Today we’re talking about bright white heat stable pipeable buttercream that actually tastes good.
It’s a challenge to create a shortening buttercream that tastes close to real buttercream, but I was up for the challenge.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the Important Information Section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
This frosting is perfect for those warm or hot days when you need a more stable buttercream and when you want super white frosting.
It’s also perfect for piping roses and other buttercream designs on cakes or cupcakes.
Jump to:
Important Information to Read First:
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ BELOW! I want to address something before we get into this recipe. I have received a lot of ‘hateful’ comments regarding this recipe and I want to clear up a few things so you’ll know what to expect from it.
- This recipe makes a lot of icing, that is why it calls for many cups of confectioner’s sugar and shortening. It will make enough buttercream to cover at least two, 8″ round cakes plus extra for plenty of piping details. You can always halve the recipe if you don’t need that much.
- I do realize this isn’t ‘real buttercream’ because it uses vegetable shortening instead of real butter. The point of this recipe is to use shortening to get a more heat stable, pipeable and bright white buttercream. People have been calling this a heat-stable buttercream for many many years and I am not the first. Now, if you want a ‘real’ buttercream recipe using all buttercream, you’ll want to see that recipe here: Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- Vegetable shortening is NOT lard. Vegetable shortening is plant fat and lard is animal fat. This recipe does not call for animal fat (lard).
- This recipe is similar to every other bright white, heat stable, pipeable ‘buttercream’ or icing that you’ll find at bakeries, grocery stores and home bakeries all over the U.S. It has been used for many many years by home and professional bakers alike and I’ve just modified it to make it taste better. If you’ve eaten a cake from the grocery store, it’s likely you’ve had this icing.
- Please note these things before sending me mean comments. I am truly trying to provide free recipes and be helpful to those who want free cake advice and recipes. It is completely acceptable for you not to like this recipe or decide not to make it. I will understand. Please remember to be respectful when making comments as I am a real person.
With that out of the way, let’s get back to the actual recipe, right!
About this recipe:
So, shortening based American buttercream isn’t exactly a new thing, so I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but I am adding a few things in that actually help to give you a great tasting buttercream when you can’t actually use butter.
So the way you make bright white, heat stable and pipeable buttercream is to use shortening instead of butter. Yeah I know it doesn’t sound super appetizing, but I promise it tastes better than it sounds.
If you’re not quite up for going with all shortening here, you can use half shortening and half butter. Your icing won’t be as white this way, so it’s a give and take.
This buttercream is also a ‘crusting buttercream’, which means that a very thin film will develop over it which will allow you to smooth your cake using the Viva paper towel method.
That’s the method you use to smooth buttercream by letting your buttercream crust, then laying a viva paper towel over it and smoothing it lightly with your hand.
To see more about getting smooth buttercream, you’ll want to check out this post: How to Get Smooth Buttercream
Make sure you keep this buttercream covered after you’ve mixed it, so that it doesn’t develop a film over it before you get a chance to ice your cake.
How heat stable is this buttercream?
I’m calling this buttercream ‘heat stable’, but that’s within reason. There is nothing you can do to buttercream to keep it from melting if you’re putting it out in direct hot sun.
This buttercream stands up better to warmer temperatures than an all butter buttercream, but you want to be reasonable about it.
Another thing to note is that from my experience, this buttercream is not the best under fondant because it does not firm up as well as butter does in the fridge, which makes it a little more tricky when adding fondant over it.
I love this buttercream when it’s summer-time and the temps are warmer. I also love it when I need a bright white icing. There are tricks you can use for all butter buttercream to get it more white, but to me, it just never gets truly white like this buttercream gets.
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About the Ingredients:
- Vegetable Shortening: Now, if you can get high-ratio shortening, it works the best, however because of the trans fats, it’s now been banned in most places. I’ve found that the Walmart store brand is a close second.
- Meringue Powder (optional): If you’re using regular shortening, but you want to stabilize it even more, you can add in a couple tablespoons of meringue powder. This gives it some holding powder.
- Salt: Ok this is actually really important because shortening based icing tends to coat your mouth and ‘seems’ like it’s actually sweeter. To combat this, we’re adding salt.
- Powdered Sugar: You definitely need this to add sweetness and to thicken up the consistency.
- Cream or Milk: This will make it cream and help you to adjust the consistency.
- Clear Vanilla Extract: To keep this buttercream as white as possible, you can use clear vanilla extract in place of regular extract. I like the taste of regular vanilla extract better, but this is your call.
- Butter Emulsion: I LOVE LorAnn Oils and the butter emulsion is really good. Regular butter extract you get at the grocery store just tastes gross to me, so I use this instead to give the buttercream more of that ‘butter’ taste. You can get this emulsion here: LorAnn Butter Emulsion
- Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion: This one is optional, but I really like the flavor it adds. You can get it here: LorAnn Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion
Now, if you’d like an all butter buttercream instead, make sure to go here to get my recipe for that: Vanilla Bean Buttercream Recipe
Video:
Ok, let’s get to the recipe:
***I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are used to seeing and using. For weight in metric measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s a best guess. Please note that because I develop recipes using ‘cups’ I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results.
Recipe:
Bright White Heat Stable Pipeable Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3 cups vegetable shortening
- 9-10 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoon meringue powder (optional for more stability and holding power)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6-8 tablespoon milk or cream
- 2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract (can use regular vanilla extract if you don’t have clear)
- ½-1 teaspoon butter extract/emulsion (LorAnn oils has a good option)
- ½-1 teaspoon LorAnn buttery dough extract/emulsion (optional)
Instructions
- Mix shortening until smooth.
- Add in the salt, 4 cups confectioners sugar and 3 tablespoon milk and mix well.
- Optional: If you want to add in a couple tablespoons of meringue powder for extra stability, you can do that now.
- Add in another 5 cups confectioners sugar plus another 3 tablespoon milk and mix well.
- Scrape down sides of bowl. Add a tablespoon or two of milk or cream if the buttercream is too thick. Mix well.
- Add in the extracts and mix well.
- Add more milk if icing is too thick. Add in only a tablespoon at a time. Mix well.
- Finally, mix by hand with a rubber spatula to help press out any air bubbles.
- This recipe makes enough to cover 2, 8″ round cakes
Notes
- This recipe makes a lot of icing, that is why it calls for many cups of confectioner’s sugar and shortening. It will make enough buttercream to cover at least two, 8″ round cakes plus extra for plenty of piping details. You can always halve the recipe if you don’t need that much.
- I do realize this isn’t ‘real buttercream’ because it uses vegetable shortening instead of real butter. The point of this recipe is to use shortening to get a more heat stable, pipeable and bright white buttercream. People have been calling this a heat-stable buttercream for many many years and I am not the first. Now, if you want a ‘real’ buttercream recipe using all buttercream, you’ll want to see that recipe here: Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- Vegetable shortening is not lard. Vegetable shortening is plant fat and lard is animal fat. This recipe does not call for animal fat.
- This is similar to every other bright white, heat stable, pipeable ‘buttercream’ or icing that you’ll find at bakeries, grocery stores and home bakeries all over the U.S. It has been used for many many years by home and professional bakers alike and I’ve just modified it to make it taste better. If you’ve eaten a cake from the grocery store, it’s likely you’ve had this icing.
Nutrition
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Other Recipes You Might Like:
Beth
First of all, I am soo sorry people have been mean to you or anybody else for that matter. I used to use a recipe like this years ago when making birthday cakes for my children…this is how I was taught in professional baking classes! If someone doesn’t like it, move on to a recipe you love!!! Thank you for all you post and love your recipes!!
Kara
Beth, thanks so much for the kind words! So glad someone understands. 💖
Rachel Boothe
I have a hard time piping roses on flower nails due to the petals falling over before I can even get them piped. I tried a Crisco all shortening recipe and got the same results. I do have a problem warm hands and I live in the southern United States where it is so humid. Do you think I would get a good result piping roses with this recipe?
P.S. I have never understood why people want to be rude, particularly when someone is trying to be helpful. I am sorry you have had to experience this.
Kara
Hi Rachel, thanks for those kind words. I really appreciate it.
I do get your frustration about piping roses in humid weather…the same here. I’m wondering if you could just make a small (1/2) batch of this recipe and try it out and see if it works any better for you. You could also add in an extra cup of powdered sugar to make it a little thicker and I wonder if that would help it stay firm for you a little longer. You could also try adding in a tablespoon or so of meringue powder. That could help firm it up a little more as well.
The general advice when piping is to not fill the bag up too much, but if your hands are really warm, it might be okay to fill it up a little more.
Also, I wonder if you wore gloves if that would help insulate them and keep some of that heat from reaching the buttercream? Might be worth a try.
Sheryl
I’m so sorry for anyone who comes on here and is blatantly rude. Your frosting is perfect…I have used similiar in the past and lost my recipe and was in search for a frosting that will stand up to the heat and humidity for an outdoor birthday party. You are very much correct when stating that shortening is a must for stability. You have delivered what is needed in your recipe for this to happen. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I appreciate it. Happy Baking! Happy Weekend!
Like you mentioned if you want a true buttercream than look up that recipe! Geesh peeps it’s as simple as that! Stop with this nonsense and make your own blog of FREE recipes before complaining!
Kara
Thanks so much, Sheryl for your kind words. It really means a lot. So glad there are people who understand! Love your comment. 🙂
Kelly
Can you add food coloring gel to frosting and it still keeps consistency
Kara
Yes, if you add gel food coloring it won’t dilute it like liquid food coloring.
Rabiah
Thank you for your kind help!! I’m very sorry folks have been disrespectful towards you and all the hard work you put into creating FREE recipes/advice.
I plan on making this cream recipe tonight! I was not able to find Butter emulsion but found Butter Vanilla emulsion. Is that an ok switch?
Thanks for your awesome posts!
Kara
Thanks so much! I appreciate your kind words 🙂 Butter vanilla emulsion will work just fine in this recipe. I hope you like it!
Nilda Panos
How can anyone be mean to someone so nice?It’s a shame!
Thanks for the recipe and all that you do!
Kara
Oh, you are wonderful! Thank you so much. 💖
Christine
As a newly approved Cottage Baker who cannot use butter in buttercream, I appreciate this recipe so much! High ratio shortening was recommended to me but I had no clue where to even start with it. I made a couple of tweaks here and there just for my personal taste preferences, but I feel confident now in being able to continue to make cupcakes and cakes while aligning with my local Cottage Food rule.
Kara
Yes! I’m so glad you found this one useful. I sold cakes out of my home for a couple of years under the cottage food law and it was such a pain to find good frostings and fillings that weren’t perishable, but that still tasted like the real thing. So, I feel your pain. Thanks for the great review. Best of luck with your baking business!
Linda Wascom
Hi there! I’m hooked on your page and recipes. I have been “tasked” with making the wedding cake for my son’s small wedding. I’ve already decided that your “Moist White Cake” is going to be my recipe. And I definitely am NOT an experienced baker/decorator. So my question to you is do you have a recommendation between this icing recipe and your Best Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting recipe? Considering I will be making a “naked” edge on the cake and no piping because we will decorate with silk flowers, and my lack of experience, I thought you might be able to make a recommendation…? Thanks!!
Kara
I’m a big fan of my favorite vanilla bean buttercream. This one is good if you need a heat-stable, pipeable buttercream, but my number one buttercream would be the all butter one which is the vanilla bean buttercream. If you need it to be more of a white color, you can use clean vanilla extract (use about 2 teaspoons) instead of the vanilla bean paste that the recipe calls for. You can also whip it for several minutes to lighten the color and/or you can add a tiny tiny speck of violet gel food coloring and that will cancel out any yellow from the butter and will give you a whiter icing.
Riley Essig
Do you sift your powdered sugar for this recipe?
Kara
I usually don’t sift unless it’s clumpy. You can sift though if you prefer that. Sift after you measure though.
Kristina
hi just wondering if you can apply this buttercream over normal buttercream?
and should u put the cake in rhe fridge once you have applied it to you cake?
Kara
Hi Kristina, do you mean applying it like a second coat? I think that would work okay depending on the consistency you make it. As long as it wasn’t a super thick consistency, it should be able to go over a first layer of buttercream. I don’t usually refrigerate my cakes unless there is perishable frosting or filling in them, but many decorators do. Either way is fine. Just do your preference. This frosting doesn’t need to be stored in the fridge though unless you want to.
Karen Thomas
Hi Kristina, thanks so much for this recipe ! I have a summer wedding to bake for here in Australia in four weeks and my usual Italian Meringue Buttercream just won’t hold up. I’m so pleased I found your recipe Such a busy time of the year too so I planned to fully make the cake and freeze it prior to the event. Will this buttercream freeze and defrost ok do you think ? Also here we have two kinds of powdered sugar, 100% sugar called Pure Icing Sugar and powdered sugar with tapioca or maize starch added, called Icing Mixture. Which would be your Confectioners Sugar match ? Thanks so much 🙏. Wishing you and your a lovely Christmas!
Kara
Hi Karen, I have frozen this frosting many times. It should be just fine. I’ve frozen it in plastic tubs with lids (just make sure you fill them completely full) or I’ve frozen it in plastic wrap pouches. To see how I do that, check out this post here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/freezing-buttercream-plus-what-to-do-with-leftover-frosting/
As far as the other question goes, our confectioner’s sugar here is usually finely ground sugar mixed with a little bit of cornstarch. I’ve read that the cornstarch prevents it from clumping or caking up. I’m guessing it’s not the pure icing sugar, but I don’t know for sure. I hope this helped and have a wonderful Christmas!
Karen Thomas
I made this frosting today and hands down, it’s the best. I used Solite shortening which is already vanilla, but added vanilla again as per the recipe. I didn’t have the Butter emulsion or the other flavouring but it turned out delicious anyway. It’s a dream to work with, smooth and creamy but so stable. I used palette knife decoration on the cakes and everything came up crisp and holding perfectly. I may never make Italian or Swiss Meringue Butter ream again. I was losing sleep worrying about this high summer wedding cake so thank you for a Fanta recipe !
Kara
Hey Karen…yay! I’m so glad you liked this frosting. Glad it’s going to help with the summer wedding cake…those can be stressful. Thanks again for the great review. 🙂
Ami
First off, I was looking just to see if there was a better way to do heat resistant butter cream and this was nice confirmation that no, you’re already there. Bc this recipe is almost exactly the same as what my grandmother who decorated wedding cakes professionally in Phoenix, AZ did back in the 70s-80s (she frequently added the tiniest pinch of almond flavoring to the vanilla and butter flavorings). So, further proof my Grandma was a genius and you’re absolutely right that this has been around and this is how you make it actually taste good.
Secondly, I love the volumes in your recipe! I’m like heck yes, this woman does not half butt her frosting. I don’t skimp on my frosting so the volumes here are for a woman after my own heart.
Thank you!
Kara
Ami, I love this! Thanks so much for your wonderful comment. Yes, your grandmother knew what she was doing! Also loved your comment about the volume of this recipe. lol! You are exactly right…I don’t play around…I’m definitely here for the frosting. 😉
Gil
Hi Kara,
I usually have troubles with my frosting sweating after moving it from fridge to room temp. I’m planning to assemble and frost the cakes the night before the event (my wedding haha), fridge it, then bring it to the venue the next day. I have cream cheese buttercream frosting in between the cakes so cooling it is important. Do you think this kind of buttercream is prone to “sweating” as well? I’ve made swiss meringue butter creams before made out off – ready made egg whites and butter + solite to make it more heat stable, but it does sweat due to changes in temp!
Hope you can help!! xx
Kara
First off, you are a brave soul making your own wedding cake. 😉 I am a nervous Nelly and would be so stressed out, but I do hear a lot of people doing this and that it works out just fine. So now to your question. I’m glad you mentioned the cream cheese filling. I generally don’t like to keep my cakes chilled until right before I transport them, but if it has cream cheese, then you’re right that it’s got to stay chilled for food safety.
So, my thought is that the shortening icing will probably condensate just the same as the butter. Condensation forms from the moisture in the air after the cake is taken out of the fridge. It will occur on the cake until the temp of the cake and frosting are above dew point. If you bring it out of the fridge and into an air-conditioned room, it helps, but still might condensate. I find that it helps to store the cake or the cake tiers in a cake box and then cover the box with plastic wrap. When you bring the cake out of the fridge, leave it in the box with the plastic wrap still on for at least an hour or so. You might get less condensation on the cake that way since it’s more covered and not exposed to the outside air. If the cake is just open to the air, that’s where the condensation will form…right on the cake. I hope all that made sense. It may not be an option to leave the cake in a box. I recently made a very large cake and putting it in a box in the fridge just wouldn’t work. In that case, there may not really be a way to prevent it from happening, but if you do get condensation though, it usually doesn’t ruin the cake (unless it’s a dark icing then it sometimes looks weird), just make sure not to touch it and it will eventually just evaporate back off. I hope this helps.
Gil
Omg thank you so much for those tips, you’re a great mentor! I’ll certainly apply those! I’ve done my practice wedding cake with SMBC frosting just 2 weeks ago and it turned out beautiful. It did sweat a bit from fridge to RT and thought it’s bec I used a fragile frosting. I would like to try your recipe this weekend tho, as I want a more australia-heat-stable frosting! I wish we can upload photos here! I’m buying my Lorann flavourings now. Do you have a preference between emulsion ($$) vs oil ($) in terms of taste, change in frosting texture & colour?
PS: Hah – I’m a bit nervous too but I really want to make own just cos I love baking, I’m not a pro and if something happens then I accept that it’s part of the wedding story!! Lol! I anticipate mishaps on the day so I’m doing textured cake by dabbing a crunched cling film onto frosting then onto my chilled cake. It surprisingly looks chic with gold flecks. Sweat nor handprints wont be as obvious!! =P
Kara
Hi Gil, I do prefer the emulsions over the flavorings. The flavor oils are very strong and can be overpowering if you use much at all. They’re kind of like candy oils.
You mentioned the SMBC and I love that type of frosting. It’s much less sweet than this buttercream, but I don’t use it much here (in Texas) because we have such hot weather here. And I love that you’re willing to do your own wedding cake and your attitude is awesome. It’s part of your wedding story and we don’t have to have everything perfect, right? I love it. And the textured buttercream is an awesome idea. That’s a pro move right there…I’ve textured my buttercream to cover a multitude of mistakes myself. 😉
Feel free to ask other questions if you have them. You can find me on Instagram and DM me cake images there. Best of luck to you and your future spouse. I’m sure the wedding will be lovely and the cake will be perfect.
Gil
I finally made it! It’s yum!!!! I’ve tried so many recipes, some were so bad texture/flavour-wise that I just couldn’t use it.
I still love my SMBC for that glossy finish. Though this will now be my top “crusting” buttercream recipe. I’m in love with it’s whiteness. It’s a great alternative for American BC.
I only did 1/3 of the amount – just enough to frost 2x 6inch cakes (nude cake or very thin layer). I used 205g solite and reduced my sugar to 320g only instead of 600g to reduce the sweetness. 1.5 tbsp of milk. Salt. Vanilla. I skipped the meringue powder. I added lorann butter emulsion 0.5 tsp but tastes as good without. 🫶🏻
Kara
Hey Gil, awesome! So glad you liked this one. This one does make a lot of frosting and I’m glad you felt good about adjusting the amount and ingredients. I think that’s what makes this one so good…it’s so customizable and easy to adjust. I also like using half butter and half shortening sometimes and that also works out well and you get a little more of that butter flavor. Thanks for the great review and I’m super glad it worked out for you. 🙂