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
Tried this recipe today and came out very nice and smooth. I was just wondering if it’s normal that the buttercream tastes more like butter than sugar. I whipped it for 10 minutes but the frosting like slighlity sweetened butter. What would you suggest? Should I add more sugar?
Hi Charmaine! 🙂 So glad to hear the frosting came out nice and smooth 🙂
So the frosting shouldn’t taste like butter, so it may be worth adding in a bit more powdered sugar next time 🙂
It could also be that the frosting is a bit firm/cold so hasn’t whipped up as well (firmer frosting tends to taste more like butter). You can try heating it slightly so that it’s a bit softer and then whipping it again. If you still feel it tastes too much like butter, you can add a bit more powdered sugar 🙂
Hope that helps for next time!
Hi! I tried out this buttercream and I love the taste and almost love the texture. Mine came out a tad runny and didn’t really hold a shape when doing buttercream flowers, borders, etc. I did add half the meringue powder suggested so I’ll try the full amount next time but curious what I could have done wrong?
Hi Kimberly! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the buttercream, but sorry to hear it was a bit runny! My best guess would be that perhaps a little too much milk was used, the butter was a tad too soft or the milk mixture wasn’t cooled down enough. Usually popping the frosting into the fridge for 30 mins and then re-whipping it does the trick as it should still be able to hold a shape even without the meringue powder 🙂
Hope that helps for next time Kimberly!
Hi.
Will this buttercream crust or stay soft?
Hi Sharon! This buttercream doesn’t crust 🙂
Hi
Can I freeze or refrigerate this buttercream for later use?
Hi Chris! 🙂 You can definitely refrigerate the frosting, though I haven’t tried freezing it before myself. My best guess would be that it would be fine to freeze, just let it come to room temp before re-whipping again to get it nice and smooth 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi MK, I was wondering if I don’t have meringue powder, can I use cream of tartar powder instead? Will it mess up the texture and taste of the buttercream?
Hi Amarye! 🙂 I haven’t tried cream of tartar in buttercream myself (I’ve only used it when whipping egg whites) so I am not too sure how it would affect the taste/texture sorry! I do know that some people use it in buttercreams for extra stability/crusting, so you could maybe try a smaller batch with a bit of cream of tartar and see how it goes 🙂 would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out and so sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
When do you suggest adding the meringue powder?
Hi Amy! 🙂 I would add it in just before whipping the frosting for the full 10 mins. Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hello when do we add the meringue powder
Hi Maya! 🙂 You can add it in just before you mix the frosting for the final 10 minutes. Hope that helps 🙂
Hi Mk thanks for this. I’m jus wondering can I use water instead of milk, and will this therefore mean it can stay at room temp for much longer than 24 hours?
Hi Chris! 🙂 Great question – so I haven’t tried this recipe using water myself, but I imagine this may impact the taste of the final buttercream and reduce its ‘creaminess’. You could experiment with this though and if you find the taste is still great, then you can most certainly use water instead and it should be able to last much longer at room temp 🙂
Your buttercream looks amazing. Is it be stiff enough to pipe flowers? Thank you!
Thank you Mellisa! 🙂 It should be fine if the weather isn’t very hot, otherwise for a more stable (but still smooth and not too sweet) frosting, I would recommend trying my silky buttercream recipe 🙂
Hope that helps!
I tried the recipe as written, and I love it! I’m wondering if you’ve ever tried it with cocoa powder. I was thinking about blooming the cocoa powder in the hot milk before adding the sugar, then proceeding with the recipe directions. I’m guesstimating that about 35g. of dutched cocoa would do it. Do you have any thoughts/feedback about this idea? I’d love to hear. Thank you!
Hi Mandi! So so happy to hear you loved the recipe 😀 I haven’t tried with cocoa powder myself but what you’ve suggested above sounds perfect! You’ll just need to adjust the cocoa/sugar based on how sweet you prefer the buttercream 🙂
Would love to hear how you go if you decide to try it out 😀