Crusting Buttercream Frosting

If you are not a fan of hard-drying royal icing to decorate cookies, you can try using this Crusting Buttercream Frosting. It crusts well and you can stack and package cookies using this recipe.

HOW TO MAKE CRUSTING FROSTING

This is a hybrid recipe. What I mean is that I combined two recipes into one. Let me explain: I’ve been using an easy melted butter crusting buttercream frosting recipe for years. Over the years, I’ve noticed that sometimes it crusted a bit too much. To amend this issue, I added whipped butter to make the frosting softer yet still well-crusted so you can stack and even package cookies decorated with this buttercream.

INGREDIENTS

To prepare this buttercream, I make two buttercream frostings individually: Easy crusting buttercream frosting and American Buttercream.

• Here are the ingredients you need:
• Unsalted Melted Butter
• Unsalted Butter at room temperature
• Powdered Sugar
• Corn Starch
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Flavorings: Vanilla, Almond and Lemon(optional)
• Pinch of salt

AMERICAN BUTTERCREAM

Let’s start with room-temperature butter (step 1). Cream it for 30 seconds (steps 2-3). then gradually add about half of the powdered sugar (steps 4-6). Beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes (steps 7-8).

EASY MELTED BUTTER FROSTING

This buttercream uses melted and cooled butter. Pour all of the powdered sugar and starch into a bowl. Add melted and cooled butter, flavorings, and heavy whipping cream (steps 1-5). Beat on low speed and gradually increase the speed to medium-high. Beat for about 2-3 minutes (steps 6-8).

TIP: I like using Vanilla, Almond, and Lemon. You can use any flavoring you prefer.

CRUSTING BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Now we can combine two buttercreams together to form a hybrid buttercream.

Gradually beat Easy Buttercream into American Buttercream. Beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl a few times and continue beating until fully combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Taste and if desired add additional flavorings.

If frosting appears too stiff, add heavy whipping cream. But sparingly, too much moisture can cause your buttercream won’t crust properly.

STORAGE

Prepared buttercream can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Bring it to room temperature before using it. If it appears too stiff, you can easily thin it with some water. I like to use a spray bottle for this to avoid using too much water (steps 1-4).

COLOR BUTTERCREAM

Color buttercream with concentrated gel food colors (steps 1-6).

BLACK BUTTERCREAM

To make black buttercream I like to start by making chocolate buttercream first. I use cocoa powder. Sift two teaspoons of dark cocoa powder into 1/2 cup of white buttercream (steps 1-3). Mix it in and if needed add a drop or two of heavy whipping cream (steps 4-6). Then add a few drops of concentrated black gel food color.

DECORATE COOKIES WITH CRUSTING BUTTERCREAM

Cookie decorating can be as simple as spreading buttercream onto a cookie with a spatula and decorating with sprinkles like my Soft Lofthouse Cookies.

Or you can get fancy with piping bags and piping tips.

SUNFLOWER COOKIES

To make sunflower cookies I used two piping tips: petal tip #104 and a small star tip #14 or #16.

Mark the center of the cookie and draw a circle with an edible marker (steps 1-3). With yellow icing and a piping tip #104 pipe flower petals. The wide part of the piping tip should be facing out and the narrow part of the tip needs to face the center of the cookie (step 4-8).

Mark the outline for the flower center with a toothpick or a scribe following the drawn circle, (step 1).

With a star tip and brown/chocolate buttercream pipe stars in a circular pattern until you fill the center.

DAISY FLOWER COOKIES

Mark the center of the cookie. With a petal tip #104 and pink buttercream pipe, individual petals onto a cookie (steps 1-2). Pipe each petal with a narrow part of the piping tip facing out and a wide part of the petal tip facing the center of the cookie (steps 3-8).

Immediately dust the center and surrounding area with yellow nonpareil sprinkles. To make the center of the flower, you can use yellow candy, like M&M’s. Gently push candy into a soft buttercream,(steps 1-3).

BASKETWEAVE COOKIES

I used piping tip #47 to create a basketweave pattern. To clean up the edge, I utilized a handy cookie scrapper called a boo-boo stick or a 2-in-1 cookie decorating tool. Learn more about different Cookie Decorating Tools.

SUCCESS TIPS

• How long should I wait for the buttercream to crust before stacking cookies? Allow buttercream to air-dry for 6-9 hours.

• Can I keep this buttercream at room temperature? Yes, you can. The powdered sugar stabilizes the heavy cream in this recipe and keeps it from spoiling.

PACKAGING

Frost the sugar cookies with a spoon, spatula, or variety of piping tips. Allow frosting to crust for 6-9urs before stacking or packaging.

DELICIOUS RECIPES TO TRY

• Swiss Buttercream
• Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe (it pairs nicely with Crusting Buttercream Frosting)
• Chocolate Sugar Cookies
• Lemon Sugar Cookies via Dash of Sanit
• 6-Minute Chocolate Buttercream via Natasha’s Kitchen