How To Make Buttercream Frosting Less Sweet
If you’re searching for ways to make your buttercream frosting less sweet, you’re in luck! Here are several methods for reducing the sweetness.
Ingredients That Make Traditional Buttercream Frosting Less Sweet
Making buttercream frosting from scratch has so many benefits. The greatest advantage is that you can make a variety of flavors.
American buttercream recipes consist of fat and sugar. These two components create a texture that’s nice and fluffy. One of the reasons for its popularity is simplicity. It’s an easy recipe that doesn’t require too much time. The only issue is that the main ingredient is powdered sugar also known as confectioners sugar, which is too sweet for some. With the right ingredients, you can whip up a flavorful topping without tasting overly sweet.
- Add citrus. Citrus fruits like limes, lemons, and oranges reduce the sweetness of buttercream. I incorporated fresh orange zest in my almond buttercream recipe. The tartness from the citrus balances out the powdered sugar.
Add freshly squeezed juice and zest to enhance the flavor. Taste and adjust as needed.
2. In addition to adding some tang to icing, using room-temperature unsalted butter instead of salted butter allows you to add salt to taste. Salted butter may have less salt than you need. Plus, if a recipe requires more powdered sugar, you can adjust and add more salt to cut through the sweetness.
3. You can make American buttercream frosting less sweet by using an alternative for vanilla extract. Replacing vanilla with almond extract creates a subtle flavor. When paired with sour fruits like oranges it restrains the sweetness.
Tips For Making Buttercream Less Sweet
4. Use less powdered sugar. Sometimes less is more. Typically a buttercream frosting recipe is a 2:1 ratio. To sum up, there is more sugar and less butter. As a result, this impacts the flavor. It’s most noticeable in vanilla frosting.
Instead, you can use 1 stick of butter for every cup of powdered sugar. For example, the ingredients may consist of 3 sticks of butter and 3 cups of powdered sugar. Since there’s a higher percentage of fat the recipe will be more balanced.
5. Add more salt. Increasing the salt in a sweet buttercream prevents it from tasting cloyingly sweet. Of course, there can be too much of a good thing. First, remember to increase the amount of salt in small increments. Then taste and adjust as needed.
Note: Since kosher salt is hard to dissolve, avoid adding it to your frosting. Table salt has finer grains and dissolves easily.
6. Use whole spices. Whole spices have a greater impact on recipes. Use a spice grinder for cinnamon sticks or cloves. Freshly ground spices are fragrant and they provide more flavor. The intensity of the spices will tone down the sweetness.
7. Unsweetened cocoa powder has bitterness, which rounds out the buttercream. Cakes frosted with buttercream icing made with unsweetened cocoa powder achieve balance. The bitterness from the cocoa paired with the right amount of salt creates a delightful cake that rivals the saccharine cake you’ll find at most fast food restaurants.
Frosting Recipes To Try
Best Practices For Frosting With Mild Sweetness
If the sweetness in buttercream is too overwhelming for you, you can make it less sweet by infusing ingredients like fresh lime juice or adjusting the ratios of sugar and fat. Over time, you’ll have a better understanding of what best suits your preferences. Plus, you can try topping cupcakes with a different frosting recipe like an old-fashioned ermine frosting.
