Magnolia Bakery’s Buttercream Vanilla Icing

I've been making an icing like this for years. Beat tgoether conf sugar and butter, then dribble in heavy cream, beating and adding cream until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Or you can add cream cheese instead of some of the cream. You can also add flavorings other than vanilla, like coffee, instead of some of the cream, grated rinds, etc. Don't forget a dash of salt to bring out the flavor.

FYI, the back of the Domino confectioner’s sugar box seems to have this exact same recipe, except halved, which is convenient.

So this icing is way too liquidy, the actual Magnolia Icing, is: 1 cup butter 4 cups confectioners' sugar 2-3 tablespoons milk 1 tsp vanilla food coloring

I have made a similar buttercream for years- to cut the sweetness and to add chocolate (why not?) I add about 1/4-1/2 cup sifted cocoa.

Very good recipe, but made more than twice as much frosting as I wanted.

This was SOoooOOO heavy and sweet. I can see how, if the cupcakes were sitting in a bakery for even a couple hours, having a heavier frosting would be a good idea. But for home baking, not so much. I halved the recipe, and probably added another 1/4-ish cup of milk to make it creamier. Then it was delish!

To make this into an amazing chocolate buttercream frosting I bring 1 cup of heavy cream to a boil, remove it from the heat and mix in 6 oz of unsweetened chocolate. Mix until smooth and consistent and add to the magnolia frosting when cool instead of the milk

I regret not reading the reviews as my frosting was so sweet it was inedible. It too ruined my cupcakes. In hindsight I should have known 8 cups!!! of confectioners sugar would have been way too much. This recipe needs revising or pulling.

I added some lemon zest and about 1/4 tsp sea salt to cut the sweetness and add dimension. With the zest I saw no need for added colors.

Angela, Thank you for the very helpful note. Using your tip as an inspiration, I used my calculator and divided each ingredient by 2 and the icing turned out perfectly, which was convenient.

This recipe is disgustingly sweet. I saw some of my guests throw their cupcakes away because of the icing.

I love the taste of this frosting, it's a great "go-to" buttercream! The only challenge I have sometimes is keeping it firm - I think you would want to reduce the amount of liquid or maybe even refrigerate to keep it a bit stiffer to pipe. When I halved the recipe, it frosted (20) cupcakes.

I used just 4 cups sugar. I also made the mistake of adding heavy cream to butter that was still frozen and ended up churning the cream into more butter - still tasty though. Note to self for next time - wait till butter is room temp before beating w/ sugar and adding heavy cream.

I agree! I took for granted the positive reviews for this frosting. I can't imagine anyone using the entire amount of sugar. I used only a portion and they were just gross. The cupcakes were great, but this frosting needs to be removed from the site! I'm so disappointed!

Magnolia's frosting is too sweet. Try a real buttercream; there is no comparison