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butter icing recipe uk

Butter Icing Recipe

Classic UK butter icing made by beating softened butter with icing sugar, a splash of milk and vanilla until smooth and creamy. It's ready in less than 30 minutes and makes enough to fill one medium cake, top six cupcakes or cover twelve fairy cakes. Includes easy orange and chocolate variations.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Course: baking
Cuisine: British
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

For the Basic Butter Icing
  • 140 g/5oz butter softened, soft enough to dent easily with a fingertip
  • 280 g/10oz icing sugar sieved first if it looks lumpy
  • 1 –2 tbsp milk add the second tablespoon only if needed
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • Few drops food colouring
For the Orange Buttercream Variation
  • 1 large orange zest and 2 tbsp juice, zest before you juice, as it’s much easier
For the Chocolate Variation
  • 25 g/1oz cocoa powder
  • 75 g/2½oz milk or dark chocolate melted, milk for a milder flavour, dark for a deeper one

Method
 

How to Make Basic Butter Icing

  1. Loosen the butter. Put the softened butter in a large bowl and beat it on its own until it’s soft and smooth throughout. This gives the sugar an even base to blend into.
  2. Work in the first half of the sugar. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until the mixture looks smooth again, with no dry patches.
  3. Add the rest with the milk and vanilla. Add the remaining icing sugar, one tablespoon of the milk, and the vanilla extract. Beat until the icing turns creamy and smooth.
  4. Adjust the texture. Check the consistency. If it still feels stiff, beat in the remaining milk to loosen it. If it’s already soft enough for how you plan to use it, leave the milk out.
  5. Colour it, if you like. Stir in a few drops of food colouring until the shade is even and there are no streaks.

How to Make Orange Buttercream

  1. Make the base without milk or vanilla. Beat the butter and icing sugar together as in the basic method, but leave out the milk and vanilla entirely.
  2. Stir in the orange. Add the orange zest and juice and stir until they’re fully combined and the icing is smooth and evenly flecked with zest.

How to Make Chocolate Buttercream

  1. Cream the base with cocoa. Beat the butter and icing sugar together as in the basic method, leaving out the milk and adding the cocoa powder along with the sugar.
  2. Cool the chocolate. Let the melted chocolate cool for 10 minutes. It should still be liquid but no longer hot, so it won’t melt the butter.
  3. Beat it in. Add the cooled chocolate to the whipped butter and sugar and beat until everything is well combined and evenly coloured.