Table of Contents
- How to Make the Buttercream White: The Secret to Beating Butter for the Perfect Colour
- How to Make the Buttercream White: Simple Hacks for Achieving the Ideal Shade
It’s no surprise that buttercream contains butter. And butter is yellow, which raises the question: How to make the buttercream white ? You won’t be able to achieve a pure white colour like you can with some other (less flavourful) frostings. However, there are several tips and techniques that can help you make your buttercream as white as possible, depending on the effort you’re willing to put in. And yep, there’s still butter in it. Magic!
How to Make the Buttercream White: The Secret to Beating Butter for the Perfect Colour
Achieving Fluffy, Light Buttercream by Beating for Five Minutes
Butter in its normal form is pretty yellow. Buy you can get around this, and make your buttercream incredibly fluffy and light (double win), by beating it for at least five minutes. Yep, that long. Ensure your butter is soft by taking it out of the fridge an hour or two before you plan to use it. If it’s not quite soft enough, 10 seconds or so in the microwave should do it – just don’t melt it.
Maximizing Efficiency: Use a Stand Mixer for Effortless Whipping
A stand mixer will save you a tonne of effort here. Use the balloon whisk attachment on high speed to whip up the butter for a full five minutes, scraping down the sides with a spatula every minute or so. If you don’t have a stand mixer, then a hand-held electric mixer will do the trick too. Please, avoid attempting to do this by hand.
The Secret to Pale, Fluffy Buttercream
After whipping the butter, it will become light and pale, and adding the powdered sugar will further lighten its colour. Make sure to beat the mixture for at least a minute between each addition of sugar. There’s no such thing as over-whipping in this process!
How to Make the Buttercream White: Simple Hacks for Achieving the Ideal Shade
White Food Colouring
I was just as doubtful as you might be, but when I added a tablespoon of Sugarflair Superwhite Icing Whitener to the buttercream after mixing in the powdered sugar, it truly made the buttercream noticeably whiter. I should have done a before and after photo – maybe next time. But seriously, this powder is some sort of magic dust. It’s white buttercream’s new best friend.
And if you’re from the USA, I’ve heard great things about this Wilton White Food Colour too.
Sure, it likely has some kind of bleaching agent that might not be the healthiest option, but if you’re indulging in a cupcake loaded with sugary frosting as an occasional treat, I don’t see any harm in it. But it’s your call.
Clear Vanilla Extract
This one is a bit of a looks-over-taste compromise, as everyone knows that good quality vanilla extract is brown, not clear. But yeah, if you want your buttercream as white as possible, then you’re going to need to make this compromise.
A Flavour Boost You Don’t Want to Skip
Clear vanilla extract (or essence as it is sometimes called) will probably have a bit more of a ‘fake’ vanilla taste, but I’d recommend using some than just leaving it out altogether. Especially if you are going all in with the next step.
Use butter and vegetable shortening
This tip might be a bit divisive and could be too much for some (myself included, most of the time). If you’re looking to eliminate more of that yellow To make a butter tint, you can lessen the butter quantity and substitute some of it with shortening.
A Delicate Trade-Off in Baking
In an ideal world, there would be something that tastes as creamy as butter, but looks as white as Trex. However, using all shortening will result in a greasy texture that’s far from ideal. If you must, a 50/50 mix of butter and shortening can work, but proceed with caution— the outcome might not be to everyone’s liking. Adding some clear vanilla extract will, while it does help mask the flavour, both Kate and I remain sceptical about whether the change is really worthwhile.
Whether you want to stick with butter, or try some shortening, here’s the recipe for the super white buttercream pictured above.
Super White Buttercream With Vanilla
Ingredients
- 225 g 1 cup Unsalted butter*, very soft
- 500 g 4 cups Icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 2-4 tbsp Whole milk or cream
- 2 tbsp Clear vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Icing whitener or white food colouring (optional)
Instructions
- Beat the butter in a stand mixer, using the balloon whisk attachment, or if using a hand-held mixer, then beat the butter in a medium-sized bowl. Mix on high speed for a minimum of five minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides with a spatula every minute or so. The butter should become light, fluffy, and extremely pale when it's properly whipped.
- Incorporate the sifted icing sugar in three or four separate batches, mixing for at least a minute between each addition. Once all the icing sugar has been beaten in, add between 2 and 4 tablespoons of milk or cream (depending on what consistency you need your frosting to be), include the vanilla extract and icing whitener, then mix thoroughly once more.
Video
Notes
And if you’re looking to add an exciting twist to your baking adventures, consider trying an easy recipe for coconut ice to complement your desserts perfectly.
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