Raspberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe

Raspberry buttercream frosting is a pink, tangy buttercream made with 1 cup softened butter, 3½ to 4 cups powdered sugar, and ⅓ cup raspberry reduction cooked down from 1½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries, plus vanilla and a pinch of salt. It takes about 25 minutes and frosts 12 cupcakes generously or one 8 inch two layer cake.

The key is the reduction. Raw berries or thin juice add too much water and the buttercream turns soft or splits. Cooked down to ⅓ cup and fully cooled, the juice gives real raspberry flavor and a natural pink color, with no extract and no food coloring.

Raspberry Buttercream Amounts, Time, and Coverage

• Butter: 1 cup (230 g) unsalted, softened
• Powdered sugar: 3½ to 4 cups (420 to 480 g), sifted
• Raspberry reduction: ⅓ cup, from 1½ cups raspberries, 1 tablespoon water, and 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar if you like
• Flavor: 1 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt, which make the berries taste brighter
• Optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream for a softer piping texture
• Time: 15 minutes prep, about 10 minutes on the stove, plus cooling
• Coverage: 12 cupcakes with tall swirls or one 8 inch two layer cake; make 1½ batches for a 9 inch cake or a cake that is filled and coated

Fresh or Frozen Raspberries for Buttercream

Both work, because you cook the berries and keep only the juice. Frozen raspberries are the practical choice most of the year. They cost less than fresh ones out of season, and freezing breaks their cells, so they collapse into juice within a few minutes in the pan. Use them straight from the freezer. Fresh raspberries give the same result; save the prettiest ones for the top of the cupcakes.

Cooking the Reduction Down to ⅓ Cup

Put the raspberries, water, and sugar if using in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring now and then, until the berries break down and look juicy.

Press everything through a fine mesh sieve with the back of a spoon to remove the seeds. Scrape the underside of the sieve too, where the thickest pulp collects. Return the juice to the pan and simmer until it measures about ⅓ cup. It should coat the spoon like a thin jam and leave a trail when you drag a spatula across the pan.

Then let it cool completely. A reduction that is even slightly warm melts the whipped butter and the frosting goes soupy. Spread it on a plate and it cools in 15 to 20 minutes.

Butter Temperature and the Five Minute Beat

Softened butter for this frosting should feel cool and leave a fingerprint when pressed, without looking shiny or greasy. Butter that is too warm cannot hold the berry liquid. Butter that is too cold will not whip and leaves small lumps.

Beat it on medium-high for 3 to 5 minutes, until it turns pale and fluffy. Then add the sifted powdered sugar a cup at a time on low speed before turning the mixer up, and scrape the bowl as you go. Start with 3½ cups.

Adding the Reduction Without Splitting the Frosting

Pour the cooled reduction down the side of the bowl with the mixer on medium, then add the vanilla and salt. Keep mixing until the color is even and the frosting looks smooth again, about a minute. If it feels too soft for piping, add the last ½ cup of powdered sugar. If it is too stiff, beat in heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time, 2 tablespoons at most.

For swirls like the ones in the photo, use a large open star tip such as a 1M. For a filled layer cake, a thin layer of raspberry buttercream under a spoon of raspberry cake filling keeps the jam from soaking into the sponge.

Reduction, Jam, or Freeze-Dried Raspberries?

• Reduction (this recipe): the freshest, tangiest flavor and a soft pink color. Takes 15 minutes plus cooling.
• Seedless raspberry jam: quick, with no cooking. Jam is sweeter and tastes more cooked, so the frosting is sweeter and the berry flavor milder. Use seedless jam in place of the reduction and hold back some powdered sugar.
• Freeze-dried raspberries: ground to a powder and sifted, they add strong flavor and color with no liquid at all, so the frosting stays stiff. A good choice for hot days or very detailed piping.

If you want the strawberry version, my strawberry buttercream frosting uses the same idea. For a plain base to tint or flavor yourself, start with vanilla buttercream frosting.

Curdled, Soupy, or Too Pale

• Looks curdled after the reduction goes in: the butter and the liquid are at different temperatures. Keep beating for 2 minutes. If it stays broken, warm the outside of the bowl for a few seconds with a warm towel and beat again.
• Soupy or sliding off the spoon: the reduction was warm or the butter too soft. Chill the bowl for 15 to 20 minutes, then rewhip. Add the extra ½ cup of sugar if it is still loose.
• Too pale: color only comes from the reduction. Next time reduce the juice a little further for a deeper pink rather than adding more liquid.
• Seedy or gritty: the sieve was skipped or the sugar was not sifted.

Where This Raspberry Frosting Works Best

It is lovely on vanilla cupcakes, a lemon raspberry cake, or lemon raspberry swirl cupcakes, where the tart berry and the lemon play off each other. With chocolate it tastes like a raspberry truffle; pair it with chocolate buttercream frosting on a two-tone cake. The pink also shows up well piped on plain sugar cookies.

Making It Ahead for a Party

The frosting keeps for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Let it come back to room temperature, about an hour, then rewhip for a minute so it is smooth enough to pipe again.

Frosted cupcakes or a frosted cake can sit at cool room temperature on the day you serve them, and the frosting tastes best when it is soft rather than fridge-cold. Keep leftovers in the fridge and take them out 30 minutes before eating.

Raspberry Frosting Questions

Is this a raspberry icing or a frosting?

It is a thick, pipeable buttercream frosting. For a thin raspberry icing to drizzle on a loaf or cookies, stir the cooled reduction into powdered sugar icing a teaspoon at a time until it flows.

Can I use raspberry jam instead of fresh raspberries?

Yes. Use ⅓ cup seedless jam in place of the reduction and start with less powdered sugar, because jam is already sweet.

Why is my raspberry buttercream runny?

The reduction was too thin or still warm. Chill the frosting for 15 to 20 minutes and rewhip, then add up to ½ cup more powdered sugar.

Can I make it dairy free?

Swap the butter for a firm vegan butter block and leave out the cream. My dairy free frosting explains how plant butters behave in buttercream.

Pin this raspberry buttercream frosting for the next birthday cake or batch of cupcakes. If you try the jam or freeze-dried version, tell me in the comments how it went.