I'm as shocked as anybody would be to say this, but basil buttercream is a weirdly and wildly good frosting that you need in your life. Beyond its beautiful naturally green appearance from fresh basil, it is a perfect pairing with fruity desserts, like these blueberry-filled cupcakes. This frosting is a refreshing take on buttercream for decorating cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and more!
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love this Buttercream
- Ingredients for Homemade Basil Frosting
- ā”ļø Important Note on Using Granulated vs. Powdered Sugar in Basil Buttercream
- How to Make Frosting Less Sweet
- Making Basil Sugar
- How to Make Basil Buttercream
- How to Use this Homemade Frosting
- Frosting Storage
- Creating Super Smooth Frosting
- Recipe Variations and Tips
- Best Results: Baking in Grams
- More Recipes like Basil Buttercream
- Basil Buttercream
This unique buttercream joins the growing list of frosting recipes on my site.
If you're feeling adventurous and want to try some other fun flavors, I highly recommend my mango buttercream as well as blueberry cream cheese frosting. They use freeze dried fruit for strong, punchy taste.
For more fruity treats, you may enjoy:
- Strawberry filled vanilla cupcakes - From a marbled strawberry cream cheese frosting to the berry filling, strawberry is in every bite! š
- Blueberry and pear crumble - Such a comfort dish, this crumble is sweet, simple, and versatile. Prep it in just 15 minutes, bake for an hour, and enjoy a treat thatās perfect for breakfast or an evening dessert. š
- Lemon blueberry mascarpone cake - This decadent layer cake has a slightly tangy and refreshing taste. The mascarpone cream in the frosting gives this dessert a melt-in-your-mouth sort of feel. š«š
Why You'll Love this Buttercream
- Soft texture: This frosting is smooth and spreadable while still holding a nice shape.
- Easy to make: In addition to having great flavor, this recipe is a quick one to literally whip up.
- Unique: Imagine telling people you made your own basil sugar and buttercream with basic kitchen tools and ingredients. Seriously! People will be so impressed, and that's before they've even tried this recipe's unique flavors.
- Natural food coloring: I'm a huge fan of colorful frostings or buttercreams. When possible, I like to achieve colors naturally. The end result of this recipe is a stunning shade of light green, leaning toward mint. It's totally natural!
Ingredients for Homemade Basil Frosting
We're actually going to make our own basil-infused powdered sugar here. With granulated sugar, cornstarch, and fresh basil leaves, it's easy and doable!
Below is a list of everything you'll need to make this uniquely-flavored buttercream that's one of my new favorite frostings.
- Room temperature unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Cornstarch
- Fresh basil, loosely packed, rinsed and patted dry
- Heavy cream (for a thicker frosting) or whole milk or other milk of your choice (for thinner consistency)
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Pinch of salt
- Optional: A few drops of lemon or lime juice (or white vinegar) to cut sweetness; add to your preference
ā”ļø Important Note on Using Granulated vs. Powdered Sugar in Basil Buttercream
This basil buttercream can be made with either granulated sugar or powdered sugar, depending on the strength of your device. Whether you use a food processor, blender, or another tool, you need an appliance that can grind your ingredients into a powder.
If your food processor is strong, blending fresh basil leaves with granulated sugar and cornstarch creates a fine, basil-infused sugar that works beautifully in the frosting.
However, if your food processor isnāt as powerful, I recommend combining the basil with powdered sugar instead.
In this case, you wonāt need cornstarchāsimply combine and blend basil with three cups of powdered sugar in place of the granulated sugar.
While the option with powdered sugar may leave some small bits of basil in the frosting, the end result wonāt have a gritty texture, as powdered sugar is already very fine.
Both methods deliver a flavorful basil buttercream, so choose the one that works best for you!
How to Make Frosting Less Sweet
If you find yourself wishing that the buttercream or frosting that you're eating weren't so cloyingly sweet, turn to lemon juice, lime juice, or white vinegar. Those liquids are all acidic.
Adding just a couple of drops to your frosting and then doing a taste test will help you cut back on an overly sweet taste. Like I do in my almond buttercream frosting and many of my frosting recipes, I added some lemon juice to this one.
Making Basil Sugar
The base of this recipe requires basil sugar, which is really just fresh basil leaves, finely ground and mixed with granulated sugar and cornstarch.
While you can speciality order this ingredient, it's really not necessary. Make it yourself easily at home.
Step 1: To a food processor, add your rinsed and patted dry fresh basil, as well as your granulated sugar.
Step 2: Pulse until ingredients are mixed and then add cornstarch, pulse until you have the texture of powdered sugar. Now you have basil-flavored powdered sugar!
How to Make Basil Buttercream
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat the unsalted butter, basil-infused powdered sugar mixture, salt, heavy cream or milk, and vanilla extract on low for about 30 seconds before you increase mixer speed to medium high for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Be sure to pause mixer halfway to scrape both the bottom of the bowl and sides of bowl to incorporate all ingredients. Test taste and add a drop or two of lemon juice to cut sweetness if desired.
Step 3: Set aside frosting. When ready to use on cupcakes or cake, put buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choice and decorate baked goods as desired.
How to Use this Homemade Frosting
This recipe creates enough frosting for decorating a dozen cupcakes or a smaller (think two layers and 6ā³ round) cake.
Its subtle basil flavor would be a nice way to change up a traditional chocolate cake or batch of strawberry filled cupcakes. This frosting would be tasty with many sweet treats that use fresh strawberries or different types of fresh berries.
Frosting Storage
This frosting freezes very well and also stays fresh in the refrigerator for a few days.
Freeze it in an airtight container or tightly sealed plastic wrap for 3 months. Let it thaw and come to room temperature before attempting to use it to decorate cakes or cupcakes.
This buttercream will stay fresh keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 3 days.
You can also freeze fully decorated cupcakes or cakes that use this frosting.
For more on a related topic, I have a detailed guide for freezing cupcakes.
Creating Super Smooth Frosting
Once your electric mixer has done the hard work, spend a few more minutes with a spatula or back of a spoon and your mixing bowl.
Use either tool spatula to pop air bubbles in the frosting. To do this, push frosting with a spatula from the middle of your bowl to its edges, watching as the tears and bubbles in your buttercream disappear.
Spend at least 1-2 minutes (ideally a few more! If it doesn't feel like a mild arm workout, keep going. š Promise it's worth it!) doing these motions to achieve nice, smooth frosting.
The end result is professional-looking frosting that will wow friends and family. Trust me on this one!
And if you're struggling to spread the frosting, it may be too thick. Add a few more drops of liquid, like milk or heavy cream.
Recipe Variations and Tips
- Buttercream too sweet? Add a few dashes of lemon juice, lime juice, or distilled white vinegar. It cuts the sweetness, so taste test until it's your desired flavor.
- If you need to thin out this frosting, add a few splashes of milk (alternatives like almond, coconut, and oat work great in lieu of dairy). You could also sub in some cream cheese for the butter for a looser consistency.
- Only add this frosting to baked goods once they've cooled; buttercream can't withstand high heat so it can melt or get runny!
- If you need to make a thicker frosting, add about Ā¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time. Mix until you've reached your desired thickness.
Best Results: Baking in Grams
If youāre not already, use a kitchen scale for accuracy in baking.
While I include cups and grams in my recipe cards, weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams ensures consistency.
I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.
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More Recipes like Basil Buttercream
Check out the other frosting ideas on my site. From fruity or chocolaty to warm and cozy, there's a little bit of something for everyone.
Basil Buttercream
Make homemade basil buttercream with pantry staples and fresh basil leaves. Naturally green, this fluffy frosting is great on sweet treats!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups (600 grams) of granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- Ā¾ cup (around 30 grams) fresh basil, loosely packed, rinsed and patted dry
- ā cup (85 Grams) heavy cream (for a thicker frosting) or milk (for thinner)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoonĀ almond extract
- Pinch of salt
- Optional: A few drops of lemon or lime juice (or white vinegar) to cut sweetness; add to your preference
Instructions
Basil Buttercream (See notes*)
- To a food processor, add your rinsed and patted dry fresh basil, as well as your granulated sugar. Pulse until ingredients are mixed and then add cornstarch, pulse until you have the texture of powdered sugar. Now you have basil-flavored powdered sugar!
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the unsalted butter, basil-infused powdered sugar, salt, heavy cream or milk, and vanilla extract on low for about 30 seconds before increasing speed to medium high for 5 minutes.
- Test taste and add a drop or two of lemon juice to cut sweetness if desired.
- Set aside frosting in bowl until ready to use for topping cupcakes. Youāll then add it to a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choice or use a spoon or spatula to spread it onto your baked goods.
Notes
Granulated vs. powdered sugar and choosing the option that best matches your food processorās strength. Opt for powdered if using a weaker food processor (or if you're out of cornstarch):
- If using granulated sugar, blend it with fresh basil and cornstarch to create basil-infused sugar before adding to the buttercream.Ā
- If using powdered sugar, skip the cornstarch and use three cups of powdered sugar instead. This method may leave small basil bits but avoids any gritty texture in the end result.Ā
Nutritional values are approximate and may vary based on specific ingredients, brands, and preparation methods. For the most accurate information, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: ~322 kcal
- Sugar: ~50 g
- Fat: ~15 g
- Saturated Fat: ~9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: ~3 g
- Carbohydrates: ~53 g
- Fiber: ~0 g
- Protein: ~0.2 g
- Cholesterol: ~41 mg
Maxx
I love this recipe but my experience with making the powdered sugar didn't go well. I don't have the strongest food processor so my sugar was still quite grainy and my frosting never really held. luckily I had some cream cheese on hand to perk it up but it hid some of the beautiful basil flavor. I think just spinning powdered sugar itself with the basil would work just fine in place of making the powdered sugar.
Susan Gravatt
Thank you so much for trying the recipe and for sharing your experience! Yes, I can imagine how a weaker food processor might struggle to fully break down the sugar and basil together. I wrote the recipe using granulated sugar because I found that the coarser granules help break down the basil leaves more effectively, but I love the idea of trying it with just powdered sugar. It might work well, especially if the basil is finely processed. If you do try it that way, Iād love to hear how it turns out! And also, smart of you to sub in some cream cheese to help with consistency!