Buttercream Variations:
Add ½ cup marshmallow fluff to finished buttercream.
Stir in a generous amount of chopped oreos for a delicious cookies and cream filling.
Add up to ½ cup of creamy peanut butter to finished buttercream.
Add 2-3 ounces of melted and cooled bittersweet baking chocolate to finished buttercream.
Dissolve 2-4 teaspoons of instant espresso powder into your vanilla extract for coffee buttercream. Also works with the melted chocolate for mocha buttercream.
Eliminate vanilla extract and add up to 2 teaspoons of peppermint, lemon, orange, coconut or almond extracts. You may choose to add a few drops of vanilla just to round off the flavor.
Other Notes:
*When making this recipe for cakes with a buttercream finish, it is best to double it. This will make a batch of icing that completely fills a 5 quart Kitchenaid mixer bowl. A doubled batch should fill the bowl beyond the beater leaving your resulting icing smooth and fairly free of air bubbles. Adding the liquids before the sugar and mixing only on a low speed prevents the formation of pesky air bubbles that cause problems when trying to frost a buttercream cake smoothly. It is important to mix the icing for the full 10 minutes in the final step. However, if you would prefer a fluffier aerated icing for cupcakes or cakes you can simply raise the mixer speed to medium and beat the icing for 4-5 minutes.
*In warm weather, when piping flowers or peaked designs, consider replacing 25% of the butter with a quality shortening such as Crisco.