How To Make Buttercream Icing Recipe For Cake Decorating

Great buttercream icing recipe with options to make it stable in warm climates!

A round cake decorated with white buttercream and orange and yellow piped buttercream flowers.

Buttercream icing is probably the most basic type of icing for cakes. There are many different variants of this icing, and I have on this page, 2 different recipes that you can choose for your cakes.

Both recipes use butter and icing sugar as the main ingredients, but the second recipe has shortening added to it and is particularly suitable for warmer climates as butter tends to melt more easily than shortening. I personally prefer to add shortening to my buttercream as I live in a hot and humid country and shortening definitely gives me a more stable buttercream. The taste of the buttercream is off course better with the first version of the recipe that does not use shortening, but the choice is really up to you.

Both recipes yield smooth and creamy icing that is suitable to coat any type of cake, be it a butter cake, fruit cake or sponge cake. The flavor can be varied for chocolate, coffee, mocha, orange or just any other flavor you wish.

Buttercream Icing Recipe 1

Here is the full printable version for my first buttercream icing recipe. This recipe is made using 100% butter and is more suitable in colder temperatures.

A round cake decorated with pink buttercream rosettes

200 g butter
400 g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk optional
Food coloring optional

Sieve icing sugar to break lumps.
In a separate bowl, cream butter till soft. Add icing sugar, a little at a time, beating continuously. Add vanilla and continue beating until icing is creamy and fluffy.
If the icing is too stiff, add milk and beat until smooth.
Color as you wish.

Variations:
Chocolate buttercream: Add 3 – 4 tsp of sifted cocoa powder to the icing above and beat until the cocoa powder is well blended in the icing.

Coffee buttercream:
Prepare the butter icing as above, but omit vanilla essence. Instead, add 1 tsp of instant coffee powder into the icing. Beat well.

Mocha buttercream:
Add 3 tsp of sifted cocoa powder into the coffee buttercream above. Beat well. Use as desired.

Buttercream Icing Recipe 2

And this is the full printable version of my second version of the buttercream icing. This recipe has some shortening added to it, making it a lot more stable to work with in warmer climates.

A round cake decorated with white buttercream and orange and yellow piped buttercream flowers. A slice of the cake is cut out

100 g butter
100 g shortening
400 g icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk optional
Food coloring optional

Sieve icing sugar to break lumps.
In a separate bowl, cream butter and shortening till soft. Add icing sugar, a little at a time, beating continuously. Add vanilla and continue beating until icing is creamy and fluffy.
If the icing is too stiff, add milk and beat until smooth.
Color as you wish.

Variations:
Chocolate buttercream: Add 3 – 4 tsp of sifted cocoa powder to the icing above and beat until the cocoa powder is well blended in the icing.

Coffee buttercream:
Prepare the butter icing as above, but omit vanilla essence. Instead, add 1 tsp of instant coffee powder into the icing. Beat well.

Mocha buttercream:
Add 3 tsp of sifted cocoa powder into the coffee buttercream above. Beat well. Use as desired.

Happy Decorating 🙂

Reader Interactions