This post may contain affiliate links. The best Vanilla Best vanilla buttercream frosting you will ever make! Four simple ingredients are all you need to make this classic American buttercream recipe.
Cake decorated with buttercream rosettes on a white cake stand. I made my own birthday cake. I think this is pretty standard for bakers, and I’m totally ok with it. I was actually not going to make a cake at all, since I was knee-deep in Pastry School at the time, but my husband insisted that we needed one, even if that meant buying one from the grocery store. This is harder and harder for me to do these days. I can’t bring myself to buy them. From Classic Cakes to Holiday favorites and everything in between.
It helped that I still had a couple cake layers in the freezer from when I baked them for my Flat Top Cakes post. The recipe I used was my Almost Scratch Cake. So with the cake layers already done, all I had to do was defrost them, make the frosting, and decorate. I decided to go for an American Buttercream for ease. Close up of the buttercream rosettes on the side of the cake. I usually make Swiss meringue buttercream, which I love but takes a bit more effort, and I was most certainly looking for something with very little effort. The BEST vanilla frosting I’d ever had was on my wedding cake, a cake we commissioned from Gannon’s, the restaurant we had our reception at.
We didn’t do any tastings or see any samples, we just sent them a picture of what we wanted it to look like and chose our flavors. Photo of a wedding cake with vanilla buttercream and orange flowers. This cake was unbelievable, the buttercream so smooth and delicious. We had a ton of leftovers, which we happily took back to our condo and devoured over the next few days.
I’d mentioned multiple times to Ryan that I wondered how they made it. I assumed it was a meringue-based one because it was so silky smooth, but it was less buttery than ones I’d made before. Unbeknownst to me, Ryan had emailed Gannon’s and asked them for the recipe. He should probably get some kind of award, right? I honestly did not think they would divulge their secrets, but they sent over a recipe!
How to make American Buttercream This American buttercream consists of four simple ingredients — butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream. I’m convinced that there are a few key things you can do to make sure your buttercream is nice and smooth with as little grit as possible. The first step is to really whip the butter, on its own, before adding any powdered sugar. 2 cup to 1 cup at a time to the buttercream and whip well in between additions. Once all the sugar is added, give it a good whip for at least 3 mins, more if needed. Add only as much cream as needed to reach the consistency that you want and whip some more until completely smooth.
I am super happy with the end result and will definitely be making this buttercream again! Vanilla cake with rosettes and vanilla buttercream. I’ve seen this done before and it looked amazing, so I wanted to give it a try. I had done rosettes before, but usually just as decoration on top of the cakes or on cupcakes, not something that would cover the whole cake. I could have winged it, but I’m glad I checked out a couple of video tutorials first. I wouldn’t have thought to offset each row of roses to fill in the gaps.
For this rosette cake, I started at the bottom and worked my way around, then the next layer, then the top. Overhead shot of buttercream rosettes on a cake. This particular vanilla buttercream is a bit less sweet than most you’ll find. I don’t like mine super-sweet, so I just added less powdered sugar.
If you’re looking for an easy and delicious vanilla buttercream recipe, this one is for you! Add cream 1 Tbsp at a time until you reach the desired consistency, make sure it’s at room temperature. For the rosettes, it’s best to practice a few on some parchment first. When ready, pipe the bottom row of rosettes, then offset them for the next row. I used a 1M piping tip to do the rosettes.