How to Make Buttercream with Stand Mixer: A Simple Guide

What’s a cake without buttercream, right?  That soft, smooth, buttery, melt-in-the-mouth cream enhances the taste of just anything – cupcakes, muffins, and more. To make the most smooth buttercream frosting, we have a special ingredient that we like to throw in. Many individuals use milk in their frosting, but the trick is cream. Cream just lifts the buttercream and the extra cream fat really helps to improve the lightness of the buttercream.

This is a piece of cake if you have a stand mixer. All you will need to do is pour in your ingredients and let the mixer do the job. If you don't have one, a hand mixer works just as well. On cakes, cookies, cupcakes, or pancakes, buttercream frosting is perfect. 

This recipe for buttercream frosting is basic, fast, and immune to failure. It's one that you can use as a beginner or experienced baker at home.

Here are several reasons why this is the best buttercream recipe:

Simple ingredients plus any flavoring of choice as needed. 

• Homemade cheap frosting that's not going to break the bank. Inexpensive and exquisite.
• It's fast, simple and you can whip it up in 10 minutes. 
• Made with ingredients that you can pronounce, in this homemade buttercream frosting, you know what goes in it and there's no artificial preservative or sweetener. 
• In order to make it, you do not need heavy or costly machinery.

Tools:

• Weighing Scale- To calculate the consistency of the ingredients.
• Mixing bowl- Use a deep one wide enough to accommodate the frosting.
• Hand or a stand mixer- Electric mixer.
• Spatula- To ensure the sides of the mixing bowl are scraped off.

Ingredients:

• Salted or unsalted butter. Bring it to room temperature as soft butter helps buttercream come out nice and fluffy.
• Icing Sugar, also referred to as powdered sugar or confectioners. For this recipe, caster or granulated sugar will not function unless it is first made into powdered sugar.
• For flavoring, you can use your choice of vanilla extract, lemon, strawberry extract, or any flavoring. 
• Milk or heavy cream (optional). Use whole milk if you are not using heavy cream.

Recipe:

This easy buttercream frosting takes less than ten minutes to make. Follow the steps mentioned below: 

Step 1: Measure all the ingredients and leave the butter to soften or carry to room temperature.

Step 2: Place the butter in a mixing bowl and use a hand or stand mixer to whip for around 1 minute at high speed or until the butter is light.

Step 3: Add half of the icing sugar and mix for about a minute at low speed until the remaining icing sugar comes together.

Step 4: Mix until it comes together at a low speed, then add flavoring and milk. Whip until light and fluffy at high speed for 5 minutes.

Storage:

Buttercream holds well if placed in the fridge or the freezer. Put it in a freezer bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months if you make it ahead or have some remaining. Bring to room temperature when ready to use, add to a mixing bowl and mix for 3 minutes or until fluffy, with a hand or stand mixer. If you put it in the freezer, put it first in the fridge to thaw before whipping again.

Appliance:

If you’re looking to make your buttercream with a stand mixer, then Acekool Multi-Functional Kitchen Mixer is an ideal choice. It has a 7L capacity bowl which means you can make buttercream in a large batch. With a 1400W powerful motor and varying speeds, you can whisk your buttercream perfectly for that smooth texture. Furthermore, it is easy to clean, has removable parts and a splash guard, which means you can make buttercream without creating a mess. Acekool offers a 3-year guarantee in case you need to replace some parts.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Do you use whisk or paddle for buttercream?

Most bakers suggest continuing to use the paddle if a regular buttercream base frosting is made, as you don't want the frosting to be too aerated. So the general rule is to use the flat beater attachment for the most common frostings.

2. Can I use margarine?

Because of its low water content and high fat, butter can make the best buttercream. You can use margarine but do not use reduced-fat margarine because it has more water content.

3. How can I thicken buttercream frosting?

To make it thicker, put the buttercream frosting in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Mix the powdered sugar using an electric mixer or handheld whisk into the frosting, making sure it is fully incorporated. If the frosting is still not as thick as you like, proceed in tiny amounts to add more powdered sugar. If your buttercream frosting is already reasonably sweet, consider adding cornstarch instead of powdered sugar to it as a thickening agent.

4. Why is my buttercream too runny?

This could be that the butter was too soft or you used too much milk. And if you're making cream cheese frosting, it could be because you've over beaten it. A warm kitchen can also make frostings go runny, so be careful of the temperature.

5. Which is healthier, buttercream or whipped cream?

Whipped icing isn't always a better choice if you are looking for a healthy alternative. Although it may have less sugar and no butter than buttercream, whipped icing may still be full of calories and fat, often even more than buttercream.

We hope our article will help you create the perfect and delicious buttercream frosting for cakes, muffins, and more! Do make sure you get yourself a good kitchen appliance such as a stand mixer to get that creamy texture without wasting too much time doing so manually.