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Perfect Buttercream Frosting

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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 is a rich, smooth, and incredibly delicious traditional icing that is the best choice to decorate cakes and cupcakes.

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?

  1. AMERICAN: Powdered sugar + softened butter + milk + vanilla
  2. SWISS: Egg whites + light corn syrup + white sugar + softened butter
  3. FRENCH: Egg yolks + homemade sugar syrup + butter
  4. ITALIAN: Homemade sugar syrup + egg whites + white sugar + softened butter

Perfect Buttercream Icing is a rich, smooth, and incredibly delicious traditional icing that is the best choice to decorate cakes and cupcakes.

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.

This is the Best Buttercream Frosting with a rich, smooth, and incredibly delicious traditional icing that is the best choice to decorate cakes and cupcakes.

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?

How to make buttercream frosting. Learn how to make the best buttercream frosting, step by step.

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!

Next time you bake a cake or make cupcakes, you'll want to make this rich, smooth, and incredibly delicious traditional yet Perfect Buttercream Frosting.

Perfect Buttercream Frosting

Perfect Buttercream Frosting is a rich, smooth, and incredibly delicious traditional icing that is the best choice to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
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RECIPE VIDEO

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: buttercream frosting
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 369kcal
Author: Krissy Allori

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

Makes about 4 cups - more than enough to frost a two layer 9-inch cake

Nutrition

Serving: 4tbsp | Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 27mg | Potassium: 29mg | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 18.9% | Calcium: 1%
Questions about the nutrition information?Check out my Nutrition Disclaimer

Be sure to check out my layered pumpkin cake where I fold hazelnut butter into this amazing buttercream frosting!

The best delicious fall dessert is this moist homemade Layered Pumpkin Cake with hazelnut buttercream, drunken chocolate ganache, and marzipan pumpkins!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Siona

      November 26, 2017 at 3:05 pm

      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

      Reply

      • Krissy

        December 3, 2017 at 8:06 am

        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.

        Reply

    • Patty Mann

      April 9, 2018 at 7:10 pm


      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.

      Reply

    • Patti

      June 16, 2018 at 9:09 pm

      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.

      Reply

      • Krissy

        June 18, 2018 at 10:46 am

        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.

        Reply

        • Greta

          August 4, 2018 at 8:30 am

          The problem probably was putting butter to a hot meringue mixture… witch makes the whole cream runny and all nasty

          Reply

  2. Becki

    November 5, 2016 at 7:20 am

    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.

    Reply

    • Krissy

      November 6, 2016 at 5:36 am

      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

      Reply

    • Krissy

      November 6, 2016 at 5:33 am

      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

      Reply

      • J

        January 1, 2017 at 10:56 am


        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.

        Reply

  5. Cindy

    December 12, 2016 at 5:55 am

    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.

    Reply

      • Theresa

        December 25, 2016 at 9:28 am


        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.

        Reply

      • Lisa

        December 28, 2016 at 2:03 pm

        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!

        Reply

    • Catherine

      December 20, 2016 at 8:34 am

      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.

      Reply

      • Cheryl

        March 31, 2017 at 8:36 pm


        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.

        Reply

        • Melissa

          September 10, 2017 at 2:30 pm


          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?

          Reply

      • Patty Mann

        April 9, 2018 at 7:16 pm

        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.

        Reply

    • Cheryl

      March 31, 2017 at 8:40 pm

      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.

      Reply

    • melissa

      April 3, 2017 at 8:45 pm

      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.

      Reply

    • Joelene

      May 17, 2017 at 8:21 pm

      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

      Reply

    • Drakkarim

      May 24, 2017 at 5:47 pm


      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

      Reply

  10. Shelley

    December 30, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    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

    Reply

    • Krissy

      January 16, 2017 at 7:28 am

      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

      Reply

    • Krissy

      February 12, 2017 at 6:30 am

      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

      Reply

          • Matt

            February 12, 2018 at 10:05 am

            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.)

            Reply

          • Matt

            February 12, 2018 at 10:12 am

            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!!

            Reply

    • Krissy

      February 26, 2017 at 8:25 am

      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

      Reply

  19. Ilsa Naqi

    February 26, 2017 at 9:08 pm


    The recipe looks great. i just have one question, is there a substitute for Corn syrup that will work for this recipe?

    Reply

  20. Efrain Vargas-Hernandez

    March 5, 2017 at 1:24 pm


    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.

    Reply

      • Betsy Brosmer

        May 19, 2017 at 3:46 pm

        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!

        Reply

  21. Raji

    March 10, 2017 at 5:56 am

    Your recipes are awesome..Please tell the cup(sugar) measurement and water measurement for this recipe. Thanks in advance

    Reply

  22. Danielle Tonner

    March 11, 2017 at 9:07 am

    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.

    Reply

    • Krissy

      March 17, 2017 at 4:29 am

      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. 🙂

      Reply

    • Gleva Morford

      May 7, 2017 at 1:10 pm

      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!

      Reply

      • Sharon

        September 11, 2017 at 8:55 am

        Yes….margarine is only one molecule apart from that of plastic…..never use it! Butter or organic coconut oil….much better choices.

        Reply

    • Ester

      October 24, 2017 at 2:26 pm

      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…

      Reply

  24. Donna Johnson

    March 21, 2017 at 5:17 am

    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.

    Reply

    • Krissy

      May 19, 2017 at 6:07 am

      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.

      Reply

  25. Maggie

    March 24, 2017 at 9:36 pm


    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.

    Reply

    • Krissy

      May 19, 2017 at 6:10 am

      I won’t deny there’s a lot of butter in this recipe. Its all about personal preference. Sorry you didn’t like it.

      Reply

  26. Lisa Smith

    March 28, 2017 at 3:54 pm


    Absolutely amazing…taste like butter, texture of whipped cream, pipes like buttercream! What more could you ask?

    Reply

  28. Cindy

    April 10, 2017 at 10:00 am

    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?

    Reply

  29. Leonor Muros

    April 12, 2017 at 1:39 pm

    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.

    Reply

  30. Swetcha

    April 18, 2017 at 9:30 am

    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! ?

    Reply

    • Krissy

      May 19, 2017 at 5:25 am

      I never think salted butter tastes weird. Just different. But, because it’s sweet, I’m sure it will work!

      Reply

    • Krissy

      May 19, 2017 at 5:11 am

      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.

      Reply

  34. Nadia

    May 17, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    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

    Reply

      • Linda H.

        July 9, 2017 at 4:07 pm

        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!

        Reply

      • Joy

        May 21, 2017 at 5:42 pm


        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.

        Reply

  36. Lucia

    May 24, 2017 at 2:23 pm


    Can this be colored? or would you need to use a special medium to add to the color then to the frosting?

    Reply

  40. Paula

    June 26, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    Hi, thanks for sharing this fantastic buttercream recipe. Can you use this buttercream for a wedding cake instead of the traditional buttercream?

    Reply

    • Diane

      July 22, 2017 at 5:55 am


      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

      Reply

  42. Ashley

    August 1, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    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!

    Reply

    • Krissy

      September 18, 2017 at 2:02 pm

      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.

      Reply

  43. Mary Law

    August 2, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    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.

    Reply

  44. christie jones

    August 9, 2017 at 11:14 pm


    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!

    Reply

  45. Shelly

    August 11, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    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.

    Reply

  46. Fathiya

    September 7, 2017 at 10:50 am


    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?

    Reply

  47. Kristin Whittaker

    September 12, 2017 at 10:40 am

    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!

    Reply

  49. CathyT

    September 24, 2017 at 7:22 am

    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?

    Reply

  50. Stephanie Lambert

    October 4, 2017 at 4:17 am

    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 ?

    Reply

    • Krissy

      October 11, 2017 at 7:30 am

      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

      Reply

  52. Tara

    October 9, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    Love the out come of this recipe.looks great , tastes great and very easy to whipp…

    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful reciepe!!

    Reply

  53. Heather

    October 10, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    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)

    Reply

    • Krissy

      October 11, 2017 at 7:26 am

      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

      Reply

    • Krissy

      November 2, 2017 at 2:46 pm

      Hi Chloe, it depends on how high you want your frosting! This recipe can cover anywhere between 12-36 cupcakes depending on volume.

      Reply

  55. Sam

    November 6, 2017 at 3:56 am

    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!

    Reply

  56. Syl

    December 30, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    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

    Reply

    • Krissy

      January 8, 2018 at 9:28 am

      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.

      Reply

  57. Marshall

    December 31, 2017 at 8:00 am

    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.

    Reply

  58. Carolyn

    February 15, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    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 👍

    Reply

  59. Deborah Patterson

    February 26, 2018 at 9:43 pm

    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?

    Reply

  60. Deborah Patterson

    February 26, 2018 at 9:57 pm

    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?

    Reply

    • Krissy

      February 28, 2018 at 6:55 am

      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!

      Reply

  61. Michael C

    March 13, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    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!

    Reply

  65. Lucy

    June 11, 2018 at 3:02 pm


    What about adding liqueur for flavoring? Would you use the same amount as you would vanilla? I’m thinking St. Germain.

    Reply

    • Krissy

      June 18, 2018 at 10:54 am

      I would start with a small amount, taste, and increase from there. Different liqueurs and extracts pack different kinds of punch!

      Reply

  67. Renee Goerger

    August 29, 2018 at 10:29 am


    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.

    Reply

  70. Jamie Young

    August 29, 2018 at 11:43 am


    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!

    Reply

  77. Duei

    January 10, 2019 at 8:19 pm


    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.

    Reply

  78. Vanessa

    February 21, 2019 at 2:52 pm


    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!

    Reply

  79. Liz

    February 23, 2019 at 11:19 am


    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?

    Reply

    • Krissy

      February 24, 2019 at 4:54 am

      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!

      Reply

  80. Melanie

    April 23, 2019 at 8:26 pm

    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.

    Reply

  81. Kaitlyn McMaken

    May 13, 2019 at 3:54 pm

    Has anyone tried freezing this? It says that you can but will it change the taste or consistency at all?

    Reply

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