Perfectly light and fluffy buttercream frosting recipe is the best white, vanilla frosting you'll ever taste! Not overly sweet, light-tasting whipped buttercream tops and decorates layer cakes, sheet cakes, and cupcakes beautifully!
In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together softened butter and shortening until fluffy and well combined.
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until well blended. The frosting will be very stiff at this point.
Slowly mix in the heavy cream on low speed. Once it is fully mixed in, increase the speed to high and beat for 5-7 minutes, scraping down bowl occasionally. The frosting should be very white and fluffy, like a bowl of whipped cream. Use to frost a moist chocolate cake, vanilla cake, or fluffy banana cake!
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Notes
Tips for Making fluffy Buttercream
Butter and shortening should be at room temperature, while heavy cream is kept cold.
To soften butter quickly use 20% power on the microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute.
It's best to use a stand mixer with paddle attachment, since they are more powerful and the frosting beats for an extended period of time. A hand mixer may also be used, but it will have to mix a little longer to reach the right consistency.
This recipe makes enough to frost a 2 layer cake or piped onto 24 cupcakes. Please note, piping on frosting will use more than simply spreading on.
Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or freeze up to 3 months.
Flavoring Buttercream Frosting
Vanilla Buttercream - Use a good quality vanilla extract. For pure white frosting, use clear vanilla extract. Vanilla bean paste may also be used for a more pronounced vanilla flavor.
Lemon Buttercream - Instead of vanilla extract, substitute lemon extract and add 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest.
Strawberry Buttercream - Mix in 1/4 cup pureed strawberries. For extra stability and strawberry flavor add crushed freeze dried strawberries.
Peanut Butter Buttercream - Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter with butter and shortening. Use additional milk or cream for desired consistency.
How to Color Buttercream Frosting
When coloring white buttercream for birthday cakes, cookie bars, cupcakes or sugar cookies, use either food coloring or gel colors.
Food coloring is water based, so you will generally need more to tint frosting. This works best when turning white frosting into pastel colors.
Gel colors are more concentrated and thicker so less is required for bright, vibrant colors.
Wilton Color Right System includes all the basic food colors with a very handy formula chart to make any color desired.
Alternatively, Food Network also published a thorough guide for how to make frosting colors. It tells you exactly how many drops you need for any chosen color. Note that 100 drops equals one teaspoon of food coloring.