Quick and easy blackberry buttercream frosting recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. You can use fresh or frozen blackberries or even jams and preserves. Great for piping cupcakes and cake decorating. Perfect Summer dessert.
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Next time you make any Summer cakes and cupcakes, you need to pair them with this icing. It's creamy and so fruity and melts in your mouth. It pairs wonderfully with these Lemon Cupcakes and I love it just as much as this Easy Mango Frosting (Buttercream). Please note that this is also not a glaze, which has a very thin consistency and that's typically used for drizzling on bundt cakes and donuts.
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Key ingredients
- Butter- Use unsalted butter so your frosting isn't salty.
- Shortening- Acts as a stabilizer to make it easier to pipe and decorated desserts.
- Blackberry puree- You can also use blackberry jam or preserves. Use seedless if you want a super smooth consistency.
- Powdered sugar- Ideal for frosting as it brings sweetness with less grainy texture.
- Vanilla extract- Adds a warm and complimenting flavor.
- Lemon- This is an optional ingredient and will enhance the tanginess. You can either use fresh zest or a little bit of lemon extract.
Variations
- Instead of blackberries- You can use raspberry puree, strawberry puree, or a combination of mixed berries for a different flavor profile. Check out my Strawberry frosting (With Fresh Strawberries) for more ideas.
- For a hint of zesty flavor- Add lemon zest or lime zest or even lemon extract to the frosting.
- Chill the frosting in the fridge- For 20-30 minutes before piping to make it even firmer and easier to handle.
- This recipe works great as a filling for cakes and cupcakes- Check out this post and learn How to Make Filled Cupcakes (Stuffed Cupcakes).
- For extra tanginess- Mix in some full fat cream cheese. Reduce amount of shortening to ½ cup and replace that with ½ cup cream cheese.
How to make easy blackberry buttercream frosting recipe from scratch?
1. Add ingredients in a large mixing bowl- This includes butter and shortening.
2. Cream together until smooth- Then add in the blackberry puree.
3. Mix altogether- Until a smooth consistency is reacher.
4. Pour in vanilla extract- And fully incorporate into mixture.
5. Add in powdered sugar- And mix to a light, fluffy texture.
6. Enjoy- On piped cupcakes, frosted cakes, and other desserts.
Tips and variations
- You must use unsalted butter- Because you want your frosting to be sweet, not salty.
- If you use store-bought blackberry puree- Then there is no need to cook it and reduce it. Homemade will need to be reduced.
- Adjust the quantity of powdered sugar- According to your personal preference.
- This recipe covers- 24 cupcakes or can be used to fill and frost an 8x2 round cake.
- Sift powdered sugar- To prevent any lumps in the icing.
- Easily double or triple the recipe- To serve a larger crowd.
Recipe FAQs
You need to cook fresh or frozen blackberries in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat uncovered until mixture is thickened. Then strain it to remove seeds using a fine mesh sieve. Let it cool and then use in this recipe. Also, be sure to use ripe blackberries since they are more juicy and have more flavor.
If icing is too thin, simply add powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
If it is too thick, add in blackberry puree or water a little at a time.
Storage
- Refrigerate- In a sealed container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze- In a sealed container for up to 1 month. Thaw in fridge overnight and then whip again to make it fluffy.
- Room temperature- This can stay out for 2-3 hours.
- Make ahead- This can easily be made 1-2 days in advance.
More homemade frosting recipes
- Sugar Free Frosting
- Best Cream Cheese Frosting (Stable)
- White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (2 Ingredients)
- Seven Minute Frosting (Egg White Icing)
- Coconut Cream Chocolate frosting
Recipe
Easy Blackberry Buttercream Frosting
Video
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Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter Unsalted
- 1 cup Shortening
- ¾ cup Blackberry puree Seedless. Use thick store-bought puree that can be found on Amazon. You can also use homemade puree which will have to be made with fresh or frozen blackberries being cooked on medium heat in a nonstick saucepan until thickened. Strain and let it cool it and then use in this recipe. You can also use thick blackberry jams or preserves but the quantity will reduce to ½ cup.
- 4-6 cups Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest or extract Optional
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and shortening until smooth.
- Add blackberry puree and mix.
- Add powdered sugar and mix again.
- Add vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix until light and fluffy.
- Pipe on cupcakes and cakes and enjoy!
Notes
- Chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before piping to make it even firmer and easier to pipe.
- Instead of blackberries, you can use other berries for a different flavor profile.
- Use unsalted butter to prevent this icing from becoming too salty.
- If icing is too thin, add more powdered sugar (¼ cup at a time)
- If icing is too thick, thin it out with more puree or water.
- This recipe is enough to pipe 20-24 cupcakes (depending on your design) or fill and frost an 8x2 round cake.
- Sift powdered sugar to prevent any lumps in the icing.
- Read additional tips and variations above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Kathleen miller
Can I use seedless blackberry jam in this I have trouble finding purée that’s not super expensive
Abeer Rizvi
I think that should work well. Make sure it's a thick jam.
Paula H.
I made a recent comment about the frosting being too loose and a bit sloppy and I faulted the blackberry puree. I notice that in your ingredients list, you gave a link to a prepared blackberry puree from Amazon, which is very thick and sweetened with sugar. My puree was simply blackberries processed in a food processor, not cooked, not sweetened, and it was NOT the same (far more like juice) as what was linked in the recipe. I am certain that this was my problem. Perhaps you can be more specific about the puree you used because it is highly likely that people making their own "puree" as i did will have less than stellar results.
PREVIOUS COMMENT:
I had no problem putting this together. It was a lovely color and tasted delicious….but it was a little loose and sloppy, even after adding more powdered sugar, a little cornstarch and some meringue powder. (I make a lot of cakes.) I refrigerated until it seemed a little more stiff, but even after that, when I frosted between layers, it oozed out the sides a bit... I had no problem with white bits or over mixing the butter and shortening. I think it may have been the 3/4 cup of blackberry purée, which, not being cooked down to thicken first, was more like a liquid. It gave a great flavor but next time I would cook it down till it was more like jam consistency to make 3/4 cup of real purée. That is a little too much fluid for the ratio of sugar and fat.
Abeer Rizvi
Hi Paula! Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your experience with the homemade blackberry puree. I have updated the recipe card to make it clear to use a thick puree and appreciate you pointing this out.
Beth Mullen
I followed recipe exactly. But I noticed as it was mixing there were solid off white clumps. No amount of mixing got rid of them. My butter and shortening were room temp. Plus the frosting didn't set. Even after a few hours in the fridge. I added more ps until i was afraid I'd lose the taste of blueberry. Nothing helped. Help!#
Abeer Rizvi
It looks like you over-mixed your butter. When you over-beat butter, it starts to separate into small white bits. Once that happens, it cannot be reversed and your frosting will not set.
Cindy
Could you do all unsalted butter instead of shortening?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, you can and it should still taste amazing but I add a little shortening to make it more stable in Summer time.
Melissa Griffiths
This frosting is beautiful! I can imagine it would be delicious on lemon cupcakes - love that berry/lemon combo!
Abeer Rizvi
That truly is such a refreshing flavor combination!
Trisha
I love this idea and I had already planned on berry picking this week. I was wondering if you could provide an estimate of how much fresh berries you used to total 3/4 cups of purée, i.e.: 2 cups of fresh berries? Thanks!
Abeer Rizvi
I think it was about 2.5 cups fresh blackberries. The amount may vary depending on how ripe your berries are. More ripeness = More juice and more puree. You will also loose out on some puree when you run it through the sieve to remove seeds. Hope this helps and hope you like this frosting!