This Wedding Cupcake Buttercream recipe has been featured in an extensive how-to post on The Recipe Girl blog: How to Make Wedding Cupcakes.
This Wedding Cupcake Buttercream recipe was first featured here on RecipeGirl many years ago when I baked cupcakes for my son’s kindergarten teacher’s wedding. She wanted cupcakes and had heard that I might be able to do them for her. I worked for a catering company in college, but this was a little outside my comfort zone and expertise! She loved my blog, and she begged me to help. How could I resist?
I ended up taking on the project, and it was so much fun. Her wedding wasn’t terribly big, but I was tasked with making about 125 cupcakes. My kitchen was covered in cupcakes! It was a lot of work, but it was terribly satisfying to know that I was helping out this sweet teacher.
The wedding cupcakes were a huge hit at her wedding, and everyone specifically noted how much they loved the frosting. This is the frosting recipe! It’s so delicious, and it’s now a big-time favorite for a lot of people.
If you have questions about this icing and wedding cupcakes… it may be helpful to read through the comments/questions/answers below the recipe- many of your questions may be answered there! Also visit this post: How to Make Wedding Cupcakes for all of the details on when to make the cupcakes and how to store and transport them to the wedding.
This Wedding Cupcake Buttercream is my go-to recipe for icing basic cupcakes and wedding cake. Every time I share the recipe on Facebook, I hear from other people who say it’s their go-to recipe too. It turns out perfect every time. It’s so easy to make, and it works through a piping bag well. The recipe will frost 12 cupcakes with a generous swirl. Double, triple, or quadruple the recipe to frost more cupcakes!
Note that this recipe also works wonderfully for layer cakes. It spreads on smoothly, and you can pipe on decorations too. I use it for everything. It has been my go-to frosting recipe for so many years!
A simple swirl on cupcakes creates a beautiful dessert for weddings with little candy pearls sprinkled on top.
This Wedding Cupcake Buttercream is a very popular buttercream recipe- made by thousands who sing this recipe’s praises. I have used this very recipe for all of my cupcakes for so many years now. It’s a keeper recipe!
It does work beautifully for weddings, but it’s not limited to just weddings! This buttercream is a nice one to use for all sorts of occasions. I call it Wedding Cupcake Buttercream because of my original story in using for the first time for the wedding.
There are a few questions that people tend to ask related to this recipe, so I’ll go ahead and address them here.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
I like to use salted butter for just about everything, but I definitely use salted butter for this recipe. The salt will tend to cut down on the sweetness a bit. That’s a good thing!
How far in advance should I frost the cupcakes? And should I refrigerate them?
When I make these, I like to frost them the same day if at all possible. If you’d like to frost them the night before, that’s ok too. After adding the frosting, I like to put them in cupcake boxes and refrigerate them until they are ready to serve (overnight is fine). Once you put them out on display, they will defrost nicely and taste just as good as if you’ve made them the same day.
What should I do with leftover Wedding Cupcakes?
Keep leftover cupcakes in a covered container in your refrigerator for a few days. I’ve also frozen them in a covered container and they thaw nicely and taste pretty good that way too!
If you’re looking for more frosting recipes you might also enjoy my Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting or Cookies and Cream Frosting. My Chocolate Buttercream Frosting is another favorite for topping wedding cupcakes. Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a beauty as well.
Wedding Cupcake Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use clear extract, if you really want it white)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy or regular whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter on low speed. Mix until well blended. Increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
- Add vanilla and 1 tablespoon of cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more. Add more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency.
- Scoop into a piping bag and pipe decoratively onto cupcakes, or spread onto cupcakes as desired.
Notes
- *This recipe doubles or triples well.
- *There is no need to sift the powdered sugar, unless you're worried that your sugar is quite lumpy.
- *Do not try to replace the butter with margarine or shortening- it won't work out well.
- *Add in color, if desired. I like to use colored gel paste instead of liquid food coloring- then you're not messing with adding additional liquid to the perfect consistency of the frosting. Gel paste is sold at craft stores and baking supply shops.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just made these for a Pinterest Party/Brunch tomorrow! My hubby said they are the best cupcakes he has ever tasted! I am storing them in the fridge, uncovered until tomorrow. Should that be ok? So afraid of smooching the pretty icing!
yes!
I made cupcakes for St Patty’s day so I made the wedding cupcake recipe with a box of funfetti and added some mint, then made this buttercream. I didn’t have any whipping cream so I added my Bailey’s Coffee Creamer instead. It worked! Added great flavor and with my green food coloring, it made them the most raved about goodies I’ve brought to a party!
Love this idea!
I just have to thank you for posting this recipe. It was a SMASH!
great recipe…tastes very creamy. however, you CAN cut the butter with shortening (1/2 cup each) without it really affecting the taste at all. it simply makes for a stiffer icing that holds flowers & decorations nicely…also works better for higher humidity conditions than using just butter in the recipe.
can’t wait to try this cupcake recipe today – i have 125 cupcakes to make for a wedding this summer & this seems like the PERFECT recipe to test for it.
Made this today for the strawberry cupcakes on this site and it was fabulous! Parents even asked for the recipe.
I just made this recipe and it is super yummy!! Very buttery and creamy!
For those who wonder if it makes good decorations.. Yes and no… I was able to successfully make roses with it right after I made it, while it was still cold. However, as I continued to test out decorations my hand warmed it up and it was much too soft and melty to even make good stars! I tried to cool it off in a bowl of ice but it just wasn’t much good after it got too warm.. For decorations, I mean! I’m sure it would make a great base frosting for cakes and cupcakes or even a delicious filling. Very tasty!!
Thank you! I will try your recipe when I make my valentine cupcakes & I’ll let you know how it turns out 🙂
Hi Lori!
I have a question for you. Okay, first, I didn’t realize until now that you had a buttercream icing recipe posted or I would have used yours instead lol. I ended up using the following recipe a few weeks ago and tried not one but two times to get it right, thinking that maybe I did something wrong, but all I did was waste ingredients 🙁 I noticed that you use whipping cream in your recipe. Could that be what is missing here? Mine was all liquidy and sugary, GROSS! The vanilla extract was overpowering as well.
•1/2 cup butter, softened
•4-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
•1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•5 to 6 tablespoons 2% milk
That’s the recipe that was so horrible. I found it somewhere on the internet. Any store bought icing was DEFINATELY better than this. I want to try yours. The pics looks great, but I know there had to be something missing from the recipe I used. I have seen other buttercream icing recipes and they at least use shortning as well. This one didn’t call for that OR whipping cream.
–Marie
There appears to be far too much liquid in that one. To be safe, I always add the liquid just a little at a time until I get the consistency I’m looking for. Yes, the whipping cream tends to make the frosting nice and creamy.
Question…I have tried recipe before and it was delicious but after refrigerated the icing hardened just like butter would do if chilled. After bringing to room temp it just didn’t taste right and would not remix well. I tend to use a shortening based recipe now but it’s never as yummy as ‘real’ buttercream. Any suggestions?
Are you talking about preparing it, refrigerating it, and then trying to re-mix and frost at a later time? I’m not sure if I would make ahead like that.
I just made this frosting to frost cupcakes for my daughter’s baby shower. They were a huge hit! So many people commented on the delicious frosting – I noticed many guests gobbling down 2 and 3 cupcakes each! It was my first attempt making cupcakes, and I was really nervous about serving so many people. But they turned out perfect! Thanks so much for the great recipe.
Julie