Tutorial Preview
1. Using Buttercream - Introduction to buttercream
In this free cake tutorial, Paul gives you an introduction on how to use buttercream.
2. Using Buttercream - Making Buttercream
Paul shows you how to make your own buttercream for use.
Ingredients required are:
500g (1 lb 1.6oz) Unsalted butter
1 Kg (2 lbs 3.2oz) Icing sugar
3. Using Buttercream - Giving Buttercream More Structure
4. Using Buttercream - Colouring buttercream
5. Using Buttercream - Flavoring Buttercream
6. Using Buttercream - Luxury Chocolate Buttercream
7. Using Buttercream - Covering a Cake in Buttercream
8. Using Buttercream - Icing Over Buttercream
Learn how to use buttercream
It’s vital for any cake maker to know how to use buttercream for decorating a cake. Buttercream is very popular in cake decorating and is often used to replace ganache.
In this free cake decorating tutorial, Paul gives you his take on buttercream as well as everything you need to know about using buttercream in your cake decorating.
Make sure you share your work with us or drop any questions you may have to us on our Facebook page
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other US to metric and Metric to US
- 8” (20.3cm) Round cake
- 500g (1 lb 1.6oz) Unsalted butter
- 1 Kg (2 lbs 3.2oz) Icing sugar
- 800g (1lb 12oz) Sugarpaste
- White and Milk chocolate ganache
- Ice Blue food paste
- Food bag
- Serrated knife
- Mixing bowl
- Microwave
- Mixer
- Flexible scraper
- Palette knife
- Sharp knife
- Small cranked palette knife
- Turntable
- Smoothers
- Metal scraper
- Large metal ruler
- Cocktail stick
i like your recipe for buttercream Paul. i’m gonna try it. for your white ganache, what amount of white chocolate and cream did you use to make it. Or was it left over white ganache that you had in the fridge.
Hi Maisy,
We have a video on making the white chocolate Ganache. You can watch it here: http://www.designer-cakes.com/using-ganache-making-white-chocolate-ganache
Cheers
Paul Doffman
Customer Support
Now that’s certainly helped me apply buttercream with nice sharp edges !!!! 🙂
After having my cakes in the fridge setting with butter cream/ ganache I cover them with sugarpaste but find that after a few minutes they start to sweat making it hard to smooth any help would be great thanks Paul
Hi Helen,
I’m not too sure about that myself but it sounds like a good question to put in the Q&A http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
Sorry I don’t know myself. If you are really stuck I’ll see if i can get pauls attention on this.
Cheers
Paul Doffman
customer Support
Hi guys! I’d like to know if this combination of buttercream ganache and fondant would resist to high temperatures and humidity. Thank you!
Hi Beckangela,
It will be slightly better than all buttercream but not as good as ganache. The best thing to use in these conditions would be the dark chocolate ganache. We have a video on it here: http://www.designer-cakes.com/using-ganache-making-dark-chocolate-ganache
Cheers
Paul Doffman
Customer Support
Hi can you tell me if the buttercream/ganache has a chocolate taste to it ,
say them that dose not like chocolate x
I used a Ganache the once for a cake i made for my husband, when i cut it there was this white liquid oozing out, all i could think was the cake was cold and the fondant sweated . Do you think this is what happened?? how would i stop this from happening again?? Just so pleased i hadnt given to a customer.
Hi there,
What’s the best way to cover the hole made to release an air bubble…perhaps not so noticeable on white sugarpaste, but definitely more so with a coloured sugarpaste. I was hoping Paul would show us that with the pink icing he used over buttercream in the tutorial.
Many thanks……. fantastic tutorials I could watch all day!
Hello! Does this mixture harden linked ganache?
Hi,
I’m not too sure what you mean but it will harden up the buttercream so its firmer for cake decorating.
Cheers
Hello Paul,
Could this technique be used for cream cheese frosting as well?
Thanks in advance
suzette
Hi,
I’m not too sure about that. I’ve never heard of it being done but you could ask in our Q&A http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
Cheers
I wonder if this silver spoon icing sugar is what we call açúcae cold here in Brazil?
Thank you very much
Hi,
I’m not sure but you could try asking in our Q&A http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
Hope that helps
How many tablespoon ganache has to be added…
Hi Savitha,
I think this was just really done to taste and judging the firmness of the buttercream with the added ganache. It’s not essential to the recipe so its as much as you feel works for you. You could also ask in our Q&A for advice on this.
http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
Cheers
Hi Pual,
I would like to know …can I use instead of buttercream …..whipped cream…then cover the icing….
Lol, 28 degree heat wave, I’m in Perth Australia. Try icing a cake when it’s 38 degrees 🙂 Best to avoid buttercream in summer here.
Ha ha I was thinking the same thing. I’m in Central Queensland and our summer is usually between 35 and 45 degrees. Now that is a challenge.
What is your white chocolate ganache made of? Recipe?
Hi
We have a whole course on making ganache you can check out here: http://www.designer-cakes.com/free-cake-decorating-courses/using-ganache-overview
Cheers
Can you freeze buttercream
Hi Karen,
Take a look at the Q&A here where this question has been asked,
Hope this helps,
Andy
Customer Support
What are the quantity and ratios of butter to sugar please!? Thanks!
Hi,
When logged in you should be able to see the “ingredients” tab that gives you the measurements.
Cheers
Hi Im making a sponge cake for my brothers 40th. and covering all over with buttercream then covering with a layer of fondant, could I get away with not putting it in the fridge to set , im concerned that the sponge cake will go hard and dry , during the setting of the buttercream process .please help thankyou x
Hi Paul said you can add milk to the buttercream but I didn’t see him add any …. If so how much milk and can you still add the white chocolate Grenache or should I leave milk out? Thanks
Hi,
I’m not too sure myself but you could ask in our Q&A http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
Cheers
Can I ask the size of the cake and how much buttercream I would use? Is this just one batch of butter cream I.e. 1kg of icing sugar & 500g of unsalted butter? Thank you
Hi,
I’m not too sure myself but there are lots of people talking about the amount of ganache in our Q&A http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions?s=amount+of+ganache I would think the amounts would be similar for buttercream. You could always ask a new question as well.
Cheers
Can I use this to pipe swirls onto cup cakes or will it go solid? Thx
Yeah that would work fine 🙂
Hi! thanks very much for all the videos.
I was wondering Why two layers of buttercream? Isn’t that too much?
Hi,
I’m not to sure if thats essential or not. It was pretty yummy so I don’t think it was too much 🙂 but you might want to ask what people think in our Q&A here: http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
Cheers
Should you keep the cake in fridge after it’s made or a cake box and what are ppl talking about when they say their cake is sweating / how do you stop this from happening .
What is white chocolate genache made of?
Hi,
You can watch a whole course on this here: http://www.designer-cakes.com/using-ganache-making-white-chocolate-ganache
Cheers
Hi!could you write de ingradients in spanish pleasse? Thanks
Hi Teresa,
I’ve just google translated the Ingredients section here :
8 “(20,3 cm) Torta redonda
500 g (1 libra 1,6 oz) de mantequilla sin sal
1 Kg (2 libras 3,2 oz) Azúcar glas
800g (12 oz 1 libra) pasta de azúcar
Blanco y ganache de chocolate de leche
Pasta alimentaria Blue Ice
bolsa de Alimentos
Hope this helps in some way!
Hi,thanks very much for all the videos.(obrigado.)
Glad you’re enjoying them! x
Hi, Paul love your videos! Questions, what’s trex? It’s a Tipe or shortening? This buttercream with ganache it would crust?
Hi Janny,
Yes trex is a vegetable fat (shortening) and commonly known as crisco in the USA and some other countries. x
How to make small amounts of ganache
Hi Chris50, hopefully this blog post will help you out! – http://www.designer-cakes.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
nice video , thanx a lot
Glad you enjoyed it! x
Wonderful. I love watching the videos. Would practice
Thanks Solakosoko x
Hey. Is it essential to add both white and dark ganache? If I wanted chocolate buttercream for instance can’t I just add the dark ganache and get both flavour and structure?
Thanks
As long as you can achieve a similar consistency that would be fine! If you wish to discuss this further or need any more advice pop over to our Q&A here.
Hi, can’t see any link to open the video. All I see is the ingredients and tools. Thanks
Hi Ifeoluway, try accessing using the free Google Chrome browser here just in case it’s an issue with the browser, if you’re still stuck send me an email at [email protected]
Love this video.. Paul makes it look so easy lol… just a quick question. How do you get rid of the little hole that’s made after getting rid of an air bubble?
Thanks so much!!
Hi Javajunkie, Thanks for your kind words, getting rid of the hole is usually as simple as a little rub using a cake smoother or finger! x
Hello wanted to know can you just use this as the icing itself and just add flavor?
You can opt to cover a cake in just buttercream if you like however your designs will be limited due to the softer properties of buttercream. x
For how long do we refrigerate before second layer
Hi!
Thank you for your question! I would recommend leaving your crumb coat in the fridge for approximately 20-30 mins before adding the second layer.
Hope this helps! D xx
The videos were very helpful. Thank you.
awesome thank you so much !
Hi Gali! Glad you are enjoying the courses! If there is anything we can help you with in the meantime just drop me an email at [email protected]!
Thanks D 🙂 x
Hi Paul, I can’t open the video at all and I have downloaded Google chrome still the same problem. thanks and I await your response
l
Hi Folakemi!
Did you manage to get the video to work?
If not please contact me at [email protected] and I will look into it further for you!
Thanks D xx
Thank you for teaching these classes. I have learned so much.
Hi Davonna,
We are so glad that you are enjoying our courses and are learning so much!
Any questions at all, just get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]
Thanks, Danielle x
I feel like the butter cream is going to be watery and weird consistency because he kept getting it wet when he was dipping his knife back and forth into the container while making it smooth!
Hi Cupcakeboss, The knife is not soaking, so it will not get watery! We promise:) X
Hello
Can we pipe flowers with this consistency??
Hi Sarah, Yes this would be absolutely fine for piping flowers. D xx
Hi Paul,
I was wondering if you can also add ganache to Swiss and Italian buttercream?
Hi Frannyloo,
I have not personally tried Swiss or Italian buttercream however I believe that Italian buttercream is a thick consistency already therefore I do not think you will need to add ganache to the buttercream to give it more structure. If you would like to make a chocolate buttercream, we have a fantastic free tutorial available to watch by following this link – http://www.designer-cakes.com/online-cake-decorating-courses/how-to-make-chocolate-buttercream
I hope this helps! If you have anymore questions at all, feel free to head over to our Q&A section on our website where you will find more cake related advice. http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions xx
enjoyed that lesson, makes me want to bake now
Hi Elizabeth, Thankyou for the lovely feedback, I am so glad that you enjoyed the tutorial. Yay! Let’s Bake! D xx
Thank you…for the instruction. I make alot of cakes and cupcakes for church, and I hate using store bought frosting. Iam ooking forward to tring this recipe on my next batch…..thank you…….
Hi Texasproud61, fantastic news! I am glad that this tutorial has helped you. Hopefully your church will find your cakes and cupcakes more enjoyable with your own buttercream! D xx
Hi, can you please let me know exactly how much ganache was used for the buttercream amount mentioned in the recipe?
And what cake this recipe will cover?
I was planning to use it for a wedding cake (underneath the fondant) and was wondering whether this will set hard and hold the fondant (I live in Perth, AUstralia so it’s quite warm here)
Hi Nat,
Thank you for getting in touch. This amount of buttercream should be able to cover an 8 inch round cake.
I also found some helpful tips on our Q&A section of our site where individuals can post questions and cake friends can answer any queries they may have.
Our cake expert madeitwithlove, provided great advice for dealing with covering a cake in warm temperatures. You can read it here – http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions/hot-and-humid-country/
I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Danielle x
thank so much for this video i learn a lot
Hi La28ki,
I am glad you are enjoying the tutorials and I hope you continue to enjoy them all! 🙂
Thanks D xx
Hi, thank you for the videos. I am not sure if you mentionned what kind of fondant you use. It seems to be very smooth
Hi Stefpram,
Thank you for getting in touch. Paul uses different kinds, however he mostly uses Renshaw’s fondant. I hope this helps:) D xx
enjoyed the lesson…learned a lot from it
Hi there,
Thank you for your feeedback! I am glad you enjoyed it:) xx
Quick question, whenever I make buttercream for cupcakes, for example, my buttercream starts to melt! I don’t understand why this happens? All my quantities for butter and icing sugar are correct, and cakes are all cooled before application.
If you can help me out here, will be great. Thanks
Nadia
Hi Nado,
Thank you for getting in touch.
I am sorry that you are having problems with the buttercream melting. Here is a Question and Answer that maybe able to help you:- http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions/melting-buttercream
I hope this helps:)
Thanks! Danielle x
Hi,
I am new to this and not quite sure of what Grenache is. Can you please explain?
Hi Prshus,
Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to the industry! Ganache is a combination of Chocolate and Cream and can be used in cake decorating to help shape a cake, decorate it, and can be used as a filling before covering the cake in sugarpaste/fondant. I hope this helps! x
Do you need to add eggs into your buttercream.
Hi Yrasam65,
There is eggless buttercream recipes out there, however it is preferred to use eggs in buttercream. Here is a link to an eggless recipe. I hope this helps! Many thanks, Danielle x
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/11/04/vegan-buttercream-icing/
Hi
Like a few others I’m in Australia and would to know once the cake is covered either with buttercream or ganache then fondant how should I store it without the buttercream just melted and ruining the fondant? Any suggestions?
Hi Missljauehg,
Thank you for getting in touch. I came across this Q&A answer that may help you! http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions/cake-once-iced-in-hot-weather Best of luck!:) xx
Any chance of buying actual cd’s as I get so frustrated with the streaming, takes an hour to watch 10 minutes! I’m in Australia (the backward part!) and I would love to have solid copies that I could play over and over again. If you don’t, then it would be good if you did 🙂
Hi Gail,
Thank you for getting in touch and I am terribly sorry to learn that you are having difficulty streaming our tutorials. If you are still having difficulty, can you please let us know by emailing us at our email address – [email protected]
Many thanks! Danielle x
Do you sell actual CD’s? It takes me an hour to watch just 10 minutes with the streaming, very frustrating. I’m in Australia (the backward part!) and I would just love to be able to watch you over and over again without having to wait forever. If not, thats a shame 🙂
Hi Gail, thank you for getting in touch and I am sorry but we do not have CD’s available unfortunately. I am sorry you are having difficulty watching the tutorials – it must be so frustrating! x
Hi Paul,
Is it possible first to cover a cake first with ganache and then buttercream?
Hi there what is icing sugar and sugar paste. Is one of them considered confectioner’s powder sugar which is what I have in the USA. New cake baker for my grands. Thanks
Hi DeSire, Icing sugar is confectioner’s sugar and sugar paste is fondant!
I hope this helps:) If you need help with any cake related questions, feel free to check out our Q&A section on our website where we have lots of cake superheros there to offer their help and support! 🙂
http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions
I hope this helps:)
Thanks D xx
Hi
What’s the quantity of trex added to the buttercream+Ganache, thanks.
Hi Damilola81, unfortunately I am sorry I do not have this information to hand, but I have came across a discussion about using trex in buttercream and it is not always the preferred choice as it can leave a A lot of our members prefer to use butter instead. You can read more about it here – http://www.designer-cakes.com/questions/how-much-trex-to-add-to-buttercream
I also came across this discussion on google too…http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/731815/trex-in-buttercream-help
I hope this helps! D xx
I have a question: is it possible to cover the cake with ganache first and than buttercream over instead fondant? thank you in advance.
Hi Inez,
It is possible yes, but not something that is done very often. You can read more about how to do it here…http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/706866/spreading-buttercream-over-ganache
I hope this helps:) D xx
Can’t see the video please
Hi there, to view the tutorial you would have to be signed up and logged into the site. You can sign up here – http://www.designer-cakes.com/get-started-for-free
Then login by following this link – http://www.designer-cakes.com/login
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please contact me at [email protected] x
Sorry I knew you guess use differnt measurements then we do in the USA. For some of us that doesn’t knew can you please give us cheat sheet so we can us recipes.
Hi there! Here’s a conversion chart which you may find useful: http://javacupcake.com/2014/11/baking-conversion-charts/ Hope that’s helpful! Haya.