Perfect Piping Buttercream is the absolute best recipe for frosting cakes and cookies with a great consistency just right for piping your beautiful designs. This luscious buttercream frosting is light and airy with added flavor from vanilla and almond extract.
Best Buttercream
Frosting cut-out cookies for holidays is both my favorite and most dreaded activity. I LOVE frosting the first couple dozen cookies with beautifully ornate piped designs with buttercream.
I am alone in this process though because no one else in my family is willing to help. They claim they “can’t do it as well” and therefore are unwilling to even try. Total cop out!
Frosting for cookies
So 5-6 dozen cookies and hours later I am completely burnt out. The cookies are beautiful and taste amazing, but man oh man are my hands tired and eyes weary.
Frosting cookies should totally be a family affair and it would be much more fun. When I have children, I will happily let them slather on the frosting in the ugliest of designs, mostly because that means I won’t have to frost as many cookies! 😉
Best Buttercream for piping designs
Over the years my mother and I have perfected the recipe for frosting. We were looking for a balance of taste and how it piped. We used to use a royal icing, but it didn’t taste as good.
We later moved to buttercream for flavor but our original recipe was too thick to get nice piping shapes from. We altered that recipe over the years and finally landed upon this recipe that is absolutely perfect.
This perfect piping buttercream is our go-to frosting for everything from cookies to cupcakes!
How to make the best buttercream?
I could pretty much lick a bowl of this buttercream and be one happy woman. The addition of vanilla AND almond extract gives it a great flavor that we all love. It sets it apart from plain frosting.
It is important to only use gel or paste food dye
when making your frosting, because the liquid dyes will alter the consistency a surprisingly great deal. Liquid dye will take your luscious buttercream from the perfect consistency, to a runny consistency that won’t hold it’s shape in a quick hurry.
How to pipe buttercream?
I separate my batch of buttercream into 5 or 6 bowls and dye each bowl of frosting to my desired consistency. I have never found a dye that will get me a true red, so if you have any secrets for a rich Christmas red, I would love to hear them!
Grab your piping bags and decorating tips and you are ready to fill them up. I like to turn the bag half way inside out and set it in a tall glass. This makes it easier to scoop the buttercream into the bag if I am doing it along.
After your bags are filled it’s time to dream up all sorts of amazing designs for your cookies or cake that have the added bonus of tasting great!
More baked goods perfect with buttercream!
While we could eat buttercream right from the spoon, it’s probably best to serve it on a cake or cookie. Here are some other great recipe that you can use buttercream with.
- Fresh Strawberry Ombre Cake
- Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Pumpkin Cake Bars – Swap out the cream cheese frosting for buttercream
Perfect Piping Buttercream Recipe
Perfect Piping Buttercream is the absolute best recipe for frosting cakes and cookies with a great consistency just right for piping your beautiful designs. This luscious buttercream frosting is light and airy with added flavor from vanilla and almond extract.
Ingredients
- 1 c. shortening, butter flavored
- 1 c. butter
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 7 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
- gel or paste icing dyes
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the shortening and butter until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla, almond extract and cream and mix until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar 1-2 cups at a time, mixing well between each addition. Beat the frosting for an additional 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Using a toothpick, add the tiniest amount of dye at a time to the bowl of frosting to control your color. These dyes will color the frosting quickly, so there is no need to add too much.
Notes
This makes a very large batch for a layered and decorated cake. If you are making 24 cupcakes or a small cake, cut the recipe in half.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 48 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 155Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 35mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 0gSugar: 18gProtein: 0g
Provided nutrition data is only an estimate. If you are tracking these nutrients for medical purposes, please consult an outside, trusted source.
Vickie says
when it says 1 c in the recipe could you translate to grams please
Maureen says
Live in New Zealand what would I replace the shortening with regards Maureen
Danielle Green says
You can just use all butter, but the consistency will be very slightly soften and not hold its shape for piping designs quite as well.
Andrea says
If I use this recipe to frost a cake, should I refrigerate the cake after decorating? And if so, do I serve it cold or at room temperature? Thank you.
Danielle Green says
You can refrigerate, but it will be fine at room temperature for 48 hours.
Gina says
Can’t wait to try this recipe!! Is the butter best salted or non salted?
Danielle Green says
I often use salted butter and it comes out great. If you want precise control over your salt, then unsalted is the way to go.
Lauren says
Can this be made in advance or do I need to ice my cake right away after making the buttercream?
Danielle Green says
It can absolutely be made in advance. Store refrigerated until you need to use it.
Stephanie says
Sorry if I miss this being asked already.
Does this frosting freeze well?
Danielle Green says
Yes! Just freeze it in a pipping bag for easiest use.
Joan Tomas says
so coconut shortening is being used for this recipe?
Danielle Green says
no, vegetable shortening
Dacia says
Can you substitute coconut oil for shortening?
Danielle Green says
No, that will give a very different consistency
Evelyn McGuire says
Can I use regular Crisco instead of the butter flavor?
Danielle Green says
Sure, the butter flavor just enhances the flavor a bit.
Sarah says
Thank you so much for this recipe i am going to be trying it out here in a couple of days for a cake that im doing for my husbands friend. Is is possible to use regular shortening sticks that aren’t butter flavor instead or will it make the buttercream taste different ?
Danielle Green says
Absolutely! You will loose a tiny bit of flavor, but it will still work perfectly good.
Rileigh Reynolds says
can you supplement the almond abstract for another one?
Danielle Green says
I would just add a bit more vanilla extract. If you are looking for a specific flavor like mint, you can certainly swap for any extract.
Jackie Kirby says
can you give this recipe in grams
Many Thanks
Regards
Kim Doster says
Thank you SO much for the recipe. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’m determined to up my baking skills after a binge of the Great British Bake-Off on Netflix. This should do the trick! For red food coloring – have you tried the Suncore Foods coloring powder? It looks like *maybe* it produces a deeper, Christmas-y red. It might affect the consistency of the recipe, but may be worth a try!
Valerie Williams says
This sounds great! Does this harden at all for cookies?
Danielle Green says
It doesn’t get hard where you can stack multiple cookies, but the tradeoff is that it is decadent and fluffy which can’t be achieved with hardening.
Marcia James says
I would like to have white frosting, how can I have that when adding butter?
Danielle Green says
You won’t be able to have a true white with butter and vanilla extract is also adding a very little color. After beating the frosting though, it is quite white.
Melissa R. says
Add a VERY tiny amount of violet food coloring. Purple cancels yellow kinda like how purple shampoo tones out brassy yellow hair. Like a teeny tiny amount.
Danielle Green says
Love the hair analogy, that makes total sense!
Bonnie M Garcia says
add white food coloring. places like Joanne’s sell it!
Patricia Dalley says
If you add a tiny bit of violet gel color,the frosting will whiten up. Just a little tiny bit.
Ali says
sbould the butter be cold right from firdge or let it sit out a little while to soften?
Danielle Green says
Room temperature works best
Jean Barton says
If I use this icing on sugar cookies, do I have to then refrigerate those cookies once they’ve been frosted because of the cream?
Danielle Green says
Nope, the sugar acts as a preservative and you can keep them at room temperature.
Phyllis says
Hi Danielle, what if you don’t have shortening, can I use all butter? Thanks!!!
Danielle Green says
Yes! The consistency will be very slightly different and it won’t hold piping shapes quite as well, but it will be absolutely delicious on cakes and cupcakes.