White Chocolate Frosting

Use this delicious easy White Chocolate Frosting for cakes, cupcakes, and more, to elevate them to new heights. It's rich and creamy, full of flavor, and perfectly balanced.

Jump to:

• 🌟 Why this is the best White Chocolate Frosting recipe
• 📝 Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make White Chocolate Frosting
• 🍰 How Much White Chocolate Frosting Do I Need to Make For A Cake?
• ❄️ Storage and Freezing
• 🔍 Troubleshooting
• 🎓 Expert tips
• 🥣 Equipment Notes
• ❓Recipe FAQs
• 🧁 More Frostings
• White Chocolate Frosting

🌟 Why this is the best White Chocolate Frosting recipe

1. It's easy: While this delicious frosting tastes very elevated and professional, it is surprisingly easy to make. You don't need any fancy ingredients or equipment, either.
2. It's versatile: You can easily pipe this frosting onto cupcakes or use it as a cake filling. I've also spread it onto matcha desserts before, as white chocolate goes so well with green tea.
3. It's like buttercream but better: This white chocolate frosting is like American buttercream but with added white chocolate, which gives it such a delicious edge. It is also not too sweet. The sugar is perfectly balanced against the creamy, chocolatey taste.

📝 Ingredient notes

1. Unsalted butter - I use 82% fat content European-style butter in my recipes. Avoid salted butter so you can control the salt's quality and quantity. Both the quality and temperature of the butter are of great importance. The butter needs to be soft enough to cream, but not melted. Here is how to soften butter without last-minute microwaving!
2. Powdered sugar - Sift the powdered sugar (also known as icing sugar) ahead of time to avoid lumps in the white chocolate frosting.
3. White chocolate - Good quality white chocolate is essential for the best taste and texture. Low-quality white chocolate will not taste good and can be greasy when melted. It needs to contain at least 30% cocoa butter. I recommend a brand like Callebaut or Lindt.
4. Vanilla extract - I always suggest using vanilla extract rather than vanilla essence, which can taste synthetic. Vanilla enhances the white chocolate taste and really brings out the flavor in this frosting recipe.
5. Heavy cream - Some recipes call for milk or cream cheese but I prefer to use heavy cream for the best taste and texture. Use a good-quality heavy cream (also known as double cream in some places) with a minimum of 36% fat content.
6. Salt - While this might seem strange, it is essential! Salt is a flavor enhancer and will also balance the sweetness of the frosting.

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.

👩‍🍳 How to make White Chocolate Frosting

1. Place the finely chopped white chocolate into a medium heat-proof bowl and gently melt it in the microwave. Let it come to room temperature before using (but do not wait until it sets).
2. Prepare your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and cream the room-temperature butter at medium-high speed for 3 minutes until it becomes pale and fluffy. You can also use an electric hand mixer for this step.
3. Turn the speed to low and add the powdered sugar tablespoon by tablespoon. Once fully incorporated, turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and whip it for another 4 minutes. The mixture will become light and fluffy and increase in volume.
4. Now, slowly add the melted white chocolate to the buttercream with the mixer still running.
5. Finally, add the vanilla extract, salt, and heavy cream and continue whipping for another minute until the white chocolate frosting is smooth and silky.

💡 Top Tip: Do not add the melted chocolate while it is still hot, or it might melt the butter, and you will end up with white chocolate buttercream soup.

🍰 How Much White Chocolate Frosting Do I Need to Make For A Cake?

The recipe will generously frost 12 cupcakes. And I highly recommend you try it on cupcake recipes! To frost cakes, you will need approximately 2x this white chocolate frosting recipe for a 6-inch cake recipe, 2.5x for a 7-inch cake, and 3x for an 8-inch cake.

However, this will partially depend on how much frosting you prefer on your layer cakes and whether you are using any other fillings. Make sure your mixer is big enough before doubling or tripling this batch.

❄️ Storage and Freezing

I like to use the frosting immediately or store it at room temperature in a piping bag for a few hours. After this point, it will need to be refrigerated (either in the piping bag or in an air-tight container). If stored in the refrigerator, you will need to bring it back to room temperature before using it so it isn't too hard. I recommend whipping the frosting up in the mixer again for 1-2 minutes to increase the volume again before use.

You can also freeze the white chocolate buttercream frosting in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bring it back to room temperature overnight, and then whip it up in the stand mixer for a minute or two before using it.

Once you have decorated or filled baked goods with this frosting, they should be stored in the refrigerator.

🔍 Troubleshooting

1. The frosting is grainy: If the butter is still quite hard, it will not cream properly with the sugar which can cause grainy frosting. Simply continue whipping to allow it to incorporate, or add one tablespoon of heavy cream.
2. The frosting split or separated: This can happen if the butter is too cold. Warm the frosting by briefly placing the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to melt the edges, and then continue whipping. You can also use a hairdryer, which many pro bakers do!
3. The frosting is too thick: The finished white chocolate frosting should have the perfect pipeable fluffy texture. But if it is too thick, add more cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, with the mixer running.
4. The frosting is too thin: This could be because the butter was too melted, rather than softened or the white chocolate was warm. You can fix this problem by putting the bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing to whip. However, if the frosting is still too thin after you finish this recipe, you can add more sifted powdered sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) while it is still in the mixer.

🎓 Expert tips

1. The temperature and texture of the butter are key when making buttercream. Correctly softened butter will have an indentation when you press a finger into it. This normally takes around an hour of being left out on the counter at room temperature. But read my tips for softening butter quickly.
2. You can buy very good vegan white chocolate now. This recipe can be made with high-fat vegan butter and vegan cream to make it completely plant-based. However, the taste will be different from using dairy products. 
3. Mix on low speed when adding the powdered sugar to avoid creating a huge, powdery sugar cloud in your kitchen. Then, turn it back up to medium speed.
4. To achieve super silky buttercream without air bubbles, mix in the cream at the end by hand using a rubber spatula for a few minutes.
5. If you have leftover melted white chocolate, use it to make white chocolate strawberries!

🥣 Equipment Notes

Always weigh ingredients by the gram using a digital scale for accuracy. Baking is about precision, and you will get better results this way than by measuring by volume (for example with the US cup system).

I recommend using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to avoid unnecessary air bubbles in your frosting.

❓Recipe FAQs

🧁 More Frostings