This grit free American buttercream (ABC) is everything you love about a traditional ABC, minus the grainy/gritty texture! It’s easy to make, yet smooth as a Swiss meringue buttercream!
What makes this better than a regular American buttercream?
American buttercream (ABC) is one of the easiest and most commonly made frostings, but the biggest problem that most people have with it is that it often has a ‘gritty’ or grainy feel to it. This is because of undissolved icing sugar (also known as powdered/confectioners sugar).
This version uses a technique where the icing sugar is dissolved into hot milk, which is then cooled and added to the butter. This results in a super smooth, grit free buttercream! I first saw this technique on Cupcake Savvys YouTube channel, so kudos to them for introducing us to this method!
Another common complaint is that ABC is far too sweet! Most recipes have double the amount of powdered sugar to butter, which is just far too sweet for some. This recipes uses far less icing sugar without your frosting tasting too buttery.
Is it stable enough?
This was the first thing that came to my mind when I decided to try this technique. Would dissolving the icing sugar into the hot milk make the buttercream less stable? I decided to give the method a go, and experimented with using water instead of milk as my ‘thinning’ ingredient to make the ABC a little more creamy. I also used a bit more sugar than the original recipe so that the frosting was a little more stable. I also did some research and found that meringue powder is a great stabiliser and could easily be added in to this buttercream to provide additional stability.
The result – OH MY! A super delicious, creamy, GRIT FREE American buttercream! It basically tasted like a Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC) but so much easier to make! Was the recipe good enough to put on my blog – ABSOLUTELY! My new favourite way of making ABC!
Does this grit free version still crust?
The only downside for cake decorators is that this buttercream does not crust because the icing sugar has been dissolved. It acts more like a SMBC where it hardens when placed in the fridge, but at room temperature is soft to the touch. If you’re looking for a traditional American buttercream that crusts, then check out my original ABC recipe.
Grit Free American Buttercream
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (500 g) unsalted butter - room temperature, see note 1
- ½ cup (125 ml) milk
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ¼ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- 2½ cups (330 g) icing/powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder - OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Add your butter to a stand mixer, and using the paddle attachment, mix on a medium high speed for 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Give the bowl a scrape down every now and then to make sure everything is mixing well.
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine the milk, vanilla and salt and heat it in the microwave so that it's hot, but not bubbling (about 30 seconds to a minute).
- Add your icing sugar to the heated milk mixture and mix until the icing sugar is dissolved. It should be a thin paste like consistency.
- Strain the milk/icing sugar mixture to get rid of any lumps, and then let the mixture cool to room temperature. You can speed this up by placing the mixture into the fridge for 15 minutes, stirring it every 5 minutes.
- Once cooled, turn your mixer onto a medium speed and slowly drizzle in the milk/icing sugar paste into your whipped butter. It may look like the mixture is curdling, but this is normal.
- Once the mixture is added into the butter, scrape down your bowl, and then mix on a medium speed for a further 10 minutes. This is going to lighten the buttercream in both taste and texture. Your buttercream is now ready!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
137 Comments
I am making a cake filled with cream cheese icing and strawberry jam. I have used this buttercream recipe before and would like to use it to crumb coat and decorate my cake. Will it be ok to place in refrigerator over night before party?
Hi Jessica! Yes you can totally keep a cake using this frosting in the fridge, just allow the cake to come to room temp for a few hours before serving so the cake and frosing are nice and soft 🙂
Enjoy!
Since the sugar is dissolved in hot milk, is it necessary to use icing/powdered sugar? Or can I use regular cane sugar?
Hi Sammy! I would recommend sticking with powdered sugar 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi
Love this recipe! Completely genius. How can you make a chocolate version with this method? Thanks!
Greetings fom Aoteoroa New Zealand.
when do you add the meringue powder? I want to try this recipe but not sure of when to make the addition.
Kia Ora Jenny!
You can add it in after all the other ingredients are combined and just before you mix for the 10 minutes 🙂
Enjoy!
So glad you loved the recipe Rebecca! 😀
You could either add cocoa powder at the end, or fold in melted cooled semi-sweet chocolate. Once folded in, pop the frosting in the fridge to firm up for 30 mins and you’ll have a nice stable chocolate frosting 🙂
Enjoy!
Hi is this stable to pipe flowers?
Hi Rebecca! 🙂 Though this buttercream is relatively stable, it may not be stable enough for flowers. For a less sweet buttercream that is better for flowers, I would recommend this recipe: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/silky-smooth-buttercream-frosting/
Hope that helps 🙂
Hello..greeting from indonesia. Is this buttercream shiny?i’m dreaming of a matte non crust buttercream.do you have any suggestion what kond of buttercream i should try?
Thanks in advance
Hi Novi! 🙂 Hmmm good question! This buttercream is on the shinier side, but the closest recipe I have to a matte buttercream that doesn’t crust as much as regular American buttercream, would be my smooth buttercream recipe. Here is the link: https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/silky-smooth-buttercream-frosting/
Hope that helps!