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Buttercream frosting

Intermediate Baking and pastry

Buttercream frosting is a frosting made by beating butter with sugar, either simply with powdered sugar or with a whipped meringue for a silkier result.

By Cory, founder of Pantry to Pan · Published October 20, 2026 · Updated October 28, 2026

Written with AI help from the sources listed, and published by Cory. Spot a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.

How do you do it?

1. 

   1Start with butter that's soft but cool, about 65°F: it dents when pressed but isn't greasy.

2. 

   2American style: beat butter 2 to 3 minutes until pale, add powdered sugar gradually, then a splash of cream, vanilla and a pinch of salt.

3. 

   3Swiss meringue style: make a Swiss meringue, whip until the bowl feels cool, then add butter a piece at a time and keep beating.

4. 

   4If it looks curdled, it's too cold: warm the bowl's outside briefly and beat. If soupy, it's too warm: chill 15 minutes and beat again.

Why does it work?

Buttercream is an emulsion of butter fat with a little water and sugar, held stable by solid fat crystals trapping air. Butter only does this in a narrow temperature window. Too cold and the fat stays in hard lumps that won't absorb the liquid, so it looks curdled. Too warm and the crystals melt, the air escapes and it slumps.

What are the common mistakes?

• Giving up on curdled meringue buttercream — keep beating; it almost always comes together.
• Using melted or very soft butter — greasy frosting that won't hold a shape.
• Skipping the salt — it tastes flat and only sweet.

Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.

More baking and pastry

• FoldingMixing something light (whipped cream, beaten egg whites) into something heavier without knocking the air out.Intermediate
• Creaming butter and sugarBeating soft butter with sugar until pale and fluffy — the start of most cakes and cookies.Beginner
• KneadingWorking dough by hand or machine until smooth and stretchy.Beginner
• Proofing (letting dough rise)Letting yeast dough rest and rise before baking.Beginner
• Cutting in butterWorking cold butter into flour until it's in small lumps — pie crust, biscuits, scones.Intermediate
• Blind bakingBaking a pie crust before it's filled.Intermediate