Soft American Buttercream Recipe

Creating a deliciously smooth and less sweet American Buttercream has never been easier. Our specially developed recipe ensures your buttercream is perfect for piping into your Frost Form and is wonderfully soft. For best results, store your cake in the fridge.

Ingredients:

• Softened Butter:

  • Choose salted or unsalted butter, though we prefer salted.
  • Use real block butter for optimal results.
  • Avoid margarine or shortening as they won't set correctly.
  • Plant-based butter substitutes are an option.

• Sugar:

  • Use icing sugar, confectioners’ sugar, or powdered sugar.
  • The finer the sugar, the better. Sifting ensures no lumps for a smoother texture.

Frost Form Soft American Buttercream Recipe Chart:

- Sizing Guide: This recipe is enough to fill a Frost Form with a cake inside up to a 7” high cake. If you want a different height, then divide the ingredients by 7 and multiply by the height you want. For example, if your cake is 5” high you would divide the ingredients by 7 and multiply by 5.

- Measurements: We do not recommend using cups, milliliters, or any other volumetric measurements for our recipes, as they may not provide accurate results. Instead, all our recipes are listed in grams. To achieve the best baking accuracy, we strongly advise investing in a kitchen scale.

Method:

1. Cream the Butter: Place your butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on high until smooth. For a whiter buttercream, beat the butter for 10 to 15 minutes to achieve a pale color.
   
   
2. Incorporate the Sugar: Add the icing sugar and mix by hand initially to prevent it from flying everywhere. Then, mix on low to medium speed until fully combined, about 5 to 15 minutes. Making sure to stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as required.
   
   
3. Melt and Blend: Microwave one-third of the buttercream for 20 seconds until liquid, then blend it back into the rest of the mixture. Repeat this process 1 to 4 times, reducing the microwave time to 10-15 seconds, until the buttercream flows smoothly off your spatula.
4. Add Color and Flavor: Use gel paste or oil-based coloring and flavor to your preference.
5. Fill Piping Bag: Fill a large (18”-20”) piping bag with the buttercream and pipe immediately into your Frost Form.
6. Piping Tip: Pipe four small amounts of buttercream equally around your cake before piping in all of your buttercream. This is a really handy tip to allow you to keep your cake centred and stable. 
7. Finish piping: Pipe your buttercream around your cake and on the top. Use a Frost Finisher to remove any excess buttercream from the top and to smooth it out.

Setting Time:

• Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight for the best results.
• Alternatively, set in the freezer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Storage:

• Store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for 1-2 months.
• This is a soft buttercream recipe, so please keep your final cake in the fridge.
• To reuse, bring the buttercream to room temperature, then mix in your stand mixer for about 10-15 minutes and heat it briefly in the microwave before using it in your Frost Form.

Videos:

Watch some of our videos below on how to make our recipe and use with Frost Form.