This bright white heat stable pipeable buttercream is perfect for those warm or hot days and when you want super white frosting. It’s also perfect for piping.
It’s a challenge to create a shortening based buttercream that tastes close to real buttercream, but this one actually does.
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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!
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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.
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Cottage food laws and shortening based frostings:
Lots of people work under a cottage bakery license running bakeries out of their homes. I’ve done that too on many different occasions.
Personally, I live in Texas and we are not allowed to sell anything that needs to be refrigerated. I know a lot of people who have moved to the all shortening based buttercream for that very reason and to comply with TCS safety.
Now, I can’t help you determine what is allowed under the cottage food laws in your state, but I can give you a shortening-based recipe that actually tastes good and is more heat stable.
Feel free to ask your local health department or cottage food law representative if you are allowed to use this recipe.
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, which 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 cake layers 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 butter, 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.
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.
Just know there are ways to get your buttercream whiter. There are buttercream whiteners (basically just white gel food coloring) that you can use. I’ve not really had much luck with those and seem to have better luck using just a speck of violet food coloring to cancel out the white.
If you want more tips and tricks on getting white buttercream, see this post here: How to Make Buttercream White
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 put it out in the 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 all-butter buttercream 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.
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Ingredient Notes:
Vegetable Shortening: Now, if you can get high-ratio shortening (like Sweetex), it works the best, however, because of the trans fats, it’s now been banned in most places.
I’ve also heard of Solite shortening, but I think that’s based in Australia, so I’ve not personally tried it.
If you have to make a lot of this frosting because you have a baking business or you’re just doing a large cake project, it might be beneficial to order the high-ratio shortening online and have it shipped to you.
I don’t normally do large cakes anymore, so the alternative that I’ve found is to use the Walmart store brand of vegetable shortening. It just seems to work much better than Crisco. It gives the buttercream a much better consistency and it’s smoother than the name brand.
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
Video:
Ok, let’s get to the recipe:
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Bright White Heat Stable Pipeable Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3 cups vegetable shortening (Read the post to see suggestions, what this is and why this is used in this recipe.)
- 9-10 cups confectioner's sugar (This frosting makes a lot of frosting.)
- 2 tablespoons meringue powder (Optional for more stability and holding power.)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6-8 tablespoons milk or cream
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract (Can use regular vanilla extract if you don't have clear.)
- ½-1 teaspoons butter extract/emulsion (LorAnn oils has a good option.)
- ½-1 teaspoons LorAnn buttery dough extract/emulsion (optional)
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Instructions
- Mix the shortening until smooth.
- Add in the salt, 4 cups confectioners sugar and 3 tablespoons of 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 tablespoons of 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.
- See the notes section for best ways to store this and for more questions.
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 two, 8″ round cakes or a layer cake 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 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 is similar to lots of 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 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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Bea
Hi Kara Jane, like your buttercream recipe. I usually add butter to mine with the butter extract too..yum..I wanted to ask you if you have tried the bright white food color? It works fantastic! Thanks
Kara Jane
I’ve tried Americolor white food coloring and couldn’t really see a difference. Which brand did you try? If it works great, I’d love to try it myself!
Chloe
Can you do this with a vegan milk or cream?
Kara Jane
Not sure as I haven’t really tried it with vegan milk. I assume it should work fine though as you don’t really need to use that much of it.
Barbara
This buttercream is excellent. I would like to make it chocolate buttercream. What do you suggest I add to make the buttercream chocolate ?
Kara Jane
Hi Barbara, thanks so much for the compliment on the buttercream recipe. 🙂 I actually have a chocolate buttercream recipe on the blog. You’ll just add in some cocoa powder and some melted chocolate. You can find it here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/double-chocolate-buttercream-recipe/
I hope you like it!
Marius
Hi there,
I’ve tried this recipe and I am over the moon because it came out white white. And to be honest I do not really taste the difference in the buttercream, so this will now be the buttercream I use for all my cakes! Thank you so much for this.
Kara Jane
Oh that’s great! I’m so glad it worked out for you!
Amie
Hi Kara Jane, I love this recipe but was wondering how it does freezing? I would love to be able to make it ahead of time, freeze it, then thaw the night before I need it.
Thanks!
Kara Jane
Hi Amie, I freeze this type of buttercream all the time and it’s worked fine for me. It doesn’t get as hard as ‘all butter’ buttercream when it freezes, but it still works fine. Once it’s thawed, you’ll probably want to re-whip it to get it really smooth again. I have a post about how I freeze buttercream. I’m not sure if you’ve seen it, but if not, here’s the link if you’d like to check it out: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/freezing-buttercream-plus-what-to-do-with-leftover-frosting/
Carol
Hi! I need to make a fake cake for a cake festival. It is outdoor and st night , however the temperature will be around 80-90 degrees. Will this buttercream hold up?
Kara Jane
No, I don’t think it would hold up long in 80-90 degree weather especially in direct sunlight. This recipe holds up better than all butter buttercream in heat, but not when it’s 90 for an extended time. It will eventually melt off. If you’re doing a fake cake, then I’d probably go with some kind of putty or plaster. I’ve seen something called permaice that is fake icing and hardens up, but I’ve never used it. You might do a quick search online because I’ve seen tutorials on how to cover fake cakes with icing using plaster or some type of caulk. That would probably be best if it’s going to be fake anyway and it would get super hard and would be better under that hot sun.
Debra Davis
I would love to use this recipe to make a 3 layer 8 inch cake. How should I adjust the recipe?
Kara Jane
Hi Debra, you could make a recipe and a half and that would probably be enough buttercream to cover a three layer cake. You could always double it instead and any leftover buttercream you don’t use, you could always freeze it. I do that all the time.
Shayla
Can i make this recipe and substitute real butter? I like everything about this recipe I just personally can’t stomach the shortening. I read your vanilla bean buttercream recipe which is good, but I want to still use the butter emulsion, cookie dough emulsion for flavor and meringue powder for stabilizing. thanks!
Kara Jane
Gotcha…yes that would be completely fine.
Jeanette Petersen
Can I substitute water for the milk/cream?
Kara Jane
I’ve heard of some people using water and that it worked for them. I’ve tried it before, but didn’t have much luck with it as it didn’t seem to mix smoothly with the vegetable shortening. If water is all you have at the moment though, you can try it. It won’t completely destroy it, but in my opinion it just isn’t as smooth as if you use milk or cream.
Brandi
Good morning, I am doing a couple of cakes this weekend. A smash cake for a first birthday covered in the roses, and a double layered sheet with roses covering the sides. I also will have to travel about 39 minutes with them and it’s August. This sounds like a very good recipe to be able to make the pretty roses and stable enough for the roses not to melt off. Have you used the crisco butter flavored shortening by chance? Do you think it would work?
Kara Jane
Yes this buttercream does a little better in the heat than an actual ‘butter’ buttercream. You still want to make sure you’ve got the car AC on full blast though as anything can melt if it gets too hot. You can even chill the cake for a bit before you leave if you want. I wouldn’t chill it for too long though, or you can get a lot of condensation.
I haven’t tried the butter crisco flavor for this icing. I’d test it out first though before covering a cake in it. Maybe just make a half batch of icing and see how it comes out. You could probably omit the butter flavoring if you use the butter crisco. I’ve just never tried it myself and don’t know how much butter flavor it’s got in it and if it would be overpowering.
I hope this helps!
Brandi
Okay Thanks, I can’t seem to find any shorting that says it has trans fat. I have been researching it all afternoon. Also have you ever tried adding cream cheese?? Just wondering if you have tried it and if it was successful and stable or not.
Kara Jane
Trans fats has been banned in many places. I can’t get it either. I used to order hi-ratio shortening from Amazon, but I don’t think it has trans fats in it anymore because I believe the US has banned them. I’ve used Walmart’s brand of vegetable shortening though and it’s worked fine. It’s not as creamy as hi-ration shortening, but that’s what I have available here. Many people like the Crisco brand, but I actually have more luck with the generic brand…I don’t know why that is though.
Cream cheese wouldn’t make it more stable. That would actually make it softer. Plus cream cheese buttercream really needs to be kept in the fridge, since it’s perishable.
Beverly Morris
I don’t notice that you mention whether or not you sift the powdered sugar prior to measuring. I have always assumed that you need to sift it, especially if you are piping anything, to avoid lumps in the icing. But since you didn’t mention it, I thought I would ask. Thanks.
Kara Jane
Hi Beverly, you can sift if you like. I almost never do though unless it’s super lumpy. I have realized that if I use the generic brand of powdered sugar, that’s its lumpier and seems to make a gritty buttercream. I find the name brand works much better and I generally don’t worry about sifting it, but it’s totally fine if you want to.
Pauletta Fisher
On amazon you can get trans fat free Sweetex icing shortening. Have your tried it? I miss the old Sweetex. I had some frozen and have just run out of it. I want to make icing and am not sure what to do. I have tried Crisco and find the icing seeps oil down the side of the cake. Help!
Kara Jane
I haven’t tried the new Sweetex. I have sort of the same problem with Crisco. It just seems like it’s a weird texture and oilier now. I have had better luck with the store brand vegetable shortening (like Walmart’s store brand). It’s not as good as the hi-ratio kind, but it seems to work better than the name brand.
Pauletta
I ordered some of the Sweetex icing shortening. I will let you know how it works. I should get it around the first week of February.
Kara Jane
Oh yes…I’d love to know what it’s like!
Analee
I am making a 2 tier half naked wedding cake this Saturday and it’ll be 82 degrees outdoor wedding (immediate fam of 10 ppl)? do you think this Recipe will survive 1-2 hours ? Also I can just add cream slowly until it’s a good consistency for covering the cake ?
Kara Jane
Analee, I’ve used this recipe on a wedding cake that sat outdoors for several hours in about 80 degree weather and it survived. I will say that I chilled the cake prior to delivering it and the cake was under an awning…not in direct sunlight. It may not survive 2 hours if in direct sunlight though. I can’t promise anything, but the best thing you can do is to warn the bride that if it’s in direct sunlight, it could get too hot, melt and collapse. They need to be aware of where they set the cake table. If there is a place they can keep it inside until the reception, then that would be the best.
As far as the consistency goes, just add a couple tablespoons of milk or cream first and mix well and see how thick it is. If it’s too thick, then add a tablespoon mix and check again and then keep doing that until you get the consistency you want. It’s easy to add too much too soon, so just go easy when adding the milk.
Kim Harrison
Hi! I’m making a July wedding cake, and it will be outside for and hour or two before they cut it. Will this recipe hold up? And can I decorate it as I would any other cake? It’s a bitch tree hand painted cake.
Kara Jane
Hi Kim, first you should be able to decorate it the same as an all-butter buttercream. If you’re painting with it, you’ll just have to adjust the consistency if you need it to be a little thinner. Add the food coloring first to see how much that thins it down and then add cream or milk if you need it to be a creamier consistency for painting with. As far as leaving it outside for an hour or two, there’s no way for me to know if it would 100% be okay. There are a lot of factors that come into play like how hot it will be outside and if it will be in direct sunlight. It will just depend. No cake will be okay in 100 degree weather for an hour or two. There’s just not anything you can do to make one completely melt-proof. I would probably see if the cake could sit inside somewhere with air conditioning until maybe 30-20 minutes before cutting it or getting pictures etc. The cake doesn’t necessarily have to be refrigerated (unless it has perishable filling in it), but it’s best if it can be in a cool environment as long as possible before going out in the hot sun.
Kim Harrison
Just reread my post it should be “Birch Tree”! Thank you for the response. I will tell the caterer to sit it out, For fillings what should I steer away from? And should I do my buttercream fillings with this recipe too?
Kara Jane
Hey Kim, I figured you meant birch tree. 😉 As far as the fillings go, if it’ll be out in a hot climate and can’t be chilled, then I’d stay way from perishable fillings like fruit fillings, custards, whipped icing, cream cheese buttercream etc. You could use this recipe as the filling as well if you’d like…that’s totally up to you. I’ve done that many times though. You can make it chocolate by adding in cocoa powder and a little more milk, or you can add other flavorings to it as well.
Elizabeth
Hello,
How many cups does this make please? I need to calculate for a multitiered cake. Thanks
Kara Jane
I don’t know exactly how many cups…maybe about 4 cups. It’s a large batch and it could probably cover well over one 6 inch, three layer cake. It should cover one 8 inch cake and a half up to two 8 inch cakes. Hope this helps.
Samantha
Have you ever tried this recipe with cupcakes? Is it pipeable and about how many cupcakes would you say it makes?
Kara Jane
Yes I’ve used this icing on cupcakes. This is a good recipe for piping as it’s pretty stable and can hold up well. It depends on what you want to pipe onto cupcakes, but it will probably ice on average about 24 cupcakes.
Susanne
Hi! Is this safe to leave out at room temp and ship as the frosting in a DIY kit? Thanks!
Kara Jane
Hi Susanne, as far as I know it should be fine. I’ve kept this icing at room temp for days (almost a week) and it’s been fine. I’m not from any health department though, so I can never say 100%, but I’ve personally never had a problem with this at room temp. You might check your local laws if you’re selling it in a kit though.
Barbara J Stephan
This was good but I personally didn’t taste a huge difference between the taste you get with vanilla extract and the butter flavor sweet roll flavor extract I bought and used. I don’t have the most sensitive taste buds ever so maybe that is it. The outdoor wedding I made the cake for turned out pretty chilly so I didn’t have to worry about heat stability:-)
Kara Jane
Hi Barbara, Glad you liked it. I do like the taste of those extracts, but I’m sure everyone has different tastes. Maybe add a bit more next time and see if there’s a difference? Either way, I’m glad it ended up working out!
Nors
Hi Kara, I am planning to make some cookies filled with a white cream and thinking to use this recipe. Do you think is suitable for use as a filling for cookies, it will be baked for about 13min in oven on 170C°. Also can I store these outside the fridge for few days or the cream will go off?
Kara Jane
I haven’t tried this buttercream out for that but it might work. You’d need to get it really cold though…almost frozen probably. Get the buttercream super cold and roll it into little balls and freeze, then wrap the cookie dough around it and bake. I’ve seen it done with all butter buttercream, but not with shortening based buttercream like this one, so I’m not sure if it would work or not. Oh and as far as it being stored outside the fridge…that’s perfectly fine. This frosting will keep at room temp. for several days. I’m curious to know the outcome if you experiment and try it out!
Carrol
I’m certainly saving this recipe! Wish I’d had it a month ago when I baked a cake for an outdoor wedding. I typically use the all Crisco buttercream recipe for a friend with allergies to work around but don’t care for it myself. But the addition of the butter emulsion is great & still dairy free. Love that! My favorite go-to buttercream is half Crisco & half butter which is ideal (when it’s not out in the heat).
Keep up the great work, Kara Jane! We appreciate it.
Kara Jane
Hi Carrol, so glad this one worked for you! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂 I agree, I’m partial to the real butter, but the butter extract really helps out with this one.
Chris
Thank you so much for this recipe. I live in Florida and my frosting always melts. This is a lifesaver.
Kara Jane
Yay!!! I’m in Texas, so I know the feeling 😉
Amanda
Have you tried using this recipe for dummy cakes? Will it dry hard?
Kara Jane
I have used it on dummy cakes. It does get firm. It doesn’t get super hard like some of the fake cakes (since they use caulk or putty), but it does firm up a good amount. You have to be careful when moving it around though because if you bump it, a piped border could crumble on you.