This delicious recipe for 5-Ingredient Easy Basic Buttercream recipe calls for only 5 ingredients (four if you skip the rum) and takes just 10 minutes to make. Its smooth texture is perfect for decorating cakes, cupcakes and cookies.
Jump to RecipeTable of Contents
Stroh rum: Your new favorite
This recipe calls for using vanilla and Stroh rum for flavoring. Stroh is an Austrian rum with vanilla, almond and butterscotch notes. In addition to the amazing flavor and bouquet it imparts to any recipe, at 80 proof, it’s also a good rum to keep in your baking cupboard for when you want to flambe something. It makes an amazing bananas foster. I add a little Stroh when I make homemade marshmallows. It’s delicious in hot chocolate and I could go on and on.
When making a rum cake, I alternate layers of this buttercream with my Classic Vanilla Pastry Cream. I also brush each cake layer with a simple syrup that has been flavored with Stroh rum. The whole cake is iced in a thin layer of 5-Ingredient Easy Basic Buttercream and finished with toasted almonds. The result is a moist, flavorful and delicate cake that tastes of rum but doesn’t overpower your senses.
Now, you can skip the Stroh rum when making this buttercream recipe and double up on the vanilla instead, but it’s worth adding a bottle of this fine rum to your collection.
A word about the use of salted butter in this recipe for 5-Ingredient Easy Basic Buttercream
Why salted butter? A little salt both elevates and balances the flavor of this buttercream. When you use salt in an Italian or French buttercream recipe, those salt crystals dissolve when the hot syrup is added to the whipped eggs. Since this recipe doesn’t call for any cooking, those crystals would remain suspended in the buttercream. If you simply added salt to this recipe, you’d end up with a gritty buttercream, which is not at all desirable. I use salted butter in this recipe because it imparts good flavor without compromising the texture. As a result, this buttercream remains smooth and easy to spread – making it perfect for decorating everything from cakes to cupcakes and cookies.
I also use this buttercream recipe to finish my Pineapple Coconut Cake. I absolutely love a good Italian buttercream, but I don’t always have the time or desire to make one. It’s not difficult, but it does take some time and discipline to bring a simple syrup to the right temperature before adding it to whipped egg whites. Frankly, I don’t want to be that “dialed in” all the time. Sometimes I just want to let the mixer do all the work, and that’s exactly what this buttercream recipe does.
This recipe calls for using vanilla and Stroh rum for flavoring. Stroh is an Austrian rum with vanilla, almond and butterscotch notes. In addition to the amazing flavor and bouquet it imparts to any recipe, at 80 proof, it’s also a good rum to keep in your baking cupboard for when you want to flambe something. It makes an amazing bananas foster. I even add a little Stroh for flavor when I make homemade marshmallows. It’s delicious in hot chocolate. Honestly, I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
5-Ingredient Easy Basic Buttercream
Course: All Recipes, DessertsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy24
servings10
minutes5
cupsThis recipe yields 5 cups of buttercream. A serving is slightly less than 1/4 cup of buttercream.
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) salted European style butter, softened
1 cup Crisco vegetable shortening (one stick if you are using the prepackaged blocks)
1 tsp. vanilla
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Stroh rum (optional, but highly recommended)
Directions
- In a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to whip together the butter and the shortening. Scrape down the sides to make sure it is fully blended together.
- Add the vanilla and Stroh rum and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Blend on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time on low speed as previously directed. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions.
- Increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and allow the buttercream to whip for 10 minutes. After whipping for 5 minutes, stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again. This will ensure all the buttercream is fully whipped. You will notice the buttercream will lighten in color and increase in volume as it whips. The finished product is a light and easy-to-spread buttercream.
Notes
- Buttercream can be stored for 2 weeks in the refrigerator or up to 2 months in the freezer.
- To reuse chilled buttercream, allow it to come to room temperature and whip again for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed before using.
- Why salted butter? A little salt elevates and balances the sweetness of the buttercream. I use salted butter because it incorporates nicely without leaving behind that gritty texture you’d get otherwise if you simply added salt to the recipe.
