Blueberry Frosting Recipe
This eye-catching blueberry frosting boasts a natural vibrant purple hue as well as an irresistible fruity flavor, all thanks to freeze-dried blueberries! Made with a classic American buttercream base, it comes together with just 6 ingredients. It’s a beginner-friendly recipe that looks as impressive as it tastes.
Servings: 12 servings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 bag freeze-dried blueberries 2 oz, 56 g
- 8 oz unsalted butter 2 sticks, 227 g, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar 140 g
- A big pinch of kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon heavy whipping cream 90 g, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grind the freeze-dried blueberries - Add the entire bag of freeze-dried blueberries to your food processor or high speed blender and process until a fine powder forms. Set aside for now. TIP: Don’t grind the blueberries too far in advance—exposure to humidity can cause the powder to clump.1 bag freeze-dried blueberries
- Cream the butter - In your stand mixer bowl, beat the softened butter on medium to medium high speed until it is light, fluffy, creamy. TIP: The color of the butter should go from pale yellow to white.8 oz unsalted butter
- Add the powdered ingredients - Add powdered sugar, along with the freeze-dried blueberry powder set aside earlier and a big pinch of kosher salt. Stir first to combine to prevent the powdered sugar from puffing up. Then gradually increase mixer speed to medium high and beat until completely incorporated and creamy. TIP: You can sift the blueberry powder to get rid of seeds and big pieces for a smoother frosting if preferred.1 ¼ cup powdered sugar, A big pinch of kosher salt
- Add the liquid - Add the vanilla extract, and stream in the heavy whipping cream a little at a time while beating at medium low speed to incorporate. Then continue beating on medium high until the frosting is light and fluffy. NOTE: Incorporating liquid in small increments helps prevent the frosting from splitting, but if your frosting happens to split or curdle, don’t worry, just keep beating and it will come back together.½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 6 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
Notes
- How to soften butter: Set the butter on your countertop to come to room temperature before making the frosting. Just 30 minutes to an hour will soften it enough without being too soft. You should be able to make an indentation with your finger when pressed but it shouldn’t fall apart.
- Runny frosting: First, make sure you are not using melted butter or your frosting will be runnier. If you notice the frosting is getting too loose, hold back some liquid at the end or add more powdered sugar to stiffen it up. However, before resorting to adding more sugar, which will make the frosting sweeter, I recommend refrigerating it first, frost 15-30 minutes, to allow it to firm up before using.
- Using fresh blueberries or blueberry jam: You’ll want to cook fresh blueberries down into a very thick compote or jam first before using. For store bought jam, you can use between ¼ - ½ cup for this recipe. Note that the flavor may not be as vibrant.
- Yield: This blueberry frosting recipe makes just a tad over 2 cups, enough to frost 12 - 15 cupcakes or a 2-layer 6” cake. Scale up the recipe 1.5x to 2x for a 2-layer 8” cake.
- Storage: Blueberry buttercream frosting can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature and re-whip until fluffy before using.
Nutrition
Serving: 42g | Calories: 219kcal
