT BUTTERCREAM!! So light and fluffy – I can’t wait to decorate my cake tomorrow! Thank you so much, and thanks for telling everyone in the comments to KEEP MIXING! It does work ?
Awesome Stephanie. Thank you so much for trying it again and THANK YOU for coming back to let me know!!! -Krissy
KRISSY, CAN YOU USE A MERINGUE POWDER INSTEAD OF RAW EGGS. TO MAKE THE ITALIAN BUTTERCREAM?
Hi Deanna, I’ve never tried but I’m pretty sure you can. If you try, will you come back to let me know if it worked? Thanks, Krissy
Love the out come of this recipe.looks great , tastes great and very easy to whipp…
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful reciepe!!
Can this be made with a butter substitute? We have to be dairy free due to allergies, and I’m hoping to make a “fake butter” buttercream but American buttercream is way too sweet (though it does work with Country crock)
Hi Heather, I have no idea if it would work. Maybe you want to try to make a half batch? Either way, will you let me know? thanks, Krissy
How many cupcakes do you think this frosting will make? Thank you.
Hi Chloe, it depends on how high you want your frosting! This recipe can cover anywhere between 12-36 cupcakes depending on volume.
I was looking for new buttercream recipe and stumbled across is. Thank you so much! always gave up on my Italian buttercream as it looked broken, not one ever told me it would do thathe do to wait it would come back together,. I didn’t use corn syrup, just adjusted the water, perfect buttercream. Thank you so much!
Hi! Please help! I’m a baker and will be decorating a cake tonight for a customer. I tried this recipe X5 because I need a lot and it’s been mixing and it’s still in a liquidy state
I’m so sorry I didn’t get to your comment in time. I took some time off for the holidays. Did it come out for you? There have been many times I thought it wouldn’t come together and it eventually does.
Actually you can use margarine if you use Fleishmans stick baking margarine. It tastes good and contains NO Dairy, which is important for some people. The consistency is fine. If you use soft spreading margarin it won’t be good because it won’t harden when refrigerated.
This is great. First time making Italian buttercream with no real problems except it took a while for it all to come together when adding the butter. I’d mention that it takes roughly 15 minutes for you mixer to smooth out the frosting after adding the butter. And yes, it does take patience as well!! This was a fun recipe will definitely try again, now that I know what I’m doing. Husband rating to come afterwards 👍
Yay! I love husband and wife ratings!
Thank you for this buttercream frosting recipe, but will the sugar syrup mixture cool down to much if you cook it first,then let it sit while beating the egg whites?
Love the buttercream frosting recipe but want the sugar syrup get to cold while sitting during the tI’m you beat the egg.whites up?
Hi Deborah. That happened the second time I made it because I was making the video. Typically I like to try and time the egg whites with the syrup and have them both going at the same time. I could only do one thing at a time while filming and was worried it wouldn’t work! I just reheated the syrup until it got to the right temperature and it worked like a charm!
I made both the normal and the chocolate version. I must say, this is definitely not your beginners frosting. It takes some getting used to. But, if you can pull it off… which I did by my 3rd attempt… it is certainly a crowd-pleaser! MAKE SURE YOU LET THE SUGAR/EGG MIXTURE COOL DOWN BEFORE ADDING BUTTER!!! I can’t stress this enough. If you add butter while it’s still hot, the butter melts and you have a melty-soupy mess. It still comes together after what seems like 45 minutes of mixing… but not as well as if it was cooler. IF you messed up and melted the whole batch, I found mixing it until it came together somewhat and solidifying the butter again in the refrigerator at least an hour or over night… then whipping it back up again for around 15-20 minutes fixed my melted mess!
Hi Krissy, Can I use liquid egg whites to replace fresh ones? Thanks
You bet!
Can I add some flavor to the Italian buttercream recipe????
Absolutely! If you’re adding flavored extracts, just start small, taste, and add more as needed!
Made this recipe exactly as written and it came out perfect, thanks!
What about adding liqueur for flavoring? Would you use the same amount as you would vanilla? I’m thinking St. Germain.
I would start with a small amount, taste, and increase from there. Different liqueurs and extracts pack different kinds of punch!
What brand/model of candy thermometer did you use? I need a new one and am looking for recommendations.
Hi Susan, Not sure if this is wrong or right, but I use a regular baking thermometer instead of a candy thermometer. This is the one I’ve used for years and it has never failed me: https://amzn.to/2L2yZvj
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m printing it and am planning on using it for a sandwich cookie I will be making.
This really is a perfect buttercream frosting! My fave <3
Very helpful and detailed post about buttercream. Thanks for sharing!
Krissy, this buttercream sounds fantastic and I loved the links to the marshmallow recipes. I’ve never made those and I would love to try it sometime!
Totally pinning this! I’m always on the lookout for a good buttercream recipe!
I can think of so many tasty ways to use this! yum!
This is buttercream frosting perfection!! Looks so delicious!
This frosting is silky smooth! Vanilla frosting on chocolate cupcakes is my favorite.
Can’t wait to try this for the cupcakes I’m making for the school bake sale! Looks amazing!
Mmmmmm, it does look so perfect!
Wow! Delicious. I have never made this recipe let alone one you had to boil a syrup for to make. I don’t know much about buttercream frostings aside from traditional American buttercream but this leaves such a smooth nice taste in your mouth. Thanks for the recipe. It worked out great once I got my candy thermometer in the right place. I split it in two before I added the flavoring. One half mint and the other vanilla. They are going to be great on my chocolate cupcakes for a party this weekend. I am excited to try out something new for our friends.
I’ve made many, many different buttercream recipes throughout the years I’ve been baking, and this is by far my favorite! It is silky smooth and beautiful. And you’re right, it looks horrifying and bad when you add the butter, but then magically comes together. I’ve made it 4x now and it’s my go-to recipe!
This icing is so silky smooth and makes for the most beautiful piped flowers or any design really! You MUST follow the directions to a T! Especially cooking the sugar!! It’s very buttery in flavor and I like my icing to be a little sweeter so after it all came together I added 3 powdered stevia packets with the vanilla. It didn’t affect the consistency of the icing whatsoever but made it oh so delicious!
I do have one question though, my icing was not as white as yours looks in the picture. Mine had more of a yellow hue, I’m thinking because of the butter but ultimately wondering why mine was it white?
Hi Liz, I’m sure it had to do with the butter. Some are just way more yellow than others. I use trader Joe’s unsalted and it’s pretty white in color. Glad you liked!
I have made similar recipes and the butter always turns it an off white colour.
Is there any way of avoiding this other than adding titanium white colouring?
Fingers crossed.
I think it completely depends on your butter. The whiter the butter, the whiter the frosting.
Has anyone tried freezing this? It says that you can but will it change the taste or consistency at all?
Oh My!!! This is it! Thanks Krissy!! This is the taste I’ve searched years for!!! Thank you!!!
I’ve made this recipe at least 20 times now. I always double it when making a 8″ or 9″ cake with four 1″ layers. Its ok for decorating but the soft consistency can be difficult to work at times. I can get a cake to frost pretty smooth with this frosting, but it takes more time and work than other frostings.
I’ve had a couple issues along the way getting this frosting to work, but now it’s perfect every time…
I use a Kitchen Aid with the whisk attachment.
When heating the sugar, don’t add too much water. Add water in little increments stirring in between. The sugar should be should be the consistency of damp sand. Note that as the sugar heats up, it liquefies, so you don’t need to add as much water as you think.
Use room-temp, soften butter! Softer the better. Soft, not melted! 80 degrees. This will help speed the process of going from chunky to creamy. If the butter not soft enough, you’ll never get it out of the funky chunky stage.
You can use pre-separated egg whites, but add 1/4t of cream of tartar.
Let the eggs and sugar beat for a while. It takes like 20 minutes for them to start getting peaks. (I’ve accidentally let it beat for over a half hour while walking the dog. It still didn’t have stiff peaks. (The frosting turned out so white!!! but I haven’t been able to reproduce this brilliant white again.))
I always add the vanilla but my standard is adding few dashes of salt and a 1/4t of Almond extract, Other variations I’ve tried… added caramel syrup and salt. Adding chopped andies candies and cream de minth makes a great mint chocolate chip cake, Adding chopped reses and a 1/3 cup peanutbutter. Be cautious of adding to much liquidly flavorings as it will make the frosting very soft and harder to use for decorating.
Such fantastic suggestions! Thank you so much!!! -Krissy
Is there a way to make the Italian Buttercream a strawberry flavor?
My favorite way is to crush up freeze dried strawberries into a powder and then mix them in like I did in this recipe: https://selfproclaimedfoodie.com/blueberry-cream-cheese-frosting/ . I don’t like artificial fruit flavors. Enjoy! -Krissy