Homemade Buttercream Frosting

When you make a home dessert like cakes or cupcakes you often end up having to go with a store bought frosting simply because you might think it’s too difficult or time consuming to make frosting yourself. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Buttercream frosting is simple to make in just a few steps, takes very few ingredients, and has plenty of tasty variations depending on what you’re making. We’ll look at a quick vanilla buttercream frosting recipe and go from there.

Ingredients

½ cup of softened butter
4 ½ cups sugar
5-6 tablespoons milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

The recipe for the frosting is incredibly simple. All you have to do is beat the butter until it has a creamy texture in a large bowl, beat in everything but the milk, and finally add milk until your frosting has reached your desired consistency. In just a few minutes, you’ll end up with about 3 cups of creamy, delicious frosting that you made yourself!

Buttercream is great because with just a few small alterations, you can flavor it however you want. Want a chocolate frosting? Use ½ cup less sugar and substitute ½ cup baking cocoa, though you may want to lean more towards as many as 7 tablespoons milk for the right consistency. Looking for a light, fruity frosting? Make orange or lemon buttercream by substituting 5-6 tablespoons the appropriate juice (orange or lemon) for the milk along with 1 teaspoon of the appropriate grated peel. You can even make a tasty and festive peppermint buttercream frosting for the holidays by swapping the vanilla for ½–¾ tablespoon of peppermint extract instead. Delicious and perfect for whatever you’re baking, your buttercream frosting is sure to keep your party guests coming back for seconds… and asking for your recipe!