Easy Orange Frosting {Buttercream Icing}

Quick and easy orange frosting recipe (orange buttercream icing or creamsicle frosting), homemade with simple ingredients and perfect for Summer desserts. It's fluffy, creamy, perfect for piping and holds its shape. Variation with cream cheese also included.

Summer is in full force and that calls for this recipe along with my Lemon Frosting (Buttercream Icing) and Lemon Curd (4 Ingredients). It has a natural pale orange color but I always add a little bit of orange gel coloring to make the color even more vibrant. The strong citrus flavor comes from 3 ingredients: orange zest, orange extract and orange juice. I thought this would end up being one of my popular recipes during Spring and Summer. Instead, it gains a lot of traction on Halloween! Maybe that's because of the color.

Jump to:

• Key ingredients
• Variations
• Cream cheese frosting vs. Buttercream icing
• How to use this frosting?
• How to make easy orange frosting recipe from scratch?
• Tips and techniques
• Recipe FAQs
• Storage
• More orange and citrus desserts
• Recipe

Key ingredients

• Butter- Use room temperature for smooth mixing.
• Shortening- Helps to stabilize the frosting, especially in hot weather.
• Orange zest- Adds to both the orange color and flavor.
• Orange extract- You can also use orange emulsion oil.
• Powdered sugar- Best if sifted to avoid lumps.
• Orange juice- Fresh squeezed yields the best flavor.
• Orange gel coloring- This is optional to enhance the orange color.

Variations

• For a whipped cream version- Make this Homemade Stabilized Whipped Cream and mix in some orange zest and orange extract.
• For a glaze that's good for drizzling- Make this Powdered Sugar Glaze (Cake Glaze) or this Lemon Glaze (Lemon Drizzle Icing) but instead of vanilla extract, use orange extract and some freshly grated zest.
• Chocolate orange version- Add ½ cup - ¾ cup cocoa powder. You will have to add some water get the desired consistency.
• Lemon orange flavor- Replace ¼ cup of orange juice with ¼ cup mixed orange and lemon juice. Also, replace 2 tablespoon orange zest with 1 tablespoon orange zest and 1 tablespoon lemon zest.
• Vegan icing- Replace butter with vegan shortening.
• Cream cheese version- Follow the recipe below but omit shortening and add 4 oz. cream cheese. You may have to add some additional powdered sugar to get the desired consistency.

Cream cheese frosting vs. Buttercream icing

The cream cheese version has cream cheese as an ingredients and the buttercream version is made with butter and shortening or just butter with NO cream cheese. Both taste great. However,  there are 2 issues. Firstly, the cream cheese flavor overpowers the citrus flavor. Secondly, cream cheese is not a very stable ingredient, which makes the frosting difficult to pipe and it loses its shape and peaks easily, especially in hot weather.

How to use this frosting?

• Cakes- Use it as a topping or filling in Carrot Cake, Angel food cake, Orange Cake and even Chocolate Cake.
• Cupcakes- Pipe a swirl or use a spatula to spread icing with a spatula on top of these Best Vanilla Cupcakes, Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes, Yellow Cupcakes, Best Chocolate Cupcakes, or Easy Orange Cupcakes.
• Buns, rolls and biscuits- Spread a generous layer on top of these Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, Bisquick mix biscuits like in this Easy Strawberry Shortcake, or you can even pair it with these Pecan sticky Buns.
• Muffins- These are typically not iced but take them to a whole new level of deliciousness by spreading a thin layer on top of these Cranberry Orange Muffins, Chocolate Chip Muffins, or Healthy Double Chocolate Muffins.
• Cookies-Use it on top of these Sugar Cookies (Small Batch) and these Easy Cut Out Sugar Cookies (With Cake Mix) or even these Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies.
• Bars and brownies- Spread a thin layer of icing over these Rice Krispie Treats, Cake Mix Brownies, Carrot Brownies, Cake Mix Cookie Bars, or Fudgy Brownies to take the flavor up a notch.

How to make easy orange frosting recipe from scratch?

1. Cream together- Butter and shortening (Image 1 and 2).
2. Mix in- Orange zest and extract (Image 3 and 4).
3. Add in powdered sugar- And alternate it with juice (Image 5 and 6).
4. Distribute- Gel coloring until combined (Image 7 and 8).

Tips and techniques

• Use both butter and shortening- To maximize the stability of this icing. If you make an “all butter” frosting, it will be a bit unstable in warmer temperatures and melt easily.
• Enhance the color- By adding gel food coloring. Don't use liquid food coloring since it's "watery" and can "thin" the consistency of the icing.
• If the icing is too thin- Then add more powdered sugar.
• If the icing is too thick- Then add more orange juice or water.
• Sift powdered sugar- Because this helps make your frosting more smooth and less lumpy.
• Make sure ingredients are at room temperature- To promote thorough and even mixing.
• Use unsalted butter- To prevent the frosting from becoming too salty.
• Butter is best over margarine- Because butter has a better flavor and consistency.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

• Room temperature- This can be placed in a sealed container on the counter for 2-3 days.
• Refrigerate- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week. 
• Freeze- Store in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 1 month.
• Make ahead- Prepare frosting and then place it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week before using or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Then thaw in the fridge, mix, and use as needed.

More orange and citrus desserts

• Orange Fruit Salad
• Chocolate Orange Brownies
• Orange Cupcakes
• Candied Orange Peel and Slices
• Orange Cranberry Bread

Recipe