The Best Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Teaming with fresh strawberries, this yummy homemade The Best Strawberry Buttercream Frosting tastes amazing and is so easy to make.
Are you ready for the most amazing strawberry frosting recipe that you have ever tasted? Whether you’re baking up something for your family this weekend or looking for a showstopper to wow guests, our The Best Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is sure to get rave reviews from everyone who takes a bite. Chock full of fresh strawberries, this easy-to-make homemade icing is light and creamy with just the right amount of strawberry flavor. Perfect on Angel Food Cake or Chocolate Cupcakes (or even just by the spoonful) we hope you love it as much as we do!
Preparing the Fresh Strawberries
Step 1: We started with fresh strawberries (you could also use frozen strawberries for this frosting recipe.) Wash and pat dry your strawberries. The sweeter and riper the strawberries are the better the frosting will taste.
Step 2: Remove the stems and rough chop the strawberries.
Step 3: Place 1/2 cup of the chopped strawberries in a food processor and puree them (no water or sugar necessary.)
Step 4: You should end up with 1/4 cup of strawberry puree to flavor your frosting.
How to Make the Frosting
Step 5: Add the butter and the strawberry puree to a mixing bowl. The butter should be what we call “slightly softened” which is somewhere in between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
Step 6: Mix the butter and puree until they are completely combined (about 3 minutes.) Stop halfway through and scrape the butter/strawberry mixture off the mixing paddle and the sides of the bowl.
Step 7: Measure 1 pound of Powdered Sugar. If you don’t have a food scale, the equivalent is 4 cups. Do you need to sift the Powdered Sugar? We don’t normally do that but instead rely on our mixer to break up any lumps during the mixing process.
Step 8: Add the powdered sugar to the butter/strawberry mixture in the mixing bowl. Â
Step 9:Â Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting. (Two Sisters Tip: place a clean dishtowel around your mixer to keep the sugar from flying out.) Â Keep on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds), remove the dishtowel, and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and mix for 30-45 more seconds until the frosting starts to be light and fluffy.
Step 10: If the frosting is too thick at this point, add more strawberry puree. Using the strawberry puree (versus milk & vanilla in regular Buttercream Frosting) makes the frosting a little looser but it will firm up in the refrigerator. The strawberry flavor will deepen after sitting in the refrigerator overnight so this is a good frosting to make ahead and frost the next day.
How to Serve
How much frosting will you need? That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Strawberry Icing to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake or a two-layer 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag as we have done here, you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
Yes! You will still puree the frozen strawberries but make sure they are completely thawed and strain out any water/liquid before you puree them. Follow the rest of the recipe just as it is.
Frosting stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator should be good for up to a week. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Yes. Because it is a thin frosting it will hold up best in the refrigerator. We store the baked goods frosted with this Strawberry Frosting in the refrigerator but then remove them from the refrigerator a couple of hours before we will serve them so the frosting comes back up to room temperature (which is how it tastes best.)
Add another teaspoon of strawberry puree and mix again. Continue to add the puree, a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is the consistency that you like it
Temperature plays a big part in the consistency of frosting. A thin frosting could mean that the butter has gotten overworked and is too melted. The first thing to do is refrigerate the frosting for an hour and then check to see if the frosting has set back up again. If not, the next step is to add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start with either 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
Other Frosting Recipes You Will Love
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The Best Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Teaming with fresh strawberries, this yummy homemade The Best Strawberry Buttercream Frosting tastes amazing and is so easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (4 cups) Powdered Sugar
- 1 cup Butter (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)
- 1/4 cup Pureed Strawberries
Instructions
- We started with fresh strawberries (you could also use frozen strawberries for this frosting recipe.) Wash and pat dry your strawberries. The sweeter and riper the strawberries are the better the frosting will taste.
- Remove the stems and rough chop the strawberries.
- Place 1/2 cup of the chopped strawberries in a food processor and puree them (no water or sugar necessary.)
- You should end up with 1/4 cup of strawberry puree to flavor your frosting.
- Add the butter and the strawberry puree to a mixing bowl. The butter should be what we call "slightly softened" which is somewhere in between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
- Mix the butter and puree until they are completely combined (about 3 minutes.) Stop halfway through and scrape the butter/strawberry mixture off the mixing paddle and the sides of the bowl.
- Measure 1 pound of Powdered Sugar. If you don’t have a food scale, the equivalent is 4 cups. Do you need to sift the Powdered Sugar? We don’t normally do that but instead rely on our mixer to break up any lumps during the mixing process.
- Add the powdered sugar to the butter/strawberry mixture in the mixing bowl.
- Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting. Keep on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds) and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and mix for 30-45 more seconds until the frosting starts to be light and fluffy.
- If the frosting is too thick at this point, add more strawberry puree. Using the strawberry puree (versus milk & vanilla in regular Buttercream Frosting) makes the frosting a little looser but it will firm up in the refrigerator. The strawberry flavor will deepen after sitting in the refrigerator overnight so this is a good frosting to make ahead and frost the next day.
Notes
How much frosting will you need?
That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Strawberry Buttercream Frosting to cover a 9" x 13" sheet cake or a two-layer 8" cake. Â If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 24 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. Â If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag as we have done here, you should be able to frost 15-18 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
This frosting recipe was superb – thanks! So easy, too!
I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out perfectly exactly as written. It was naturally pink and piped beautifully!!
Easy to make and taste very good! This recipe is a keeper. This was my first time ever making frosting and it was easy. The towel over the mixer was a GREAT tip!Â
I made this for frosting for a cake on my moms birthday & it was a hit! Everyone loved it. It was sooo good. I can’t wait to try out the other flavors you guys have! Would you ever do an orange buttercream?
I made your vanilla cake with this strawberry frosting for my mum’s birthday. Everyone loved it and she had eaten two additional pieces by noon the next day! I used frozen strawberries but melted them and drained the liquid from them first. I also added a splash of vanilla, pinch of salt, and a little extra fat and I cut the icing sugar down to 2 cups because none of us like really sweet dessert. I left it in the fridge overnight and put it on the cake just before serving it. Worked great – thank you!
This icing is amazing!! So fresh and tangy…I’m so happy with it!
I doubled the recipe and actually used unsalted butter, added 1/2 tdp of salt and one cup of butter and one cup of Crisco. It held up perfectly.
Can’t wait for everyone to try it!
AMAZING BUTTERCREAM! Would recommend! I added a bit more strawberry puree, so it would taste more like strawberry and it was amazing! Only one problem with adding more strawberries is that it ends up more liquidy. I was VERY happy though!!!
Love this recipe! This is the only recipe I use for strawberry buttercream. I’ve used it for wedding cupcakes, wedding shower cupcakes, and birthday cakes. I always get lots of compliments whenever I use this icing. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Delicious!
I haven’t even frosted the cake yet, but little tastes were amazing!!!!!!!
I am making the cake tomorrow and wanted to let the flavor of the frosting develop overnight. Can’t wait!
It’s my birthday tomorrow, and as I am the only GF Vegan baker in the house, I had to make it, or buy one from the store. So I looked up recipes, and found this one. And it is amazing, fabulous, perfectly balanced, with lots of strawberry flavor. I love it, and will use again next time I’m in search of a frosting.Â
I made this over the weekend, I read a lot of comments that stated their frosting was too loose because of the strawberry puree. I added some freeze dried strawberries to my processor before adding the strawberries. The color was great and the puress was thick like pudding. The frosting was out of this world, I nearly had to beat hubby off with a wooden spoon. Thank you for a great recipe! I never made strawberry frosting before.
This was my first time making a buttercream and let me  just say I was not disappointed. I used unsalted butter and I let it soften for about 20 minutes. I did add a little more than 1/4 cup of strawberry purée so that the taste could be a bit bolder. I also added a splash of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Would totally recommend this. Thank you!
Made this today for some chocolate cupcakes. I had some strawberries that I had macerated in sugar in the fridge and just drained off 1/4 cup of the liquid to make the frosting. Really tastes great! If I had just had fresh I would try making the purée.Â
Love this easy and delicious strawberry buttercream frosting, it smells heavenly too! Thank you!
My problem is that I have struggled immensely with getting any buttercream (including this recipe) stiff enough to pipe properly without it wilting down afterward. Any suggestions? I really want especially for this beautiful frosting to pipe properly. It tastes great. Thanks.
Hi Nancy – that is a problem unfortunately with all the frostings that you add fruit too. Along with the fruit is extra liquid and it causes this problem.
you can boil the strawberry puree down so you will have less liquid but still have great strawberry taste.
If you use freeze dried strawberry powder, it will make a firm buttercream. Be mindful that it is very concentrated so a little goes a long way!
My kids can’t have milk (gives them an upset stomach) so this is an awesome recipe for them. They loved it. My strawberries didn’t have tons of flavour as added a few strawberry jello crystals and it just boosted the strawberry flavour.Â
That is a great idea about the jello crystals!
After reading the positive reviews for this recipe I made it for my fiancé’s birthday cake and it was fantastic! Delicious and fresh, loads better than the store bought stuff! This will be my new go to frosting! Thank you for the recipe!Â
Thank you so much for this easy and delicious strawberry buttercream frosting!!! I have used this on cakes, cup cakes, and cookies. The icing is great for decorating, too. I recently used to make cake squares and cupcakes for my sons’ wedding showers and weddings. This is my go to frosting recipe.
Yay! So glad you like it. It is one of our favorite recipes too!
I made this strawberry frosting on vanilla 2 layer cake for my husband’s birthday, and the frosting was a big hit! I added a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt like some folks had suggested and I think those are two good additions. The consistency was perfect and didn’t require set up time in the fridge like other posters suggested. The cake disappeared in 24 hours, which in my household of 3 isn’t always the case – I think because this was a light, not overly sweet, naturally strawberry flavored frosting. My husband said it was the best birthday cake ever – obviously this frosting is a keeper. My 11 yo son had fun helping out, and it was nice for him to learn how to make a simple puree from the fresh organic strawberries we used.Â
This tasted so much better than I expected!  I was expecting mild strawberry flavor, but letting the frosting sit in the fridge for a few hours REALLY let the flavor develop.  I just let the frosting come back to room temp, put the bowl back in the stand mixer, stirred it up a few turns, then frosted the cake.  The cake has been refrigerated.  I used this on top of a strawberry box cake (don’t judge me, it’s been a bad month!) and the strawberry flavor was so much better than the cake!  Next time I’m going to try this on vanilla or chocolate cake, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful.
This is a lovely icing. Directions are perfect. Your icing will turn out like the picture. I did put a teeny bit of salt in to cut the sweetness. Perfect recipe. I was in a rush at the grocery store and bought a container of strawberry icing. I had no idea until I got home that it would taste chemical like and was full of palm oil. No way. So found this recipe and am so happy. Thank you so much!
Can I make the strawberry frosting roses and freeze them for a week until I need them?
Sure. That will work.
So perfect! Â Made this for chocolate cupcakes and they were a hit for a catering gig
This recipe is a definite crowd-pleaser. So glad you enjoyed it!
The recipe says 1 cup… But earlier in the article you said two sticks. … My sticks of butter say 1/4 cup is one stick… Should I use two sticks or 4?
Definitely 1 cup of butter.
Typically sticks of butter are 1/2 cup.
Thank you i need a strawberrie frosting and that was so easy . And good my kids and grandkids love it as a rookie baker at 55 and disabled its was easy and filled my suger cookies perfict also you can refreeze the left over pura
Papp714
So glad you liked the frosting. This is a yummy one!
Awesome recipe! Thanks for this Nancy! Just made for my little sisters bday and she LOVED it! I added some strawberry jam and vanilla and was AWESOME! So happy I came across this website! Will use again!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Does this type of frosting need to be refrigerated?
We always refrigerate our frosted baked good overnight but we take them out and let them get back to room temperature before we serve them.
This frosting was good. My whole family loved it! I did add about a tbsp of whole milk (frosting was pretty stiff which is why I added milk.) I also added about a tap of vanilla. Came out great !
That is great. So glad your family enjoyed the frosting!
I love the buttercream icings.. so far, I have made chocolate, cream cheese, Carmel (which is to die for!).. and getting ready to make strawberry.. thanks for sharing your recipes!
You’re welcome!! Thanks for giving them a try!
I used strawberries that were finely chopped because I didn’t have a way to puree. It turned out wonderful but I’m afraid that it not thick enough to make a swirl on a cupcake. How could I make it thicker? I was thinking maybe some whipping cream?
That would work. It will also setup if you refrigerate it for a bit.
I made this icing for my son’s birthday cake, since he loves strawberry cake. The whole family thought it was awesome! I’m going to use this same icing on cake squares for a wedding shower. The possibilities are endless!
Yay! Thanks for giving it a try and so glad your family enjoyed the frosting.
Loved this recipe! I made gluten free mini cupcakes and frosted them with this strawberry frosting for a tea party. They were amazing!! Thank you!!
You’re so welcome!! Glad it turned out!
Your strawberry frosting was a big hit for our family cookout! Everyone thought it was the best strawberry icing they had tasted. The recipe was very simple and the directions were very easy to follow. Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh my gosh! This was my first time making buttercream frosting. I added passionfruit instead of strawberry….IT IS TO DIE FOR!!!! DELICIOUS! I’m glad I found your site 😀
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s delicious. The family loved it.
You’re so very welcome!
Thank you. Will try soon.
 I’m so excited to try this recipe for the cupcakes for my sons end of school year party. I was wondering do use a paddle attachment or the whisk attachment on your mixer?Â
Hi Nancy (great name by the way), I always use the paddle attachment for my buttercream recipes.
We are celebrating Teacher Appreciation week at school, and I have been asked to help with desserts. I have made a similar icing recipe for a Paula Dean strawberry cake my sister made a few years ago, and although delicious, it was very loose. So, I have 2 questions:
1. How long will the icing hold up? The desserts will all be placed on a table in the teacher’s lounge, so they can snack at their leisure.
2. Any ideas how i can thicken the icing without adding more sugar?
Hi Kelly – the cupcakes should be fine in the Teacher’s lounge. And this Strawberry Frosting is a bit “loose” because of the liquid from the strawberries.
I just made the strawberry frosting and its so good, but it looks grainy/separating. How do i fix this? The butter was room temp.
Hi Ashia – It should set back up if you put it in the refrigerator.
Hello Hello! I am going to be making this buttercream for a chocolate cake for my moms birthday, but I have 2 questions: 1) I plan on crumb coating the cake, would this be okay for that and would it make enough to crumb coat and for a second coat? 2) Do you know how much salt people were adding that said it was a bit sweet?
Thank you!!!
Hi Adriane – I think you’ll need to double the recipe for a crumb coat and a second layer of frosting.
One word – FABULOUS!
What brand of butter did you use?
We go through so much butter in our baking, we buy it in bulk at Costco.
How soft should butter be ? I’m thinking room temp?
Exactly – you want the butter to be room temperature.
Can you use half butter and half Crisco in thus recipe?
Yes, you can add shortening and butter.
What would using Crisco do to the frosting? What does it add to it? I’m just curious 🙂
Hi Melissa – it is going to change the flavor for sure. It will also probably make it a little stiffer. If you try it let us know how it turns out.
It does alter the flavour a little but it does not affect the texture, one good thing is if you put the icing in the fridge it does not go hard, it will stay nice and creamy.
Curious about the Crisco-did it work?
I made the strawberry frosting for chocolate cupcakes and it is indeed the best I’ve ever tasted! Family loved it!
Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome. So glad you enjoyed the frosting.
This was EXACTLY what I was looking for!! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your recipe and it is AWESOME!! : ) By far, my family’s first pick and favorite. Thanks again!!
Hello. We don’t have fresh strawberry here in our place (Butuan city, Philippines), what substitution can you give? I only have strawberry liquid flavor & color on hand.. I love to try your recipes.. Thank you..
Hi Juvy, yes you could use strawberry flavoring. I would start by adding 1/2 teaspoon and then taste it before adding more.
Made this buttercream for my 18th birthday party!! Tasted great!! Added a pinch of salt, and that was a good addition. Just one question: my icing wasn’t mixed very well, and there were verybsmall chunks of butter inside the buttercream. How do I fix that? Thank’s again!!
Hi Anna Marie, I am glad you enjoyed the frosting, and happy belated birthday!! Next time make sure your butter is soft that should take care of the problem.
It was all perfect but I added all the strawberries at once instead of a lil at a time then it was to wattery. So I made a new batch and only added a lil at a time then it was perfect
Yay! We are so glad you like it!
Can you use the strawberry puree in the Cream Cheese Frosting?
Hi Denise, I have not tried it, but I think you could. It sounds really good. If you try it, let us know how it turns out.
This sounds wonderful. If I am making this a day or two ahead of time before frosting cupcakes, does it need to be re-whipped or can I put it straight into the piping bag?
Hi Tammy, it shouldn’t need to be rewhipped. If you let it come up to room tempreture, you can mix it in the piping bag a little before frosting.
This sounds great. Can I use this between layers in a chocolate cake? Will it be thick enough?
It should be thick enough. I would lEt it set up in the refrigerator for a little while before trying to frost the cake.
Does this frosting have to be refrigerated? I am making 24 cupcakes and I don’t have room in the fridge.
Hi Kerry, how long are you leaving them out? Is there room in your freezer?
Hello, I’m new to your site, and IM SO EXCITED to try your buttercream recipes. For this strawberry buttercream do you strain out the strawberry seeds??
Hi Lynn, no we don’t strain out the seeds in the strawberry frosting.
Hi, I will be covering my cake with fondant. Do you think this buttercream is suitable for filling and covering the cake before doing so or will it be too soft?
Thanks
Hi Amilia, unfortunately I think it will be too soft.
Excellent recipe. So glad I found it and I look forward to trying some of your other frosting recipes. I did find it a bit too sweet and used Mandy’s suggestion of adding a tiny bit of sea salt. Thank you.
Hi Daniel,
How much sea salt did you add?
Hi I was wondering how long do you leave your frosting in the frigde
I have only left it in the refrigerator for a week. I have put it in the freezer for a month.
I’m going to put this as a filling for some cream cheese cookies I made last night to make sandwich cookies. Sounds DELICIOUS!
That does sound delicious!!
Hi Nacy!
I adore this sweet strawberry buttercream recipe! I have found it pairs perfectly with vanilla bean cupcakes! I am in the process of creating a new blog – dancing strawberries.com. I wonder, may I share this recipe (linking back to your site of course)?
Hi Rachel, of course you may share this recipe. If you email us the link, we will share it on our social media. Thanks!
Good evening, I am having a mother’s day celebration with my daughters and I’m making a strawberry cake. I would love to use this recipe for my frosting however; does it need to be refrigerated after I frozen my cake????
It depends how long you plan to leave it out. If it’s overnight, or if it is hot and humid where you are, you should probably put it in the refrigerator.
I made the frosting for my daughters birthday on top of chocolate cupcakes a few weeks ago. The frosting was a huge hit, and super easy to make! Going to make them for Easter dessert, and I’m going to try using pureed blueberries on vanilla lemon cupcakes. I think they will look darling side by side in pastel pink and purple. Thanks again for sharing the recipe
Hi Kim! We are so glad you like the frosting recipe! Your lemon cupcakes with blueberry frosting sounds DELICIOUS!!! We are going to post a Blueberry Buttercream Frosting recipe soon and that is exactly what we did!!
Do you have to use strawberry purée or can you use just your fresh strawberries blended?
You can use the fresh strawberries blended. I am sure any chunks of strawberries will just add to the flavor.
Hi! Before frosting the cupcakes, should i refrigerate the frosting so it can firm up before I decorate my cupcakes?
Yes, if you have the time, you should let it set up a bit.
I made this today and it’s really good. Thank you! Just a couple questions: 1) If I use a KitchenAid mixer, which attachment should I use? The paddle or whisk? 2) You mention letting the frosting sit overnight in the fridge to let the flavors develop. Should that be done in the bowl or on the cake? 3) How long does it keep and how do you store it? Can it be frozen and for how long? Thank you!!
Hi Monica, (1) I use the paddle attachment on most of my frosting recipes, except the Whipped Cream Frosting. (2) It can be either. My preference is frosting the cake (cupcakes, etc.) It just says me time the next day. (3) You can keep it up to a week in the fridge or a month in the freezer. I usually put it in a ziploc bag or airtight container to store it. Hope this info helps!
Delicious! All the other recipes I found required making a reduction with the fresh strawberries, and I really didn’t want to do that. This was so simple! It’s super sweet, so I did add a little extra salt even though I used the salted butter, and that did the trick. Thanks for a great frosting!
Thanks, Mandy that’s a good tip about the salt.
Can I use frozen strawberries?
Hi Julie, frozen strawberries would probably work. Just be careful about adding too much liquid.
I will be frosting some cupcakes with this. Is it ok to leave the cupcakes out on the counter, or should they be refrigerated once frosted?
Hi Veronica – we always refrigerate our cupcakes but take them out a couple of hours before we are going to serve them so they get back to room temperature.
Can I use strawberry jam instead of purée??
Hi Lindsay, I don’t think strawberry jam will work. Jam is too sweet. If you try it, please let us know how it turns out.
Hello! I am making this frosting tomorrow and I bought unsalted butter burn in the recipe it calls for salted butter. can I make it with unsalted butter or does it have to be salted butter? If I do use salted butter is there a specific brand that I have to use or if I use unsalted butter do I have to add salt?
THanks!
Hi Selena, you can use unsalted butter. We always use salted sweet cream butter, but it the long run either is fine.
Thank you!
This frosting is amazing! I just made a batch for some cupcakes as a trial run for my niece’s birthday and everyone in my house loved the icing and kept asking for extra icing on their cupcakes. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Tammy! My family feels exactly the same way.
I never bake but my boyfriend wanted a strawberry cake for his birthday. I found your buttercream icing and gave it a try.. Its AMAZING. he loves it and he’s very picky. I’m going to make it for my mother this week. Thank you for sharing this frosting. Its truly wonderful.
Yay, we are so glad you liked it!!