Super Fluffy Espresso Buttercream

This espresso buttercream frosting has only 5 ingredients and is the perfect icing to put on top of espresso cupcakes , chocolate cake or brownies. It is super fluffy and pipes easily too! You will absolutely love this if you love coffee desserts.

Do you have a favorite flavor when it comes to your baked goods? Because mine is ALWAYS coffee! When I started making my own recipes after graduating from pastry school it was the flavor I experimented with first.

This espresso buttercream frosting uses instant espresso for the bold coffee flavor, and only a couple other ingredients you probably have on hand. It also whips up in 5 minutes or less and pipes beautifully onto cupcakes!

From these coffee chocolate chip cookies, to this coffee cheesecake, or even these coffee blondies, I can never get enough of the coffee desserts! This frosting goes especially well on espresso cupcakes!

What makes this recipe special

Well one because its delicious haha. I can literally eat this with a spoon, no cake or cupcake needed. I love how easy it is to make, it’s so much better than any frosting or icing you can buy from a store.

Also there is no cooking! This is not like any of the other fancy buttercream or icings you see out there. This is simple and just requires a good hand or stand mixer.

Ingredients you need

• unsalted butter at room temperature
• confectioners sugar
• milk or cream
• water (is that even an ingredient?)
• instant espresso

Difference between instant espresso and espresso powder

Yes there is a difference! In this recipe and all my other recipes that use espresso, I am using instant espresso granules like the one you find easily at the grocery store. Any brand will do. Espresso powder is harder to find which is why I don’t use it in my recipes, because I want them to have easy to find ingredients.

How to make this recipe

You will need either a stand or hand mixer to create the fluffy frosting.

1. Add the unsalted butter and confectioners sugar to the bowl. Start mixing on low so the sugar doesn’t blow up in your face. Gradually move up to medium speed when the mixture starts coming together. Mix for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth.
2. Turn the mixer off. Mix the water and instant espresso in a small bowl. Add it to the bowl along with the milk.
3. Mix on low moving up to high speed again and continue mixing until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Ways to use this buttercream

Top this frosting on top of vanilla cupcakes or these espresso cupcakes! They are the reason this recipe was created, and have a light coffee flavor. Topped with this icing and I am in total coffee heaven.

You can also try this buttercream on chocolate cake or my one bowl brownie recipe. Chocolate and coffee go so well together, it’s the next best thing to coffee!

You can use a piping bag to pipe the buttercream over your dessert, or you can use an offset spatula or even just a spoon!

Make Ahead and Storing

You can easily make this frosting up to a week in advance and keep it in the fridge in a container with a lid until you need to use it. Take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to frost otherwise it will be too hard.

If you make it only a day or two in advance you can leave it in an airtight container on your counter and it will be just fine.

Yield

This buttercream recipe makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes, or fill and frost one 9 inch cake with 2 layers. It can be easily doubled for more.

The Difference between coffee and espresso

Coffee and espresso are no different in where they come from, they both come from the coffee bean. What makes them different is the way they are prepared. Espresso is roasted darker and is ground more finely and with higher pressure than regular coffee.

Doesn’t really matter to me how it’s prepared, I love it no matter what!

Don’t have instant espresso? Make this coffee frosting instead! It uses instant coffee and not espresso.

More coffee desserts for coffee lovers

• Espresso Cupcakes
• Coffee Buttercream Frosting – this is the same essentially just made with coffee instead of instant espresso
• Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies
• Coffee Cheesecake
• Coffee Blondies

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