This coffee buttercream is oh so creamy and comes together quick. It’s a smooth american buttercream elevated by some freshly brewed coffee!
This recipe gives you enough for about 12-15 cupcakes (depending on how frugal or generous you are with those servings) and plenty for a single-tiered snacking cake (or two).
Now go brew that morning coffee and then, let’s bake friends.
Some Materials You’ll Need:
- Stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment
- Spatula
- Various mixing spoons/cups
- Airtight storage container/plastic wrap (if not using right away)
- Brewed coffee (*see notes below recipe on temperature requirements)
What is American Buttercream?
American buttercream, at it’s core, is just beating together room temperature butter and powdered sugar. Typically, you’ll also be adding in some heavy cream to smooth things out and give it that creamy texture. I chose the american method for this coffee buttercream to keep things quick and simple for you! I also found it lent itself best to the addition of the brewed coffee.
Keep reading to learn more about the other kinds of buttercream. Plus, their differences.
What is the difference between American, Swiss, Italian, and French Buttercream?
So again, american buttercream is all about beating together room temperature butter with powdered sugar. Then, a little heavy cream (along with any flavorings or extracts). The Italian meringue method involves first making a sugar syrup. That is then whipped into egg whites until cooled and then ends with beating in your butter.
Swiss meringue starts with whisking your egg whites and sugar over a double boiler on the stove until the sugar is fully melted. That is then whipped into peaks in a stand mixer and then you beat in your butter. Lastly is the french meringue method, which is pretty similar to Italian. It starts with a sugar syrup as well, but it is whipped with egg yolks instead of whites (before then beating in your butter).
Why the Temperature of Your Coffee Matters
As with most recipes, the temperature of your ingredients matters. This has everything to do with making sure your ingredients combine with ease or that if eggs are involved, they don’t accidentally curdle or get cooked with the addition of a hot liquid.
For this coffee buttercream, you want your brewed coffee to be room temperature or slightly warm—not cold or too hot. If your coffee is too cold from sitting out all day (depending on when you make this), it won’t properly mix in with the rest of your room temperature ingredients and make your buttercream all clumpy. Too hot and it can make it too greasy when it hits all the butter in there.
If your coffee’s been sitting out for a bit, just heat it up in 5 second increments in the microwave until it’s slightly warm. If you just brewed the coffee and it’s still quite hot, just pour into a separate container to cool down before using.
How Much Does This Recipe Make?
This coffee buttercream recipe will give you roughly 3 cups of buttercream! It’s plenty to pipe or spread over a batch of 12-15 cupcakes, depending on how generous you are with those servings (I am quite, quite generous—life is short!).
I also used this recipe to coat a 3-tiered 6 inch layer cake (seen below/above in the photos) and it was the perfect amount! I had a enough to pip in the layers and coat the outside.
How do You Store American Buttercream?
Buttercream is always best used day-of, but if you wanted to break your baking up into steps or different days, here are some good rules to follow:
- Within 3 days, store at room temperature: just be sure to store the coffee buttercream in an airtight container. I like to lay a piece of plastic wrap overtop and make sure it’s touching the surface of the buttercream so it doesn’t dry out from any air that’s trapped in the container.
- If using after 3 days, store in the fridge: use the same methods of storing listed above, but keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Just be sure to let it come to room temperature and give it a good stir with a spatula (or gently beat with paddle attachment on your stand mixer) before using.
Tag me @joshisbaking over on Instagram if you make this coffee buttercream, friends! As you can see above, our dog Taran found it very enticing as I was shooting this content out on our back porch, haha.
Don’t worry, he didn’t get any—he was a very good boy and showed great restraint! Just lots of licking.
Be sure to check out my fluffy chocolate buttercream frosting recipe as well! Or my brown butter espresso blondies, yum.
Happy baking!
Coffee Buttercream
- Prep Time: 15 Min.
- Mixing Time: 15 Min.
- Total Time: 30 Min.
- Yield: ~3 Cups Buttercream
Description
Smoothy and creamy american buttercream elevated with some freshly brewed coffee!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (226g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted (500g)
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream room temp.
- 1/4 cup brewed coffee (2 fl. oz.), slightly warm/room temp. (*see notes)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrap down the bowl every 1 minute or so. Then, beat in the salt and vanilla extract on medium speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl again.
- With the mixer on low, gradually beat in your powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it’s all incorporated, scraping down the bowl along the way (as needed, mostly at the beginning) and at the end. Turn the mixer back on low, add in the 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream and once incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl after.
- Finally, with the mixer on low, slowly pour in/beat the brewed coffee (*see notes) into the mixture until fully incorporated. You may have to take the bowl off the stand and gently fold together with a spatula towards the end to get everything from the sides of the bowl mixed in.
This gives you enough for 12-15 cupcakes or spread over a 3-tiered 6 inch naked cake (plenty for a single-tiered snacking cake).
American buttercream is best used day-of, but can be stored at room temp. in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Beyond that, store it in the fridge (up to 2 weeks). See notes below for additional help with storing!
Notes
- *Coffee Temperature: the temperature of your coffee matters for this recipe!
- You want your brewed coffee to be room temperature or slightly warm—not cold or too hot. If your coffee is too cold from sitting out all day (depending on when you make this), it won’t properly mix in with the rest of your room temperature ingredients and make your buttercream all clumpy. Too hot and it can make it too greasy when it hits all the butter in there.
- Scraping Down the Bowl: this step is crucial in making sure all of your ingredients are combining evenly throughout the process! Yes, I have you do it a lot, but it’s necessary. If you let the sides/bottom of your bowl go untouched, you’ll end up with the wrong consistency.
- Storing
- Within 3 days, store at room temperature: just be sure to store the coffee buttercream in an airtight container. I like to lay a piece of plastic wrap overtop and make sure it’s touching the surface of the buttercream so it doesn’t dry out from any air that’s trapped in the container.
- If using after 3 days, store in the fridge: use the same methods of storing listed above, but keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Just be sure to let it come to room temperature and give it a good stir with a spatula (or gently beat with paddle attachment on your stand mixer) before using.
- How Much This Makes: this makes enough for a batch of 12-15 cupcakes, plenty for one or two single-tiered snacking cakes, or a 3-tired 6 inch layer cake.
Check out my most recent recipes:
- Hot Cocoa Cream Pies
- Roasted Crispy Rice Treats Dipped in Chocolate Frosting
- Giant Chocolate Blueberry Pop Tart
Looking for something else to bake?
So tasty! I’m a huge fan of coffee flavored anything, but usually it seems like recipes don’t have that true coffee flavor to them. This is the first coffee frosting recipe I’ve tried that truly taste like coffee. It was super easy to make too. Definitely pay attention to the temp of the coffee – I think mine was a little too warm, so the frosting got a little runny, but I popped it in the fridge for a bit and added a little more powdered sugar and it fixed it right up. This is the perfect flavor to put on chocolate cupcakes, and the off-white if great for decorating!
★★★★★
Thank you again Jamie!! Those cupcakes looked perfect and delish. So happy this worked out for you and great tips for the temp/troubleshooting! I’ll be sure to add some of those back into the blog for others too! 🙂
Good to know!