How to Flavor Buttercream
Learn how to flavor buttercream in a variety of different ways! Use my homemade vanilla frosting recipe as a base to create endless flavors. In this article I go over how to make buttercream flavors with ingredients like jam, freeze dried fruit, chocolate, peanut butter, and even cookies.
Buttercream Flavors Overview
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Component Used: Homemade Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Knowing how to make a simple buttercream will open up a world of buttercream flavors. It can be flavored in so many different ways and paired with any cake variety.
The most basic style of buttercream is called American Buttercream and it involves simply creaming butter and powdered sugar together.
However, if you are interested in a more elevated style of buttercream you can also make a meringue buttercream which involves whipping butter into meringue. My favorite styles are Swiss meringue buttercream and Italian meringue buttercream.
In this article I go over how to turn a basic American-style buttercream into a variety of different flavors like peanut butter buttercream, Oreo buttercream, strawberry buttercream, chocolate buttercream, and more! There are many different methods to flavoring buttercream and I go over each.
You’ll find the recipe for my basic buttercream frosting at the end of this article.
What ingredients can be used to flavor buttercream?
There’s nothing wrong with a classic vanilla buttercream flavor. It’s incredibly delicious and goes with everything! But every so often, I love to mix it up and incorporate new flavors into my frosting.
The ingredients used to flavor buttercream depend on what flavor profile you are going for. It may seem obvious what products to use but it’s important to know the method of how to incorporate these ingredients. For example, the process of using fresh lemons to make a lemon buttercream is going to be different than making a buttercream with peanut butter.
Let’s go over how to make buttercream flavors with the following ingredients: citrus fruit and zest, fresh fruit or jam, freeze dried fruit, chocolate, cookies, and peanut butter.
All of the recommended amounts of flavoring in this article assume you are making my basic vanilla buttercream frosting. The ingredient quantities may need to be adjusted if you’re making another recipe.
How to flavor buttercream with citrus zest and juice
Lemon buttercream is incredible paired with an olive oil cake, strawberry cake, or almond cake. Although technically you can use lemon extract to make lemon buttercream, I prefer to use fresh fruit. Fruit extracts tend to taste a little dull and artificial when added to buttercream.
I always recommend using fresh citrus over bottled juice.
How to make lemon buttercream: Add in 3 tablespoons of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. You likely will not need the milk to thin it out. This amount of flavoring will only subtly change the color of the white buttercream. Add a tiny drop of gel food coloring if desired.
Use this same process to make lime buttercream, orange buttercream, and grapefruit buttercream.
How to flavor buttercream with fresh fruit or jam
There are a couple of options if you want to make a fruit flavored buttercream like strawberry or raspberry buttercream. The best way to do this is by either making a fruit paste with fresh fruit or using a pre-made jam.
To use fresh fruit, you will need to make a concentrated paste by removing the moisture from the fruit. If you add fresh fruit directly to buttercream, it will release a lot of moisture making it too thin and soft.
How to make strawberry buttercream with fresh fruit: Rinse 170 grams (6 ounces) fresh strawberries, remove the stems, and dice into small pieces. Place in a saucepan and top with about 1 tablespoon of water. Cook over medium heat stirring frequently. Keep cooking as the berries break down and release their juices. Using a fork or potato masher, mash the berries until you have a thin consistency.
Continue cooking on medium heat while the liquid evaporates and the fruit thickens. The fruit is done when the consistency is a thick paste similar to tomato paste. Remove the strawberry paste from the saucepan and let it cool to room temperature. You can use the refrigerator to speed up the process. Mix the cooled paste into the frosting.
How to make strawberry buttercream with jam: Add 210 grams (¾ cup) strawberry jam or preserves (seedless if preferred) in with the powdered sugar. You can also add a few drops of red food coloring if you like.
Use this same process to make other berry flavored buttercreams like raspberry buttercream, blueberry buttercream, cherry buttercream, and blackberry buttercream.
How to flavor buttercream with freeze dried fruit
Using freeze dried fruit is a great way to add flavor to buttercream without adding any additional moisture. This is important if you are looking for a frosting that is stable and stiff enough to make intricate designs.
Freeze dried fruits tend to add a slightly tangy flavor which works well to balance a sweet frosting.
It’s essential to recognize the difference between dried and freeze dried fruits. Dried fruits are soft and squishy (like raisins) and freeze dried fruits are extremely dry and crisp. Do not use dried fruits to flavor buttercream.
How to make strawberry buttercream with freeze dried fruit: Pulverize 20 grams (1 cup) freeze dried strawberries until you have a very fine powder. Add the strawberry powder to the frosting and mix together.
Use this same process to make other fruit flavored buttercream. Here are the most common freeze dried fruits that I’ve seen at the grocery store that would make delicious buttercream: raspberries, peaches, blueberries, banana, and mango.
How to flavor buttercream with chocolate
A good chocolate buttercream should be rich and intense in chocolate flavor. I recommend 2 techniques for making chocolate buttercream. Try them both and pick your favorite!
How to make chocolate buttercream with cocoa powder: Add 107 grams (1 ⅓ cups) natural or dutch-processed cocoa powder in with the powdered sugar. Add enough milk or cream to thin out the texture.
I like to use a dark cocoa powder for a darker brown color and richer flavor.
How to make chocolate buttercream with melted chocolate: Melt 6 ounces (150 grams) of good-quality dark or semi-sweet chocolate. Use either chocolate chips, chunks, or a bar chopped into small pieces. Let the melted chocolate cool to room temperature and then mix into the frosting.
Omit the milk or cream as the chocolate buttercream should be at a good texture. If you find it to be too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add only a splash of milk or cream at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
How to flavor buttercream with cookies
Oreo buttercream is a very popular frosting flavor! It’s great with chocolate cake, vanilla cake, and even red velvet cake. You may not have realized that you can flavor buttercream with other types of cookies. I recommend only using crunchy cookies like Oreos, gingersnaps, or Biscoff cookies.
How to make Oreo buttercream: In a small food processor, add 6-7 regular sized Oreos (no need to remove the filling). Pulse until you have crumbs. You should have about ½ cup of crumbs. Add this to the frosting and mix together.
Leaving chunkier pieces of cookies in the frosting will add a nice boost of texture, however it will be harder to push through a piping bag. Use this same process with other types of crunchy cookies.
How to flavor buttercream with peanut butter
Peanut butter buttercream is delicious paired with chocolate cake, vanilla cake, and banana cake. Since peanut butter is similar to softened butter in texture, the best method of adding this ingredient is by replacing some (but not all) of the butter in the recipe with peanut butter.
How to make peanut butter buttercream: Replace 227 grams (1 cup, 2 sticks) of butter with 254 grams (1 cup) of creamy peanut butter (or any other nut or seed butter).
Use this same process to make buttercream flavored with Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread), Biscoff (cookie butter), and cream cheese frosting.
How to fill a piping bag
If you want to pipe pretty swirls for your cupcakes or make any kind of designs on a layer cake, a piping bag is needed. If you will be using a piping tip with your bag I highly recommend using a coupler. A coupler is a two part plastic piece that goes in your bag and attaches the piping tip to the outside. This allows you to swap out your piping tips without switching bags.
To fill the bag, fit it with the coupler and piping tip or cut the tip off if you aren’t using a piping tip.
- Place the bag in a tall cup and fold the top of the bag down. This will help the bag stay open while you add the frosting.
- Then spoon your frosting into the bag, filling no more than two-thirds full.
- Gently push the frosting down to the tip, making sure no air bubbles are trapped. Twist the end of the bag to keep closed.
MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!
Here are some of my favorite cake and cupcake recipes that can be paired with a flavored buttercream.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
This simple homemade vanilla buttercream results in a silky smooth frosting that is easy to pipe. This style of buttercream is known as American buttercream and is the easiest type to make. Use to frost cakes and cupcakes!
Ingredients
- 454 grams (2 cups, 4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 600 grams (5 cups) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 56-84 grams (4-6 tablespoons) milk or heavy cream
Instructions
Prep:
- At least 30 minutes before making the buttercream, take the butter (454 grams/ 2 cups) out of the refrigerator to soften at room temperature.
- Measure out the rest of the ingredients.
To make the buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the powdered sugar (600 grams/ 5 cups) into the mixing bowl and start mixing on low until the sugar starts to combine with the butter. Turn the mixing speed up to medium-high and beat for about 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract (2 teaspoons) and salt (½ teaspoon).
- Add a bit of milk or heavy cream if needed to thin out the texture, only 1 tablespoon at a time. If the texture becomes too thin, you can add a bit more powdered sugar until you get a spreadable consistency.
- If not using immediately, store the buttercream in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Allow to come back to room temperature and re-whip to use.
Notes
This recipe is enough to frost 24 cupcakes, a 3-layer 8-inch (20 cm) cake, or a 2-layer 9-inch (23 cm) cake. Divide the recipe in half for a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) sheet cake.
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