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.
Wendy
How long can you store this frosting in the fridge before you use it?
Sam
Hi Wendy! I actually provide storage instructions for the frosting right above the recipe. 🙂
Kim
This buttercream icing was easy & delicious!
Jasmine
Hey! Idk if my comment got posted but do you think this will go good with golden oreo cupcakes or strawberry cupcakes? I can’t do cream cheese because they’ll be sitting out for a party
Sam
Hi Jasmine! I think this frosting will work wonderfully with either of those cupcakes. Enjoy! 🙂
Lance
I’d like to use this recipe but blueberry flavored for macarons. I have fresh blueberries, how would I change it for it to work well?
Sam
Hi Lance! I haven’t tried a blueberry frosting so I can’t say for sure what the best way to do it would be. It would take some experimenting.
Yvonne
Perhaps using a crushed freeze dried blueberry, that might work…I know white chocolate is very temperamental when it comes to adding liquids
Suzann
perfect balance of white chocolate and sweetness. Easily frosted 2 layer 9 inch cake.
Heather
thanks for sharing this recipe! is it good for piping a lot of details? I want to make a layer cake with lots of frills and loops.
Sam
Hi Heather! Frills and loops could work. This is a little bit softer than a standard buttercream. You can see how I piped it in the pictures in the post. 🙂
S
Hi Sam! I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I have a couple of questions. I am making your Pistachio Cake recipe for a friends birthday on Wednesday. You mentioned in the cake recipe that this buttercream worked well with the cake. Does 1 batch of frosting make enough frosting to have a nice filling and generously cover the whole outside as well? Do I need to make a batch and a half maybe??
Sam
It will give you enough to do a 2 layer 8 or 9 inch cake, but if you want to pipe decorations and things like that you would likely need to increase the recipe. 🙂
Lois Martin
I made another similar recipe awhile back and it hardened up on me, does this one harden or stay creamy?
Sam
Hi Lois! It should stay creamy. 🙂
Jemma
Hi what piping tip was used for this ?
Sam
Hi Jemma, I use the Ateco 848.
Leslie
I just wanted to say it looks delicious and I love how you wrote the instructions out with the ingredient for each step at the end of the step in addition to the ingredients list. Very helpful.
Kate Peden
How is it for macarons? Will it hold up?
Sam
Yes, this is my favorite filling to use for macarons.
Karen
Will this frosting work on sugar cookies?
Sam
Hi Karen! It could work, but it won’t firm up quite as much as the frosting for the sugar cookie. 🙂
Lucy
Hi,
Can you make this a few days ahead?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lucy! We actually address this within the post 😊
Jessica
Can you color this frosting?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jessica! We actually address this within the post ☺️
Rita Beyenhof
I’d like to make this for a birthday cake I’m making Saturday (today is Tuesday). I want to use it for making flowers and freezing them ahead of time. Will it be ok to use this recipe for the flowers?
Sam
Hi Rita! Sorry for the delayed response! This will hold its shape, but I may add in a little bit more sugar to make it a bit sturdier for flowers. 🙂
Patsy
Hi, there’s some post that suggest to add sour cream into the buttercream. Will you recommend it?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Patsy! We haven’t tried it, so we can’t say for sure how it would go. That being said, we firmly stand by our recipe as written and hope you’ll give it a try! 😊
Rita Beyenhof
Can this frosting be made with white almond bark?
Sam
Hi Rita! I think it could potentially work, but it will have a different flavor.
Nida
Hi
Is it ideal to be used for frosting a cake in summer, a very hot one
Sam
Hi Nida! Unfortunately a very hot summer won’t be good for this frosting, most frostings will struggle in a really hot summer. 🙁
Pradha
Hello – I want to try this recipe this weekend for my niece. Would this work under fondant? I really really do not like buttercream because it’s too sweet so I want to find an alternative and this looks like it. Pls let me know? I don’t want to test this weekend because the cake is for her graduation.
Sam
Hi Pradha! I haven’t personally tried it, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work under fondant. 🙂