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.
141 Comments
Just tried a small batch of this and love the texture. FYI 4 cups of butter weigh 904 grams .
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Vicki! 🙂
this recipe was INCREDIBLE. I have tried ermine, swiss, mock swiss, russian, ABC, french and more, in search of my HG buttercream but there was always something I didn’t like. this is 100% THE ONE. I’m so happy I stumbled across your youtube video, thank you so much for pulling everything together in a blog post and this recipe. it is perfection!!!
So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Frances! 😀 Really appreciate the feedback 🙂
hi hello I watched every video you have on youtube you are a very professional person kindly can you help me I have a very difficult situation I need a cream to be serialised because of the temperature we have hot weather what can you suggest pls because I would like to do the mirror glazed cake
Hello Isabella! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the content 😀 there’s a few things you can do to stabilise your buttercream further. Firstly, you can substitute some of the butter with shortening – this will alter the taste slightly. Secondly, you can mix in some gelatine. Tylose powder also works great 🙂 hope these tips help!
This is my go to ABC now. I always liked better the SMAB but not the extra steps. This gives me that consistency without the extra steps. Thank you so much for sharing.
Awesome! So happy to hear that Star 😀
Amazing recipe! Loved it. Can you add melted chocolate to it? Or would this change the consistency too much to pipe?
Thanks Rebecca! 😀 Yes you can add melted chocolate, you’ll just need to let the frosting firm up in the fridge for about 30 minutes (after the chocolate has been added in) and then rewhip it again to allow the chocolate some time to set and help firm up the frosting 🙂
How long can this buttercream sit out of the fridge? Does it need to be refrigerated? Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Hi Annemarie! You can leave this frosting out at room temperature for about two days and then after that you want to refrigerate it 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Oh My God!!
This recipe is a keeper… super easy, super soft, super buttery and oh so nice…
Checks all the boxes.
Was such a big hit…
Thank you so much
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Neha! 😀
Just what I needed, tysm!
You’re so welcome! Enjoy 😀
Great recipe, Definately delivers on the no grit statement and is full of flavour but my personal preference is SMBC. This is Definately a good covenient recipe
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Nazia 😀
I tried it . I loved it . But couldn’t do it again since then . ,😭
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! 😀