I have made this vanilla buttercream recipe more times then I can count. It is always my go to when making cupcakes and cakes. It pairs well with just about any flavour and is often my jumping off point for different flavour variations. My family and friends rave about this buttercream frosting. It is hard to beat a classic.

How To Get Fluffy Frosting

The fluffy texture of this frosting is one of its best selling features. In order to get super fluffy frosting it is best to work with butter that is at room temperature. If your butter isn't at room temperature or you're impatient like me - cut your butter into small cubes and microwave on low in 10 second increments until your butter is softened. Be sure to watch it closely, you don't want your butter to melt!

I use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to make my vanilla buttercream but you can get the same results using a hand mixer. I mix my butter on a medium-high speed until it is light, fluffy and pale in colour. Scrape along the sides of the bowl at least once in between mixing to make sure you are incorporating the most air into your butter.

Using & Storing Your Buttercream

I find the 3 cups of icing sugar to 1 cup of butter ratio the perfect ratio for me when frosting cakes and cupcakes. If you would like your buttercream to be a little softer - add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. If you would like a stiffer buttercream you can add additional icing sugar - just remember it will make your icing sweeter! I will be sharing a video on how I frost my cupcakes using this buttercream recipe later this week! When frosting cupcakes I generally gravitate towards the Wilton 1B tip - it is what I've used to frost the cupcake in this post. You can easily tint this buttercream using gel food colouring. The recipe below creates enough buttercream to frost one dozen cupcakes or to fill and frost one 6 inch cake. Store any left over frosting in an air tight container for up to three days, in the fridge. Allow it to come to room temperature before you use it again.