Move aside, vanilla buttercream and cream cheese frosting, and make way for the new white frosting in town. (I still love you both, though. There is room in my heart—and my kitchen—for all the frostings.) One reader, Fred, commented: “This is the perfect frosting for pretty much anything. I used it on my first ever wedding cake for our granddaughter. It frosts so smoothly and pipes exquisitely… ★★★★★“ But maybe you’re tired of the same ol’ vanilla frosting. And while I love cream cheese frosting, I know a lot of people in other countries have trouble making it, because it’s not always easy to find brick-style cream cheese outside the U.S. So I wanted to publish another option for a delicious white frosting that tastes good on a variety of desserts.
Why You’ll Love This White Chocolate Buttercream
Extra creamy and rich from melted white chocolate Holds shape when piped Spreads easily onto baked goods Can tint it a color (see it colored on top of these white chocolate peppermint cupcakes) White chocolate tastes great with so many different flavors
If you love white chocolate, you’ll enjoy these white chocolate strawberry cupcakes too. I add freeze-dried strawberries to make a delicious strawberry white chocolate frosting on those!
Grab These 6 Ingredients
Best White Chocolate to Use in Frosting
The best white chocolate frosting starts with real white chocolate. Do not use white chocolate morsels because they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the correct consistency. You need the bars of “baking chocolate” found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. I like Baker’s and Ghirardelli brands, which come in 4-ounce bars. You need 6 ounces of white chocolate for this recipe, so you’ll use 1 and 1/2 bars. Save the rest for a batch of strawberry and cream cookies! Start by chopping up the white chocolate and placing it in a microwave-safe bowl. (I usually use a glass liquid measuring cup.) Microwave it in 20-second increments, stopping and stirring after each increment. The short bursts of heat allow the white chocolate to melt without burning. Once it’s completely smooth, set it aside to let it cool at room temperature for about 20 minutes. The rest of the recipe is similar to making regular vanilla buttercream or strawberry buttercream, and you’ll add the cooled melted white chocolate during the process. You’ll need a handheld or stand mixer. It looks like vanilla buttercream, but it’s silkier, smoother, and has an extra-rich flavor. You’ll love it.
What Tastes Best With White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting?
White chocolate pairs beautifully with so many flavors, like chocolate, raspberry, lemon… the list goes on and on! This recipe makes enough for 12–16 cupcakes, a 3-layer 6-inch cake, or a 9×13-inch quarter vanilla sheet cake. I recommend you 1.5x the recipe for a 2-layer cake.
Lemon Cupcakes or Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes Strawberry Cupcakes Banana Cake Vanilla Sheet Cake or Spice Cake Vanilla Cupcakes filled with Raspberry Filling Confetti Sprinkle Cupcakes Red Velvet Cake Roll or Red Velvet Cupcakes Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes, or use as the filling in these Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes Homemade Brownies (yum!) Carrot Cake Cupcakes Pumpkin Cupcakes or Pumpkin Cake Gingerbread Cupcakes or Gingerbread Cake Chocolate White Chocolate Cupcakes White Chocolate Brownies
Really, it’s great on pretty much anything you might typically top with vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting! It also makes for a wonderful cupcake filling. See my post on How to Fill Cupcakes for how to do so and for recipe pairing inspiration.
