Wondering how to make the Best Bakery Buttercream Frosting? I’m the daughter of a professional baker & I can tell you, THIS is the ULTIMATE frosting!
For as long as I can remember, my mom made cakes. I have pictures of her & I in the kitchen whipping up cakes & confections all the time.
She did cakes professionally for a long time. Then as life does, she shifted to other things through the years. But she still continued to make cakes for friends & family on special occasions.
**Try this buttercream frosting recipe with my Chocolate Ganache Drip for an incredible cake! Looking for the chocolate version – try my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe.
She, of course, made my birthday cakes, graduation cake & both my wedding cakes & so much more. So it’s a given that I picked up a thing or two along the way when it comes to baking & decorating cakes.
One thing I have down, making the Best Bakery Buttercream Frosting.
Bakery Buttercream Frosting
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Mom & I shared cake & ice cream for just about every life event. We lived & breathed cake. It was our “thing”.
So every year since she passed I still make her a cake for her birthday. I pull out all her decorating supplies & try my hand at something that came quite naturally for her.
For me, I have to work at it a bit more. But with each cake, it gets a little easier. Her favorite was white on white wedding style cake with raspberry filling.
Since she has been gone I haven’t had that flavor & boy have I been craving it. So I thought that this was the perfect year to make this cake & celebrate how wonderful she was.
Now, “naked” cakes are all the rage right now. They are so pretty, but mom would be giggling. To her, this is what she called a “crumb coat”.
Basically, it’s what you do before adding the final layer of frosting for decorating. For me, being that I have far less patience than she did for the decorating part, this is totally my speed.
It’s the right amount of frosting to cake ratio & I topped it with freshly picked berries from our garden. I even snipped off a few sprigs from our mint plant for some added color.
She would be so pleased with how it turned out. But this frosting – it’s every bit as good as I remember it. I promise it will be your “go-to” frosting for all your celebrations.
Here are some commonly asked questions
Can I use more butter in place of shortening?
Technically yes. It will change the consistency, definitely alter the flavor and your frosting won’t be as bright white as you see here. Using all butter & no shortening will change how the frosting holds at room temperature but it can be done.
Can this frosting be frozen?
Yes, I do it often. My mom used to keep the frozen frosting for when she wanted just a bite of cake flavor. She would just take a spoonful here and there to satisfy the craving.
It should keep in an airtight container in the freezer for 2-3 months. If you put it in a deep freezer – up to 9-12 months.
How many can this serve?
This recipe makes enough to fill, crumb coat, and frost one 8-9″ round cake. If you want to pipe all sorts of extra decorations, flowers, and such, I might suggest you make another half batch for that.
recipe for buttercream frosting
What cakes can I use this on?
This frosting is great for so many different cake flavors. Here are some of our favorites…
Can this recipe be doubled?
Normally I would say yes, but due to the space constraints in the mixer bowl & the desire to not have a ton of emails from readers that had confectioners sugar flying all over their kitchen because their mixer was too full, I’m going to say no. But this recipe is super fast, so I usually do them back to back or have 2 mixers going at the same time.
Try these other great frosting recipes too
Recipe for Bakery Buttercream Frosting
HOW DO YOU MAKE Bakery Buttercream Frosting?
- Combine butter & shortening in your mixer bowl & beat on high until creamy.
- Beat in confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time on low until well incorporated.
- Stir in vanilla & then hot water.
- Increase speed to med-high & beat well – until light & fluffy.
What is the best way to store leftover frosting?
Place the extra frosting in an airtight container and keep it refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. I like to add some on top of ice cream, waffles and so much more.
To make Bakery Buttercream Frosting you will need…
- butter – room temperature
- vegetable shortening
- confectioners sugar
- HOT water
- vanilla extract
best bakery frosting recipe
Products I love when making Bakery Buttercream Frosting…
This Bakery Buttercream Frosting recipe is SUPER EASY and delicious – and if you’re like me, then you maybe already have some of these items on hand
OR maybe you have never made homemade frosting before, & you might be a bit nervous – but you’re going to love it. I have made a list below of the things I absolutely can’t live without when it comes to making this frosting recipe.
- pro-6 qt mixer
- hand mixer
- shortening
- confectioners sugar
- wet ingredient measuring cup
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- spatulas
- vanilla extract
bakery frosting
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If you love this Easy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe, you’re going to love these other frosting recipes too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!
Best Bakery Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter – room temperature (2-sticks)
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 5 cups confectioners sugar
- 1½ tbsp HOT water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine butter & shortening in your mixer bowl & beat on high until creamy.
- Beat in confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time on low until well incorporated.
- Stir in vanilla & then hot water.
- Increase speed to med-high & beat well – until light & fluffy.
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Kacey Scates says
I have been baking for a couple of years now and I enjoy trying new recipes. This is by far my favorite buttercream recipe yet. It is so light and tasty, not too buttery. It’s perfect and very quick to make.
Gina Kleinworth says
I am so thrilled to hear that. It was my mother’s “go-to” recipe when making cakes for clients.
Shannon Brown says
Absolutely amazing!! This frosting is the absolute BEST!
Karli says
Do you use salted butter or unsalted?
Gina Kleinworth says
I usually keep salted on hand & use that – but my family likes to cut the sweetness just a bit – but it is really a personal preference.
Stacey L. says
I have made EVERY buttercream recipe out there and this one is hands down. By far the BEST!! I end up eating half the batch on soda crackers and am in heaven!!!
Cynthia says
My search is over. This is THE icing. Thank you! God bless!
Amina says
Is this the same butter cream used for bakery cupcakes? Also do you have chocklate icing recipe on your blog?
Gina Kleinworth says
Hi there –
Since most bakeries are independently owned and operated and those owners should be creating their own recipes that they are selling – I would imagine that most aren’t quite the same. To my knowledge, there isn’t a standard “frosting mix” that bakeries use for their confections. However – this is my mom’s frosting recipe she used for her bakery. I have tried many and this one is by far the best one and our most popular out of all of our frosting recipes.
I do have some chocolate frosting recipes – however, the only one I have published at this time is our chocolate cream cheese frosting – found here – https://www.kleinworthco.com/chocolate-cream-cheese-frosting/
You can always try the search bar at the top of the site on desktop or in the drop-down menu on mobile if you are looking for something specific.
Lori Szymanski says
This is the best frosting ever! It is exactly how I love from bakery cakes, not too sweet and not gritty sugary like some frostings.
Jennifer says
I love this Buttercream! Best one I’ve tried! Thank you So much!!
Mary Lynn Wright says
What kind of butter and shortening do you use?
Gina Kleinworth says
I typically use salted butter (it cuts the sweetness just a bit) and whatever shortening I have on hand – I’m not too particular about that.
Jacque says
The Best butter cream frosting Recipe I have ever used!
Omg it taste like I went to a bakery for this!
Gina Kleinworth says
So thrilled to hear that – thank you!!!
Bea says
This is a fabulous recipe. I wish more bakeries made their buttercream but they don’t. I’m not opposed to some of the ones that use ” better cream” at least it’s lighter than the heavy buttercreams. Thank you!!
Lorrie says
You didn’t put ant measurements of how much we are supposed to put in for thr buttercream frosting
Gina Kleinworth says
You seemed to have scrolled right past the full printable recipe card to get to the comments section. If you click the jump to recipe button at the very top of the post it will take you right to it.
Judy says
I read some place to cut down the sweetness a bit you can add a teaspoon at a time of flour ! Flour cuts the sweetness a bit ! I’ve tried this and it does work !!!
Also whipping the icing and incorporating air is the key to light and fluffiest icing !!!
Emily says
Yes yes yes!!!! This is perfection!
Tracy says
How is this buttercream for decorating?
Gina Kleinworth says
It works beautifully for decorating and pipes really well.
Pat says
Can you use oil instead of shortening will is make a difference?
Gina Kleinworth says
Oil will make the frosting very runny. I have never heard of anyone using oil to make a frosting recipe.
Mary says
You have a beautiful cake in the picture…white cake with your frosting and fruit filling. Can you share the recipe so I can duplicate it please? It looks wonderful!
Gina Kleinworth says
Looks like you scrolled right past the recipe card to the comments section that is just below it. If you click the “jump to recipe” button at the top of the post, it will take you directly to the recipe itself.
Paula says
This is amazingly good buttercream frosting! I used the frosting for cupcakes that my daughter took to church. There were no leftover cupcakes and I cannot wait to make it again for our family. Thank you for a great recipe!
Mary Ann says
My grandson doesn’t like buttercream frosting so I found this one and it is amazing. so easy and so yummy
Amanda O says
Do you have the cake and filling recipes anywhere? I’ve gone through this page a few times and I only see the frosting recipe.
Gina Kleinworth says
This post is for the frosting. Within the post are a handful of links to our homemade cake recipes in various flavors that you can use this frosting on. I do not have a recipe for the raspberry filling. You can use raspberry preserves as we did in this recipe for chocolate raspberry cake https://www.kleinworthco.com/chocolate-raspberry-cake/.
lorraine says
This is absolutely delish!!! I failed at making a buttercream frosting recipe before so i was a bit hesitant to try again. So glad i did. I am a bit curious…every other recipe i’ve read calls for either milk or heavy cream. Is there a reason why water is used for this recipe? thanks so much!!! lori
Gina Kleinworth says
Glad you like it! You can certainly use milk or heavy cream. You will find either of those in most of my other frosting recipes. However, with this one the hot water is what helps to melt and blend the shortening in this recipe. If you used a cold ingredient like milk or heavy cream it wouldn’t melt and the consistency of the end product would be quite different.
Jann Hernandez says
How many days in advance can I make this buttercream? I’m working on a 1st Birthday cake and cupcakes but work full time as well. I know some Buttercreams hold up for a few weeks. Also does this buttercream travel well. We have a 2 hour drive?
Gina Kleinworth says
This can be made 2-3 days before. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use – bring to room temperature before decorating. However – you will probably need to pop it back in the mixer to give it a good whip after refrigerating to bring back the right consistency. So by the time you let it come to room temperature and then re-whip it, it would take less time to just make it fresh.
As far as travel, it will hold up well. Just refrigerate or even freeze everything once it is all decorated. Then it will thaw as you travel. I will actually be doing the same thing for a cake I’m making coming up. My mother used to do this all the time with this frosting for all the wedding cakes she would make.
Keri says
Definitely my go to frosting! I have tried so many frosting and this by far is the best! Everyone loves it and it is wonderful for cupcakes also! It holds up great!
If you happen to have a great moist gluten free cupcake recipe, I would love for you to share it too. My granddaughter and I bought have celiac. I have a recipe that is okay, but I am always looking for the perfect one like your frosting.
Keri says
Definitely my go to frosting! I have tried so many frosting and this by far is the best! Everyone loves it and it is wonderful for cupcakes also! It holds up great!
If you happen to have a great moist gluten free cupcake recipe, I would love for you to share it too. My granddaughter and I both have celiac. I have a recipe that is okay, but I am always looking for the perfect one like your frosting.
Erica says
Incredible flavor and texture, love this recipe!