Strawberry Buttercream Frosting + Video

Strawberry buttercream frosting is easy to make with butter, jam, powdered sugar, and a pinch of salt. It’s creamy, fruity, and great for spreading on cakes or piping onto cupcakes.

Strawberry frosting is a staple for cakes and cupcakes alike. The fruity flavor is great on vanilla, chocolate, coconut, and even lemon or lime cakes.

I’ve used this same strawberry buttercream frosting on my strawberry cake with jello, strawberry sugar cookie bars, and strawberry lime cupcakes. It’s easy to spread or pipe.

Strawberry Frosting with Jam

This strawberry buttercream uses strawberry jam or strawberry preserves to give the frosting its fruity flavor.

Jam is a thick spread made from crushed or puréed fruit and sugar. Preserves are another thick fruit spread made from whole fruit cooked with sugar, creating a chunkier spread.

Look for a brand that looks thick through the jar and has little to no added sugar, since there will be powdered sugar added for the frosting. You don’t want it to be overly sweet.

If using preserves, keep in mind the size of strawberry chunks. You don’t want one with very large pieces. Especially if you plan to put the strawberry frosting in a piping bag.

Can I make strawberry frosting with fresh strawberries?

Of course you can make your own jam with fresh strawberries for this frosting. You will need to make it ahead of time and allow it to cool completely before using it.

Try my low sugar strawberry freezer jam. It’s easy to make in the microwave.

You can also purée fresh strawberries (strain it to remove the seeds, if desired), add a little sugar and a splash of lemon juice. Then cook it on the stovetop, stirring frequently until the fruit reduces to a thick, jammy texture; about 40-50 minutes. Cool completely. Then use it in the strawberry frosting recipe below.

Cooking the fruit is important! If you just added strawberry purée to the frosting, you wouldn’t be able to use very much of it before the frosting becomes overly soft and runny. Plus you’d miss out on a lot of strawberry flavor.

Using jam packs the frosting with flavor because the fruit is concentrated during the cooking process. Strawberry frosting made with jam will still be sturdy enough for spreading and piping without adding gobs of extra powdered sugar. Plus it’s an easy ingredient to find at the store or make from home.

Frozen strawberries can be cooked down for this recipe. Just keep in mind they will put off more liquid than fresh berries, so it may take longer to reduce and thicken.

You can always mix a Tablespoon or two of cornstarch with the sugar that you add to the puréed strawberries to help it thicken sufficiently. I do that when I make pie filling like in this Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie.

How to Make Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Now that you’ve got the strawberry part figured out, you will need butter. This is buttercream after all. Unsalted butter with a pinch or two of salt to bring out the flavor and offset some of the sweetness is perfect. Don’t skip the salt!

Salted butter will work great too, although if you’re sensitive to salt, you may find it too salty. Better to start with none and add some to taste.

You can use half butter and half shortening if you are worried about the frosting melting in humidity, but the best flavor is going to be created with all butter.

1. Simply beat the butter and strawberry jam with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating until combined between each addition. Add a pinch or two of salt and mix together.

This strawberry buttercream will be slightly softer than vanilla frosting, but should still be thick and pipeable.

PRO TIP: If the frosting still seems too soft after adding the powdered sugar, throw it in the fridge to firm it up.

This strawberry buttercream is great for cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and any other dessert you’d want to put it on. Like my fresh strawberry cupcakes! Try it today!

More Great Frosting Recipes

• Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
• Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
• Pudding Frosting

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