Buttercream, also referred to as butter icing or butter frosting, is used for either

filling Filling may refer to: * a food mixture used for stuffing * Frosting used between layers of a cake * Dental restoration * Symplectic filling, a kind of cobordism in mathematics * Part of the leather crusting process See also * Fill (disambiguati ...

, coating or decorating

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

s. The main ingredients are

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

and some type of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

. Buttercream is commonly flavored with

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

. Other common flavors are

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

, fruits, and other liquid extracts.

Food coloring Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...

is commonly added if the buttercream is being used as decoration. Buttercream can be piped or spread in decorative patterns and shapes.

Varieties

American buttercream or mock cream

American buttercream or mock cream is a simple buttercream made by creaming together

and

powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar and icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent—such as corn starch, potato ...

to the desired consistency and lightness. Some or all of the butter can be replaced with

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

, or

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and is used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. The idea of shortening dates back to at least the 18th century, well before the invention of modern, shelf-stable vegetable ...

. A small amount of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

is added to adjust the texture. Usually twice as much sugar as butter by weight is used. Some recipes also call for

powdered milk Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...

or meringue powder. Compared to other types of buttercream, American buttercream has fewer ingredients, and is quicker and easier to make. It is also sweeter because of the high amount of sugar. Because it does not have an egg or cooked base, it is more stable and melts less easily in warm temperatures.

Meringue-based buttercream

Meringue buttercream is made by beating softened butter with either Italian or Swiss

meringue Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...

until the mixture is emulsified and light. The meringue must be cooled to room temperature in order not to melt the butter (which has a variable melting point below ) as it is subsequently beaten in. The meringue gives buttercream a structure that is more stable in warm temperatures.

Swiss meringue buttercream

Swiss meringue is made by heating

granulated sugar White sugar, also called table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, is a commonly used type of sugar, made either of beet sugar or cane sugar, which has undergone a refining process. It is nearly pure sucrose. Description The refining ...

and

egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens, it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms a ...

s until the sugar dissolves, then whipping it until it forms a meringue. The meringue is then whipped with butter and flavorings.

Italian meringue buttercream

Italian meringue is made by drizzling a hot sugar syrup into already whipped egg whites while continuing to whip. The meringue is then whipped with butter and flavorings.

Other varieties

Ermine frosting (flour buttercream)

Ermine frosting is also known as boiled milk frosting or cooked flour frosting. It is made by cooking

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and milk until it becomes a thick paste or

roux Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or Cooking oil, oil on the stove top, blended until smoo ...

. The cooked milk mixture is then beaten with butter until light. Ermine frosting is considered to be old-fashioned, and is less common than other types of buttercream. It is less sweet and has a texture similar to

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

. Traditionally, ermine frosting was used to frost

red velvet cake Red velvet cake is a red-colored layer cake with cream cheese or ermine icing. The origin of the cake is unknown, although it is popular in the Southern United States and has been served as a dessert at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel s ...

French buttercream

French buttercream (also known as '' pâte à bombe''–based buttercream or common buttercream) is made with whipped egg yolks.

German buttercream

Custard-based buttercream, also known as German buttercream or crème mousseline, is prepared by beating together

pastry cream Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from ...

and softened butter, and may be additionally sweetened with extra confectioners' sugar.

References

{{Foods featuring butter Foods featuring butter Cake decorating Creamy dishes