Basil Buttercream

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!

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

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 frosting with almond extract 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 6″ round) cake.

Its subtle basil flavor would be a nice way to change up a traditional chocolate cake or batch of strawberry cupcakes. This frosting would be tasty with many sweet treats that use fresh strawberries or different types of fresh berries.

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. 🙂 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 ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time. Mix until you've reached your desired thickness.

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

Pin Recipe

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Make homemade basil buttercream with pantry staples and fresh basil leaves. Naturally green, this fluffy frosting is great on sweet treats!

• Author: Susan Gravatt
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 12-14 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups (600 grams) of granulated sugar
• 3 T cornstarch
• ¾ cup (around 30 grams) fresh basil, loosely packed, rinsed and patted dry
• ⅓ cup (85 Grams) heavy cream (for a thicker frosting) or milk (for thinner)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• Pinch of salt
• Optional: A few drops of lemon or lime juice (or white vinegar) to cut sweetness; add to your preference

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. Test taste and add a drop or two of lemon juice to cut sweetness if desired.
4. Set aside frosting in bowl until ready to use for topping cupcakes. You’ll 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.