Russian Buttercream Recipe | Smooth Bakery Style Cake Frosting
Silky, pipeable Russian buttercream made with butter and sweetened condensed milk for a smooth, not-too-sweet, bakery-style frosting. Comes together quickly and is easy to fix if it splits.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – 2 cups (454 g), room temperature but cool to the touch
- Sweetened condensed milk – 1 can (14 oz/397 g), at cool room temperature
- Pure vanilla extract – 1 to 2 teaspoons, to taste
- Fine sea salt – a pinch
- Optional: heavy cream – 1 to 3 tablespoons
- Optional: unsweetened cocoa powder, to taste (for chocolate variation)
- Optional: gel food coloring, as needed
Instructions
Instructions
- Beat the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until very pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl and paddle as needed.
- Mix in the vanilla and a pinch of salt until just combined.
- With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle in the sweetened condensed milk in a thin stream over 2 to 3 minutes, scraping the bowl halfway through.
- Increase to medium speed and mix for 1 to 2 minutes until the frosting is smooth and glossy; continue mixing briefly if you see streaks.
- For a lighter texture, beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream on low, then mix 30 seconds on medium.
- If the buttercream looks split or curdled, adjust temperature: warm the bowl slightly and mix if the butter was too cold, or chill the bowl 5 to 10 minutes and mix if it was too warm, then continue mixing on low until smooth.
Notes
Keep ingredients slightly cool: butter around 65–68°F and condensed milk at cool room temperature. Stream the condensed milk slowly to maintain a stable emulsion and avoid overwhipping at the end. For firmer frosting, chill briefly and remix; for softer, add a splash of cream. Yields about 4 to 4.5 cups, enough for a 2-layer 8-inch cake or 18–24 cupcakes. Store covered at room temperature up to 1 day if cool, refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months; re-whip on low after bringing back to room temperature. Variations include chocolate (add cocoa or cooled melted chocolate), vanilla bean paste, strawberry powder, lemon zest/extract, caramel, coffee, or almond/coconut extracts.