How to Make the Best Whipped Vanilla Buttercream Recipe (2024)

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So you’ve seen those dreamy cakes all over social media and are wondering how you can make your own with the best whipped vanilla buttercream recipe?

Cake decorator here and my buttercream recipe is quite literally what has brought customers my way in the past.

Let’s dive in

The Key to Perfect Buttercream Icing

Ultimately, the key to making the best whipped vanilla buttercream is HOW you make it. Anyone can throw together some butter, vanilla, heavy cream, and powdered sugar in a mixer.

But not everyone can do it the way that makes dreamy + fluffy whipped cake icing.

So, HOW DO I MAKE WHIPPED BUTTERCREAM?

Well, for starters you need to make sure you have the time.

It doesn’t take hours, but it does take longer than you might expect.

Why?

Because tasty whipped vanilla buttercream icing takes a LOT of mixing.

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How to Make Whipped Vanilla Buttercream Icing

First off, I recommend a stand mixer for this. If you don’t have one, a hand mixer will do but honestly, I don’t think a hand mixer will give you the same fluffy, whipped buttercream texture as a stand mixer will.

Okay now to get started you’re going to want ROOM TEMP butter. It needs to be very soft.

You can microwave it for about 7 second intervals to get the same room temp softness, but again, it’s not the same.

Stick that butter on the counter first thing in the morning and it should be perfectly soft come afternoon.

Now, I dive into the actual measurements below, but for this I am going to leave those out.

Once you have your soft room temp butter, you’re going to plop it into your stand mixer (or bowl) and whip it up until it starts to lose its “butter yellow” color.

It’ll happen. It just takes a while.

Once you notice the butter to begin losing its color, add in some vanilla followed by heavy whipping cream. Just a bit of each is all you need.

If you can find clear vanilla extract, that would be ideal but I didn’t feel like running to various stores to find some.

Now again, you’re going to let the mixer do its thing for a while and you’ll notice that the buttercream will continue to lose more of its butter yellow-y color.

After it’s mixed for a while, it’s time for the powdered sugar. Now, I honestly don’t add a whole lot because I think a lot of powdered sugar makes for a dense buttercream. Instead, I add a bit at a time and taste test in-between while looking for the sweetness level I enjoy.

I recommend you do the same when you make your own whipped vanilla buttercream.

After your powdered sugar has been added, you’re going to sit and watch the mixer whip the buttercream up some more and you’ll know it’s done when it starts to make little peaks. You should be able to pull the whisk piece out and see perfect peaks pull up from the icing batch.

Then what you do next is up to you. Ice cupcakes, cakes, muffins, or eat the whipped vanilla buttercream on its own.

For the full whipped vanilla buttercream recipe, keep reading.

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