How to make Different Buttercream Flavors from one Buttercream Recipe
Why have just one buttercream flavor when you can try so many more. These simple, easy and effortless variations to create different buttercream flavors from one recipe will open new and wonderful possibilities for your cake projects. From strawberry to caramel, marzipan or Kahlua, you can use a basic American buttercream, meringue-based buttercream.
The Basic Recipes
How many buttercream flavors have you tried? I bet many!! And yet, did you know that you can make one basic buttercream and then use that to create different flavors?
First of all, I have already given you a few of my basic Buttercream Recipes:
- Stiff Buttercream Frosting for piping sugar flowers
- Best Buttercream Frosting (eggless)
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (eggless)
- Velvet American Buttercream (ABC) (contains meringue powder)
- Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC) (with raw egg whites)
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC) (white raw egg whites)
- Classic French Buttercream (FBC) (with whole eggs)
- German Buttercream (GBC) (with vanilla pastry cream)
These are the basic buttercream recipes. And yet, often you get asked to make different flavors. While sometimes you have to start from scratch, often it’s easier to use the basic recipe and create new buttercream flavors.
Also, you can use any of the above recipes as your base recipe to create new flavors. And yet I find that using my Stiff Buttercream Frosting for piping sugar flowers works best. Why? The additional ingredients result in a buttercream with the right consistency, and not too soft.
In addition, I have given you a chocolate buttercream recipe below. I also have a delicious chocolate buttercream frosting if you need to make one from scratch. And I have additional options like Pink Champagne buttercream, butterscotch buttercream.
Different Buttercream flavors from one recipe
Meringue Buttercream Recipes
So these flavors work with both Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream. And yet, in some cases, the consistency may be soft or even too soft. Also, I often prefer to have a soft consistency meringue buttercream for my cakes.
Since you are the cake decorator, I’ll leave it for you to decide what consistency you need for your cake. Hence, you can use either my Velvet American Buttercream, Swiss Meringue Buttercream or Italian Meringue Buttercream.
Different Buttercream Flavors from one Recipe
One Buttercream Recipe – Many different buttercream flavors
My preferred recipe my stiff buttercream because it works best in terms of consistency. While consistency may vary from other buttercream recipes since it depends on the additional liquid ingredients needed to get the right flavor. One Buttercream Recipe – Many different flavors aka Different Buttercream flavors from one recipe.
Chocolate Buttercream – See my chocolate buttercream frosting recipe video here
- 200 grams chocolate
Mocha Buttercream
- 200 grams chocolate
- 2 tbsp strong Espresso coffee (liquid)
Different Buttercream Flavors from one buttercream recipe
Caramel Buttercream
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 3/4 caramel sauce
- 1 tbsp rock salt
Different Buttercream flavors from one Buttercream Recipe
Nutella Buttercream
- 3/4 cup Nutella
Lemon Buttercream
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Different Buttercream Flavors from one Buttercream recipe
Strawberry Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed strawberries
- 1/2 tsp strawberry extract (optional)
Raspberry Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed raspberries
- 1/2 tsp raspberry extract (optional)
Different Buttercream flavors from one Buttercream Recipe
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
Pineapple Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed pineapple
- 1/2 tsp pineapple extract
Different Buttercream Flavors from one Recipe
Maraschino Cherry Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Maraschino cherries
- 2 tsp cherry juice
Baileys Buttercream/Kahlua Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Baileys or Kahlua
Different Buttercream flavors from one recipe
Coconut Buttercream
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
Marzipan Buttercream
- 1/2 cup marzipan
Boston Cream Pie
- 3/4 cup vanilla pastry cream
Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
Different Buttercream Flavors from one Recipe
Different Buttercream Flavors from One Recipe
Ingredients
Common Ingredient
- 4 cups Stiff Buttercream Recipe (Preferred) (If consistency is important)
- 4 cups Vanilla buttercream frosting (eggless)
- 4 cups Velvet American Buttercream
- 4 cups Swiss meringue buttercream
- 4 cups Italian Meringue Buttercream
Chocolate Buttercream
- 200 grams chocolate
Mocha Buttercream
- 200 grams chocolate
- 2 tbsp strong Espresso coffee (liquid)
Caramel Buttercream
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce
- 1 tbsp rock salt
Nutella Buttercream
- 3/4 cup Nutella
Lemon Buttercream
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Strawberry Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed strawberries
- 1/2 tsp strawberry extract (optional)
Raspberry Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed raspberries
- 1/2 tsp raspberry extract (optional)
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
Pineapple Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed pineapple
- 1/2 tsp pineapple extract (optional)
Marshino Cherry Buttercream
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries
- 2 tsp cherry juice
Baileys Buttercream/Kahlua Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Baileys or Kahlua
Coconut Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Coconut cream
Marzipan Buttercream
- 1/2 cup marzipan
Boston Cream Pie
- 3/4 cup vanilla pastry cream
Instructions
Chocolate Buttercream
- Add melted cooled chocolate to the buttercream.
Mocha Buttercream
- Add melted cool chocolate and espresso to the buttercream.
Caramel Buttercream
- Add caramel to the buttercream.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Combine thick caramel to the buttercream - mix well.
- Sprinkle over the rock salt and barely mix.
Nutella Buttercream
- Add Nutella to the buttercream - stir well.
Lemon Buttercream
- Add lemon juice and zest to the buttercream.
Strawberry / Raspberry/ Pineapple Buttercream
- Stir in the crushed fruit and extract to the buttercream.
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- Combine the peanut butter to the buttercream - stir well.
Baileys Buttercream / Kahlua Buttercream
- Stir in the Baileys or Kahlua to the buttercream.
Cherry Buttercream
- Add a few tbsp. canned MC juice + chopped cherries.
Boston Cream Pie
- Stir vanilla pastry cream to the stiff buttercream frosting recipe.
Coconut Buttercream
- Add coconut cream to the buttercream.
- You can add either toasted coconut flakes or toasted desiccated chocolate to add texture.
Marzipan Buttercream
- Soften one cup Marzipan with a few drops of water. Add it to the buttercream.
Nutrition Information
Different Buttercream Flavors from One Recipe
Ingredients
Common Ingredient
- 4 cups Stiff Buttercream Recipe (Preferred) (If consistency is important)
- 4 cups Vanilla buttercream frosting (eggless)
- 4 cups Velvet American Buttercream
- 4 cups Swiss meringue buttercream
- 4 cups Italian Meringue Buttercream
Chocolate Buttercream
- 200 grams chocolate
Mocha Buttercream
- 200 grams chocolate
- 2 tbsp strong Espresso coffee (liquid)
Caramel Buttercream
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce
- 1 tbsp rock salt
Nutella Buttercream
- 3/4 cup Nutella
Lemon Buttercream
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Strawberry Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed strawberries
- 1/2 tsp strawberry extract (optional)
Raspberry Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed raspberries
- 1/2 tsp raspberry extract (optional)
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
Pineapple Buttercream
- 200 ml crushed pineapple
- 1/2 tsp pineapple extract (optional)
Marshino Cherry Buttercream
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries
- 2 tsp cherry juice
Baileys Buttercream/Kahlua Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Baileys or Kahlua
Coconut Buttercream
- 1/2 cup Coconut cream
Marzipan Buttercream
- 1/2 cup marzipan
Boston Cream Pie
- 3/4 cup vanilla pastry cream
Instructions
Chocolate Buttercream
- Add melted cooled chocolate to the buttercream.
Mocha Buttercream
- Add melted cool chocolate and espresso to the buttercream.
Caramel Buttercream
- Add caramel to the buttercream.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
- Combine thick caramel to the buttercream - mix well.
- Sprinkle over the rock salt and barely mix.
Nutella Buttercream
- Add Nutella to the buttercream - stir well.
Lemon Buttercream
- Add lemon juice and zest to the buttercream.
Strawberry / Raspberry/ Pineapple Buttercream
- Stir in the crushed fruit and extract to the buttercream.
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- Combine the peanut butter to the buttercream - stir well.
Baileys Buttercream / Kahlua Buttercream
- Stir in the Baileys or Kahlua to the buttercream.
Cherry Buttercream
- Add a few tbsp. canned MC juice + chopped cherries.
Boston Cream Pie
- Stir vanilla pastry cream to the stiff buttercream frosting recipe.
Coconut Buttercream
- Add coconut cream to the buttercream.
- You can add either toasted coconut flakes or toasted desiccated chocolate to add texture.
Marzipan Buttercream
- Soften one cup Marzipan with a few drops of water. Add it to the buttercream.
Nutrition Information
In conclusion, knowing how to make different buttercream flavors from one buttercream recipe is a great way to reduce your workload. I hope you find these recipes useful. Please let me know which one is your favorite buttercream flavor? Write to me in your comments below.
Different Buttercream Flavors from one recipe
Are you looking for the perfect buttercream recipe for your cake? You may want to check for my other buttercream recipes like
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)
- Italian Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)
- Meringue Buttercream with Meringue Powder
- The Best Stiff Buttercream Recipe for Piping Flowers – Crusting Buttercream Recipe
Buttercream Frosting Recipes by Veena Azmanov
Or perhaps you looking for a different flavor? Check out how to flavor your existing buttercream recipe or make a new one here.
- Perfect Pink Champagne Buttercream Recipe
- Whipped Cream Buttercream Recipe
- Chocolate Buttercream
- Mocha Buttercream
- Caramel Buttercream
- Salted Caramel Buttercream and more..
Hello, does the raspberry or strawberry buttercream need to be refrigerated?
Any time you use fresh fruits in frosting you need to refrigerate it. If you use freezer dry fruit powder you can keep them out depending on the other ingredients of course.
I just stumbled on your site. I am making 200 mini cupcakes and need to make black frosting to use for piping decorations on top of the mini cups. I have tried 3 different recipes one using dark and black cocoa and one with melted chocolate. So far the taste isn’t there and the AMC buttercream are gritty. I’m using Americolor Super Black Gel Paste. I see a black frosted cake picture but I can’t find a recipe for how you achieved it. Can you please help me with this. I have spent way too much time and money on ingredients.
Thank you.
Hi Pam. Yes black buttercream can be tricky. The best way I achieve black frosting is I use half dark chocolate ganache and half chocolate buttercream frosting. I make sure my chocolate buttercream is fairly stiff consistency. Then I add black food color. I have to use much less gel color with this method.
The other thing I always do is, I make the frosting a few days ahead of time. That way the black color intensifies more.
I hope this helps.
Oh these are such a treat. Every time I need a buttercream recipe I come back to this post. I have tried a few of them with your Velvet Buttercream. Love the lemon and Strawberry. The Baileys is a treat and the pineapple is to die for. Thank you so much for always sharing all your tried and tested recipes. Your blog is my go to place for recipes
Thank you so much Siob!! So happy to hear that you enjoy my recipes! And thank you so much for coming to leave this feedback. Appreciate it very much
I’m a little lost can you send me step by step on how to make chocolate frosting. I need to make chocolate butter cream for some cupcakes .
Use my basic Velvet Buttercream Frosting and add melted cooled chocolate to it.
Is it baking chocolate?
NO I use good quality eating chocolate. Thanks.
I am making French buttercream and I want to flavor it with caramel. How might I do that? Love all your recipes. This one is amazing
I usually add less liquid in the buttercream and then add the caramel later so it won’t be too soft in consistency. I’d go with 1 cup caramel for every 4 to 5 cups buttercream – more or less.
Tq good tips. I really enjoy reading all your post on Facebook ! THank you for your kindness
Thank you so much Abdul
minha querida sempre e maravilhozo ler suas receitas, porque vc sempre faz maravilhas e maravilhozas tortas que sao uma preciozuras em obra de arte, obrigada por compartir esses tips com a gente. obrigada querida
I tried the buttercream, it was really tasty but i could still feel a bit of the sugar. Although i didn’t use all the 250 ml liquid since i wanted to pipe with it. But everyone loved the taste and it was so easy to make. Thanks
Check the sugar you are using. some brand sugars tend to leave a gritty taste.
The liquid helps melt the sugar too..
I am anxious to try your buttercream recipe. Am wondering if the non-dairy creamer adds a taste, so will make a batch. My family are great taste testers.
Taste? NO!! Unless you use one that is flavored lol!!
thanks, love it, i've learned a lot. You make everthing look so easy. I love trying your recipes they always work for me.
wonderful , <3 thanks for the recipes. love this site. You are truly appreciated. Thank you so much
wonderful , <3 thanks for the recipes. love this site
wonderful , <3 thanks for the recipes. love this site
Thanks for sharing. I already try your recipes. Your buttercream recipe is the best!! Can’t wait to try these flavors.
I love your site. It has been extremely helpful. I love trying different buttercreams. My all time favorite is French buttercream. The process is a bit lengthy, but the end result is well worth it. You have things posted on your site, that I've had to pay for on tutorials, so again, thank you!!
baie dankie
Veena, your buttercream recipe is fantastic. Taste very much like Swiss Meringue Buttercream. My family loved it. Made two cakes this past weekend with your buttercream recipe.
Love your tips and all your info your share. Glad I found you..you are awesome!
Maravilloso todo lo que acabo de descubrir en esta pagina, felicitaciones!!!!!!!!
Maravilloso todo lo que acabo de descubrir en esta pagina, felicitaciones!!!!!!!!
I <3 Veena's Art of Cakes because of her tips every Thursday. These tips make baking and decorating cakes easier than going though some mistakes that I wouldve made if not for these gems. Thank you for your blog, and for having a facebook page too. You are awesome. Keep leaving your fantastic gifts online for the whole world to see!