The perfect creamy, not-too-sweet White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, perfect for covering a cake or piping on cupcakes! Recipe includes a how-to video, and some of my favorite cakes and cupcakes to pair it with!
I’ll be honest, the first time I made white chocolate frosting I expected it to be much, much too sweet. White chocolate is already so sweet on its own and I rarely care for it when there’s real chocolate in the picture (unless it’s tempered with browned butter, sea salt, and nuts like in my white chocolate macadamia nut cookies).
When I set out to make a white chocolate buttercream, I was determined that it would have a distinct white chocolate flavor, without being tooth-achingly sweet. I’ve reduced the sugar, whipped in some cream (for a light and fluffy texture) and voila, here’s a white chocolate frosting that you can actually eat by the spoonful. It may even be less sweet than my classic buttercream frosting!
To give you an idea of how not-overly-sweet it is, this is often my filling of choice when I’m testing my macaron recipe.. It’s creamy, smooth, with a silky mouthfeel. It’s softer than my buttercream or cream cheese frosting, closer in consistency to ermine frosting, but as you can see in the photo you can still pipe it onto cupcakes.
Ingredients
- White Chocolate. You can use white chocolate bars (shown in the photo above) or white chocolate chips so long as they are quality/premium chips (I have had bad luck with generic chips and recommend Ghirardelli).
- Butter. I like to use unsalted butter and then add a pinch of salt at the end so that you have complete control over the flavor of the icing.
- Powdered Sugar. I use considerably less powdered sugar in this recipe than I do in some of my others. The chocolate helps to give it a firm texture once it’s cooled completely and whipping a bit of cream in at the end helps give it a fluffy consistency as well.
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt. As mentioned above.
- Whipping Cream. I highly recommend whipping a splash of cream into your frosting at the end. It makes it fluffier, silkier, and light.
As always, this is just an overview of the ingredients that I used. Please scroll down to the printable recipe below for amounts.
Can I Color White Chocolate Buttercream?
Yes! You can add food coloring to this recipe. Stir gel (preferred) or liquid or even powder food coloring after you have finished the recipe. Add as much as is needed to get the desired color. I love using gel food coloring anytime I’m coloring buttercream as a little goes a long way and the colors are so vibrant.
Tips
- Always melt chocolate slowly! If heated too quickly, it’s prone to seizing and will take on a grainy appearance. Heat in short bursts and stir very well in between.
- It’s important that you let your chocolate cool after melting. Set it aside and let it cool (stirring occasionally) until no longer warm to the touch (but not so cool that it’s re-solidified!). If it’s warm, it will melt your butter and leave you with a greasy mess instead of luscious creamy frostiing.
- Use butter that’s close to room temperature, but neither melty/greasy or too chilled. If the butter is cold, it will actually cause some of the chocolate to harden, leaving you with small chocolate clumps.
- I recommend whipping some cream into the frosting, but if you whip it very much you can end up with a frosting that’s almost too airy and full of air bubbles, making it difficult to spread smoothly over your cake. If that happens, just use a spatula to gently fold through the frosting, pressing it against the sides of the bowl and essentially deflating the excess air for a smooth buttercream.
This frosting is great on just about any cake recipe, but I especially love it on my marble cake, white cake, and a super fun cake recipe that I have coming for you later this week. It’s also good (though less traditional) on red velvet cupcakes!
Storing
I generally recommend using this frosting pretty quickly after making it. As it sits, the frosting tends to solidify a bit, giving the frosting an almost fudge-like consistency. However, it can be made in advance and stored. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface of the frosting. It will keep at room temperature for a day or in the refrigerator for up to a week. You will likely need to briefly re-whip the frosting before using.
White Chocolate Buttercream Goes Great With:
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Be sure to check out my video in the recipe where I’ll show you exactly how I make these in my own kitchen!
White Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
- 6 oz (170 g) white chocolate¹ chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter² softened to room temperature (but not so soft that it’s melty/greasy)
- 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Place white chocolate in a small, heat-proof bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir very well, then return to microwave and heat in 15-second increments, stirring very well in between, until chocolate is completely smooth and melted.6 oz (170 g) white chocolate¹
- Set chocolate aside to cool for at least 15 minutes and no longer warm to the touch (otherwise it will melt the butter and you’ll have a greasy mess).
- While chocolate is cooling, place softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you may use a large bowl and an electric hand mixer) and beat until creamy and well-whipped.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter²
- With mixer on low-speed, gradually add melted, cooled chocolate and stir well.
- Gradually add powdered sugar , scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl periodically to ensure that all ingredients are well combined.2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
- Sprinkle in salt and vanilla extract and stir well.½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low-speed, gradually add heavy cream to frosting. Gradually increase speed to high and beat for 30-60 seconds or until desired consistency is reached (should be light, creamy, fluffy, and slightly increased in volume). If you beat too much air into the icing and would like a smoother frosting, use a spatula to cut through the batter and work out any air bubbles.2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- Pipe or spread frosting onto prepared, cooled baked goods.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Janeen Borden
Hi can you use whole mile if you don’t have heavy cream ?
Sam Merritt
Milk will work here, you will just need a bit less as it’s thinner. 🙂
Diana
Can you add a flavoring to this frosting? Perhaps an extract or some zest? I was also thinking maybe some cinnamon but i want to make sure what will or won’t mess with the texture and integrity of the frosting.
Sam Merritt
Hi Diana! You shouldn’t have any issues doing so. 🙂
Alexia
Absolutely delicious! It’s fluffy, not heavy, easy to spread and easy for pipping! It’s not overly sugary and have a good balance. I’m saving this recipe for sure! 🙂
Tasha
How do I make only half of this recipe for macarons? Just cut all measurements in half? Any other adjustments required?
Thanks in advance!
Sam
Hi Tasha! Yes you would just cut all of the ingredients in half. 🙂
Stacie
This looks absolutely delicious! Quick question, can I substitute Crisco for butter? I’m going to modify one of your cupcakes recipes to be gluten free and I would like to modify this frosting for a child who’s allergic to dairy. Thank you!
Sam
Hi Stacie! You will lose a little bit of flavor, but I think it should work. With the white chocolate in this recipe it should still be pretty good. 🙂
Shonna
Hi Stacie! I have had to make gluten free dairy free cupcakes. There is dairy free chocolate chips that I’ve used before. I believe I saw white as well. Sometimes you can find a dairy free heavy cream but otherwise there are substitutes and directions to make your own. Just google it. I have used almond milk when a recipe calls for milk. When it comes to butter, there is plant based butter that works wonderfully and doesn’t affect the taste. Just some tips for you from someone who made gluten free dairy free cupcakes and no one could tell the difference!
Debbie M.
Hi, This a very good frosting! Its light and creamy. Also not too sweet.
John minarik
I made this to fill macarons with your recipe for both. The filling is great, but way too much for the macarons recipe. Sadly, I have no room to store the remainder. Thank you for your insights – I will find out tomorrow about the macarons! they are chilling in the fridge til then).
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We hope they turned out great, John! 😊
Caroline
hi, do you think this icing would be ok for a lemon cake ?
thanks so much
Sam
Hi Caroline! That sounds delicious! 🙂
Alecia
How many cups does this make please? If you already said it about in sorry I missed it.
Sam
Hi Alecia! I haven’t measure it myself, but I would guess somewhere around 3 cups. 🙂
Debbie
I’ve made this frosting a couple of times now and LOVE it. The second time I made it the melted white chocolate cooled for only 10 minutes and because it was too cool, it made chunks of chocolate in the frosting…..and now that is the only way I want to make it! It was so good have that texture – got rave reviews!! Thank you so much for the this recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
A happy accident! We are so happy you love this one, Debbie 🥰
Dee
can you use food coloring to change the color
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Ahmed
Hi .. thank u for your recipe .. is it too sweet or not ?
can i use it to make flowers on cupcakes?
i live in hot area is it stable or will be melt ?
thsnk u and sorry for the many questions.
Sam
Hi Ahmed! It is a sweet frosting, but I definitely do not think it’s overly sweet. You can use it to pipe flowers. You can see me piping the frosting in the beginning of the video. It will behave like most other frostings and if it becomes too warm it will become very soft.
sophia
I didn’t think I liked white chocolate much, but I made this as filler in a triple chocolate cake my daughter requested. My uncle had a similar negative opinion. Surprisingly, we all loved it so much that it’s been requested as the main frosting on our next cake. What successful recipe! Thanks so much.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sophia! 🙂
Deanne Hartigan
Can this be made ahead like one day? Thank you
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Deanne! We actually cover this within the post. Hope you love it! 🥰
Mildred724
this is what i have been looking for and to pip it for my cakes and cupcakes too. Thanks for sharing. Have a nice day. Congratulations on your baby girl.
Michelle
Does it his frosting crust like regular buttercream?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Michelle! This does crust in a way similar to a classic American Buttercream. You will need to let it sit out for a little while to crust.