Strawberry Buttercream
Fluffy, smooth strawberry buttercream loaded with real strawberry flavor. It’s super simple and perfect for cakes, cupcakes, frosted cookies, and more!
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This Strawberry Buttercream is fluffy, smooth, and filled with real strawberry flavor. Adding freeze-dried strawberries is the key to a creamy and still flavorful buttercream without any artificial flavoring or color needed. This frosting is perfect for spreading on strawberry lemonade cookies or piping on chocolate cupcakes or vanilla cupcakes!
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Buttercream
- Quick & easy – This buttercream frosting is simple to make and only requires 6 ingredients. It comes together with an electric mixer and can be done from start to finish in about 10 minutes.
- Real strawberry flavor – Freeze-dried strawberries give the frosting all the flavor of real strawberries without adding moisture that could ruin your frosting. No artificial flavoring is needed, plus you don’t even have to wait for strawberry season – you can make this frosting all year long!
- No artificial color – With the addition of freeze-dried strawberries in the frosting, you don’t need any food coloring because it naturally adds a beautiful, bright vibrant hue to the frosting. Natural flavor and color all in one!
Freeze Dried Strawberries
My favorite way to incorporate a strong fruit flavor into frosting is with freeze-dried fruit – it’s a game-changer! The freeze-dried fruit strawberries add a concentrated flavor without adding additional moisture to the frosting. Unlike using fresh or frozen strawberries, or even jam, the freeze-dried fruit will keep the buttercream a thick, pipeable consistency without compromising any flavor. It gives the frosting the best bold, fresh strawberry flavor and also naturally turns it a beautiful bright and vibrant pinkish hue.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: This is the base of the frosting. I prefer unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in the recipe. If you use salted butter, just omit the salt. Allow your butter to come to room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar: Added for sweetness and helps thicken the frosting.
- Freeze-dried strawberries: Gives the frosting a bold, natural strawberry flavor without watering down your buttercream like jam or fresh or frozen strawberries would do. Weigh out the freeze-dried strawberries, then grind them down with a food processor.
- Heavy Cream: This will help thin out the buttercream but will keep it nice and creamy.
- Vanilla Extract: Another layer of flavor that complements the flavor of the strawberries.
- Salt: Will help balance out the sweetness.
See the full list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card below!
Strawberry Buttercream FAQs
Where can I buy freeze-dried strawberries?
You can find freeze-dried strawberries sold at stores such as Target or Trader Joe’s or online through Amazon. You can also buy freeze-dried strawberry powder which is already finely ground and typically all the seeds are sifted out too. This is a convenient option if you don’t want to grind the freeze-dried strawberries or strain the seeds yourself. If purchasing the strawberry powder, be sure the only ingredient is 100% freeze-dried strawberries, and use the weight measurement in the recipe as opposed to the cup measurement.
Does the powdered sugar need to be sifted?
Since the buttercream gets beat pretty well with a paddle attachment, I don’t find sifting the powdered sugar completely necessary since the mixer should get out all the lumps. If you get an extra lumpy bag of powdered sugar, it won’t hurt to sift it before adding it to the mixing bowl.
Baking Tip: Weigh Your Ingredients!
I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients rather than using measuring cups because it is the most accurate way to bake. Weighing your ingredients will give you more consistent results with your recipes and a better success rate, every time. Using a scale also saves you dishes which means easier cleanup! I provide gram measurements in all my recipes and this is the scale I love to use.
Can the buttercream be made in advance?
Yes, it can be made in advance and then refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. The buttercream will stiffen in the fridge so let it sit at room temperature for a few hours before using it. Re-whip the frosting with an electric mixer to make it smooth and fluffy again.
What is the best way to store the frosting?
The buttercream should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
How much frosting does the recipe make?
This recipe makes about 2½ cups of buttercream or enough to frost about 12 cupcakes or 15 cookies.
Tips for Strawberry Buttercream
- Sift out the seeds. If you are piping the buttercream or just prefer not to have any of the little seeds in your frosting, sift the freeze-dried strawberries using a fine mesh sieve. This will leave you with a finely ground powder and it will create a velvety smooth frosting.
- Use room temp ingredients. Allowing the butter and cream to come to room temperature will help the frosting blend more easily and result in a silky, lump-free frosting.
- Press out the air bubbles. Once the frosting is done mixing, you may notice that it has an airy or bubbly texture. There’s nothing wrong with it and just means that air has been whipped into the frosting. This isn’t always ideal, especially if you plan on icing a cake or piping the frosting. After the frosting is done mixing, simply use a rubber spatula to press the frosting against the bowl to help push out the air bubbles.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Chantilly Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Strawberry Crunch Cheesecake
- Raspberry Orange Pistachio Cake
If you make this recipe and love it, be sure to leave a comment below. Happy baking!
Strawberry Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (33g or 1.2oz) freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2½ cups (300g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (60mL) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Use a food processor to grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the ground freeze-dried strawberries, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt, to the bowl. Start mixing on low speed until the ingredients are combined, so the powdered sugar doesn’t spill out. Scrape the bowl well with a rubber spatula.
- Increase to medium-high speed and mix for 2 minutes. The frosting should be smooth and creamy.
- Use frosting right away or store it in an airtight container.
