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Classic Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

Classic Vanilla Buttercream

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand

Show: Sweet DreamsEpisode: All About Frosting

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate This RecipeRead users' reviews (20)

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Average Rating:

Total Reviews: 20

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  • on January 16, 2012

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    Im far from an expert (17 and I thought it was fairly simple. I beat my egg whites for 10 mins and took my sugar off at 240 degrees. I added the zest and juice of two lemons and i thought it was amazing. I'm using it for my pink macarons. im just chilling it for an hour.

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  • on November 27, 2011

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    This is very delicious. When I did it it came out a bit watery, but I left it in a frizzer for a bit an it was spreadable. Before preparing it I had read some of the reviews on some pointers, as somebody stated u have to cook the sugar mix until it thickens, I actually cooled down the sugar mix before adding it to the egg whites.

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  • on January 15, 2011

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    This recipe is definitely for someone that owns a stand mixture. I didn't have any problem like other reviewers here with separation - I think it may have been that their eggwhites were whipped too long (into stiff peaks and not soft peaks. If you are to do overdo anything in this recipe, I would cook the sugar mixture longer - it still comes out perfect at a hardball stage.

    I have only one comment. I am a fan of unsalted butter (unsalted butter is usually of better quality than sweet cream since salt tends to hide impurities - therefore I had to add the salt (I added 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. when I was about 1/2 way through adding the butter. Not all of it dissolved. I think if I make this again I will get sweet cream European butter instead (faaaaabulous flavor! - or add the salt to the vanilla to dissolve....

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  • on October 22, 2009

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    i'm not a frosting, icing, buttercream fan usually. this was fantastic. i'm not sure why so many of the comments said they had problems making this. it's not that hard and it holds up so wonderfully when your done. it does take time though. blending the butter in a little at a time until the right consistency. i've made this a couple times. once i only used 4 sticks of butter and today i used 5. i guess it just depends on the day. i don't have a stand mixer so i use my hand held beaters, which makes it a little tricky but do-able. plus decorating with this buttercream is a snap. i've never been very good at decorations but this buttercream spreads so beautifully and hold it's shape with the piping bad.... i love it! oh and by the was the flavor is wonderful. i used vanilla beans instead and it still turned out wonderfully. good luck to everyone trying this recipe. when you make it to the end, you'll be wonderfully rewarded.

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  • on April 03, 2009

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    The first time I tried this recipe, I ended up with butter soup. Terrible. But after reading the comments, I tried again and it turned out BEAUTIFUL. You just really have to beat the tar out of it. The egg whites need to be pretty stiff before you add the syrup. The syrup has to be cooked down quite a bit. I don't have a candy thermometer but I used the softball test. After I SLOWLY poured the syrup into the egg whites, I beat that for at least 10 minutes on medium high until it was almost completely cooled. Basically, the mixture was like marshmallow cream at that point. The butter has to be cold. I used 3 1/2 sticks of cold butter and then again, beat it and beat it and beat it. I was pretty beat after struggling with frosting and I put it in the fridge overnight. Today when I wanted to use it again, I had to beat it quite a bit again just to get it to the right consistency again. You just have to be super patient with this recipe. It's TOTALLY worth it though. I wanted to dive into the bowl and eat it all!

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  • on February 26, 2009

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    Very Good and yes not a easy recipe. You need a very good mixer. I beat the egg whites to stiff picks and used 3/4lbs of butter. It was not as think as I like but I stuck it in the fringe and it firmed up. My dd wanted it on a yellw cake (which was okbut I bet it would be really great on chocolate.

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  • on October 31, 2008

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    this recipe makes REAL buttercream frosting. the texture for both decorating and for eating (the feel in your mouth! is perfect. however, this recipe is not for the beginner cook. i consider myslef an advanced intermediate although my friends & family consider me to be an expert... - i've made this recipe 2 times. the first time it came out perfect. my husband is a buttercream fanatic and he couldn't keep his spoon out of the bowl! the second time i made it, i had actually bought a candy thermometer to watch the temperature and WHAT A MISTAKE. there isn't enough sugar in the pot to get an accurate reading. needless to say, i had soupy, sloppy buttercream frosting that was a total disaster. my first time i used the water test to see if the sugar had made it to the softball stage (http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html. i'm making some again tonight with my bowl of cold water next to the pot. it is worth the time and effort if you want REAL buttercream frosting. just be patient. this is not a quickie recipe.

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  • on August 23, 2008

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    Wonderful! Just like the homemade stuff I grew up with - mom decorated cakes as a side business. I thought I ruined the recipe because my sugar got to 245 but it had no impact on the final outcome. Not a good recipe for a warm kitchen - I put the frosting in the fridge when I finished to firm it up a bit before frosting the cake. Definitely cut the butter pieces small - some of mine were too big and I'll need to re-beat the frosting to incorporate them better. I used a KitchenAid stand mixer on medium high and high speed - high speed is the key to cooling the egg white-sugar mixture. I kept the mixer on high while incorporating the butter and waited until the previous piece was well incorporated before adding the next piece. Frosting has a nice silky mouth feel. Someone commented that it felt slimey and left a residue in their mouth - try a Crsico based frosting and tell me that mouth feel (yuck! I don't consider myself an expert by any means but I like a challenge. Take it slow, that's the key.

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  • on July 11, 2008

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    The first time I tried this recipe I got fantastic results, and didn't know what was causing everyone such problems.

    Then a month or two went by and I forgot how I made it. I ended up with the "butter soup" that seems common with these recipes. I ended up fixing it with another stick of butter.

    It seems that there are three tricks to this recipe. 1. Beat the tar out of the egg whites. 2. Take the sugar up to and a little beyond the soft ball stage. And 3, if it does go soupy on you, just keep adding CHILLED butter and keep whipping the stuffing out of it. It'll eventually come around.

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  • on June 14, 2008

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    i tried this recipe three times. each time i get to a thick liquid but never to buttercream consistency. Twice I tried to add a little more butter one small cube at a time whipping until they were completely incorporated. Then I end up with something resembling a curdled mess. I GIVE UP. THe directions need to be more detailed

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