Make strawberry buttercream frosting with real strawberries for a fresh strawberry flavor and natural pink color. This recipe can be made with fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried strawberries!
Buttercream frostings are a longtime favorite around here. Whipped buttercream frosting is one of my top recipes of all time! It's popular because it's easy to make with just a handful of ingredients and comes together in minutes.
Looking for a strawberry frosting that isn't filled with artificial colors or flavors? You're going to love this recipe. It can be made with fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried strawberries and is packed with fruity strawberry flavor.
No matter how you make it, each variation turns out perfectly sweetened and naturally bright pink. Add strawberry frosting to your next batch of vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, or strawberry sheet cake.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Strawberries - This recipe can be made with fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried strawberries - choose one. Frozen strawberries need to be thawed beforehand, but are otherwise treated the same as fresh strawberries in this recipe.
- Butter - Butter serves as the base for this recipe. Unsalted butter and the listed salt can be substituted with salted butter if desired.
- Confectioner's sugar - Confectioner's sugar adds stability and structure to your frosting. Confectioner's sugar may also be labeled as icing sugar or powdered sugar.
- Vanilla - Enhances the flavor of your frosting.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your frosting and helps balance the sweetness.
- Heavy cream - If you're using freeze-dried strawberries, you'll also need to add some extra liquid to the recipe. Heavy cream or whole milk is recommended for a rich, creamy texture.
Making strawberry puree
To make strawberry frosting with fresh or frozen strawberries, you'll first need to puree your strawberries to cook down on the stovetop. We cook the strawberry puree to remove excess water that can make your frosting thin and runny. This process also concentrates the strawberry flavor.
Thaw frozen strawberries first - If you have frozen strawberries on hand, they need to be thawed first.
Hull and halve before pureeing - Hull your strawberries with a paring knife by inserting the knife near the greens on top and rotating around the greens diagonally into the center of the strawberry. By doing so, this removes the greens and the white center of the strawberry which has little flavor. Slice strawberries in half and add to your food processor or blender.
Puree strawberries - Use a food processor or blender to puree your strawberries. Pureeing speeds up the cooking process and ensures your frosting turns out nice and smooth.
Cook until thickened - Cook, stirring frequently, until your puree has reduced by about half. The mixture should look thick, almost like tomato paste.
Making fresh strawberry frosting
Cool puree completely - Allow your strawberry puree to cool completely before incorporating into the frosting. Butter melts at about 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, which means a warm strawberry puree will melt and ruin your frosting.
Don't add watery puree to your frosting - Watery or thin strawberry puree will make your frosting runny. It must be cooked down on the stovetop to remove the excess water first. If your puree still looks watery and thin, transfer it back to the stovetop to cook down further.
Use a hand mixer or stand mixer - Both types of frosting require several minutes of mixing at medium speed. I recommend using a hand mixer or stand mixer instead of trying to whip by hand.
Don't skip the salt - The salt listed in this recipe helps balance with the sweetness of the frosting and enhances the flavor.
Making freeze-dried strawberry frosting
How to make strawberry powder - Add your freeze-dried strawberries to the bowl of a food processor and grind until they resemble a fine powder. It should only take about ten seconds.
Whisk dry ingredients - Whisk your strawberry powder into the confectioner's sugar before adding to the butter mixture. This not only helps remove clumps, but also ensures your strawberry powder is evenly mixed throughout the frosting.
Add more liquid as needed - Freeze-dried strawberry frosting requires some extra liquid to thin it out. I like to add heavy cream because it creates a rich, creamy frosting. Whole milk also works great as a substitute. Add more cream or milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Storage
Frosting will keep for 2 days in a sealed container at room temperature or 1 week in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Buttercream frosting can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
Refrigerated or frozen frosting will harden, so allow it to come to room temperature before spreading onto baked goods.
Frequently asked questions
I don't recommend it. Buttercream frosting is a traditional, very sweet frosting that is often found in grocery store bakeries and used on birthday cakes. It is popular because it's easy to prepare with two main ingredients - butter and confectioner's sugar. Since buttercream frosting includes so few ingredients, it is not easy to alter or make less sweet. Adding less sugar makes the frosting too soft to pipe and tastes like sweetened butter.
Instead, I'd suggest making a less sweet frosting recipe like ermine frosting, homemade whipped cream, Italian meringue buttercream, or Swiss meringue buttercream.
Frosted cake can be left at room temperature in a sealed container for up to two days. Buttercream frosting will melt around 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. If your location is nearing this temperature, I'd recommend refrigerating your baked goods until an hour before you're ready to serve them.
Here's a fantastic article about how frosting holds up to heat: The Best Cake Frosting For Hot Weather
Yes, this frosting pipes beautifully and can be used for rosettes, borders, and topping cupcakes.
This recipe makes enough frosting to frost the following cupcake quantities and cake sizes:
- 6-inch three layer cake
- 18 cupcakes with piped frosting
- 24 cupcakes spread with a knife
- 9x13 sheet cake
- 13x18 sheet cake
- 8-inch or 9-inch two layer cake with thin layers all over and in the middle. For thick frosting all over, make an additional half batch of frosting.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Frosting base
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3.5 cups (400 g) confectioner's sugar, sifted to remove lumps
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 cup (23 g) freeze-dried strawberries
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream, or whole milk
Fresh strawberries
- 5 ounces (142 g) strawberries, if frozen, thaw
Instructions
- Make this recipe with either freeze-dried strawberries OR fresh/frozen strawberries - choose one.
Freeze-dried strawberry frosting
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until creamy, about 1 minute.
- In a spice grinder or food processor, grind freeze dried strawberries into a powder. Add to a bowl along with the confectioner's sugar and whisk to combine.
- Add half of the confectioner's sugar mixture and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Add remaining confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until combined. Then, whip at high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add salt, vanilla extract, and heavy cream and mix until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add more heavy cream as needed to thin frosting to desired consistency.
Fresh strawberry frosting
- Hull and halve strawberries and add to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. You should have about ½ cup of strawberry puree.
- Add to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 25 to 35 minutes, or until mixture has reduced by half and looks thick (like tomato paste).
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely (warm puree will melt the frosting). Optionally, puree can be made the day before and refrigerated until ready to assemble.
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and beat with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add half of the confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Add remaining confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until combined. Then, whip at high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add salt, vanilla extract, and strawberry puree and mix until fully incorporated.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Frosting will keep for 2 days at room temperature, 1 week in a sealed container in the refrigerator, or up to 3 months in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before spreading onto baked goods. Stored frosting may need to be rewhipped to achieve original texture.
- Recipe will frost up to 18 cupcakes with tall piped frosting, 24 cupcakes spread with a knife, a 9x13 sheet cake, a 13x18 sheet cake, a round 8 or 9 inch 2-layer cake.
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