Instagram really knows how to get me with their algorithm. They know that when I see a slow-mo video of the fluffiest, whitest buttercream churning around in a KitchenAid mixer, I’m going to click on it and find out what kind of magic creates that! It’s a bit irritating when the internet knows you better than you do and they know exactly what is going to be the click bait for you. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, congratulations, internet cookies! You win! I’m a girl who loves a good cake with fluffy buttercream, and yes--as a matter of fact, I do want to learn how to make the buttercream for my kids’ birthday cakes look that amazing and fluffy like you are haughtily showing off right now. 

I digress. I was so happy to learn that it is super easy to achieve the whitest buttercream and all it takes is a little more time mixing and one secret ingredient.

Whip It Real Good!

Start out by whipping room temperature butter on a medium-high speed (6 or 8 on a KitchenAid mixer) with a paddle attachment for 2 minutes before adding any other ingredients. Whipping it incorporates air, which naturally lightens the butter. 

**Feel free to keep whipping--some recipes I read for buttercream have you mix it on medium-low speed for 10 minutes!

Color Correct with Food Coloring

Using the same concept as green-colored concealer to counteract red blemishes on the face when doing makeup--we are going to go on the opposite side of the color wheel from yellow, which happens to be violet, to color correct our slightly yellow frosting. Using the tip of a toothpick, get a small amount of violet gel food coloring and mix it into the frosting  until it neutralizes the yellow and is white. Make sure you only try this after whipping for at least 2 minutes and you see that it is still slightly yellow--depending on the brand of butter, you can often get your buttercream very white simply by whipping the full 2minutes. Don’t overdo it with the violet or you might have slightly violet tinted buttercream

Tips for the Best Buttercream Frosting:

• Make sure your butter is all the way at room temperature before beginning
• To speed up the process of getting butter to room temperature, cut it into slices or cubes as those will soften up a lot faster than a stick of butter in the wrapper.
• Set a timer for 2 minutes and whip your butter for a full 2 minutes before adding any additional ingredients. This lightens the color of the butter significantly and gets it ready as the perfect base for the rest of the ingredients.
• Make sure your powdered sugar contains cornstarch (most brands do) and if it does, you do not need to worry about sifting your powdered sugar.
• Always use heavy cream instead of milk wherever possible to bring the best consistency and flavor.
• If you are making American buttercream, use a paddle attachment in your mixer, which will give you the smoothest frosting. You can use a whisk attachment or hand mixer, but the paddle attachment will give you the best and smoothest results.


• And once again, if your buttercream still isn’t as white as you would like it to be once it is all the way made, add a tiny drop or purple gel food coloring and mix in well.

Do you have any tips for how to get the fluffiest and whitest buttercream? I always make my kids birthday cakes with fresh buttercream--I can never go back to the cans, it’s just not even close to how good true buttercream is. I can’t wait to incorporate these tips to get the smoothest frosting for all the cakes as we enter birthday season and summertime. Summertime is always a great time for cupcakes, am I right?