Why would you want to thicken buttercream frosting?
Whenever we think of buttercream frosting, a picture of something sweet with a thick, smooth and spreadable consistency appears right on our head.
Buttercream frosting is a classic for not only make your favorite cake more complete and yummy, but also being an ornament for your cake.
You might want to cover your whole cake with a thin layer of frosting but to elaborate the decorations, you will need a thicker blend.
Can you thicken buttercream frosting?
Such that fact, we need to be versatile in customize the texture of the buttercream frosting, especially to make it thicker since thickening is a harder process.
I bet you never expect a runny and soggy buttercream frosting on your favorite cake, right? But what if the result ends up not as you planned?
Don’t worry, you can easily fix it and just accompany with me in this article then I’ll show you the best way to thicken the frosting easily at home.
Tips to thicken buttercream frosting
- It’s recommended to add the extra powdered sugar in a small amounts to make sure that you don’t end up with too sweet buttercream frosting
- If your buttercream frosting is already fairly sweet, instead of adding powdered sugar, you can use cornstarch. However, just use about 0.5 to 1 tbsp. of cornstarch because the frosting can have an unpleasant starchy flavor if you add more than 1 tbsp.
- When you use butter to thicken the frosting, remember to only use soften butter (you can leave it at room temperature for a while or quickly microwave it), not melted butter as a kind of liquid because it might mess up the consistency of the frosting and make things worse
- Also avoid using butter-flavored shortenings which may alter the taste of your buttercream frosting
- Just experiment to chill the frosting in the fridge first, especially if you are working in a warm or hot kitchen. You might be surprised how easy the buttercream frosting will thicken
Things you’ll need
- A refrigerator
- A bowl, a whisk or mixer
- Thickener such as cornstarch/ powdered sugar/ butter
How to thicken buttercream frosting itself in the fridge
- Chill the buttercream frosting in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour
- Check every 30 minutes to see if it reaches the desired thickness
How to thicken buttercream frosting by adding other ingredients
- Add 0.5 tsp. of cornstarch to a bowl of buttercream frosting (you can replace the cornstarch with 1-2 tbsp. of powdered sugar or 1 tbsp. of soften butter)
- Stir it with a whisk until the frosting starts to thicken
