Candy cane buttercream frosting is perfect for holiday baking! A smooth and creamy American buttercream flavored with crushed peppermint hard candy and whipped until light and fluffy. This frosting tastes just like Christmas! Use this frosting on your favorite holiday treats, including chocolate cake, sugar cookies, or candy cane cupcakes.
Ingredients for Candy Cane Buttercream Frosting
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature.
- Peppermint hard candy: You can use peppermint hard candies or crushed candy canes! Grind the peppermint candy into a super fine powder to add to the buttercream.
- Powdered sugar: Confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar.
- Vanilla extract: A touch of vanilla extract adds a bit of vanilla flavor.
- Salt: Salt enhances the flavor of the buttercream and provides a bit of contrast from the sweetness.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream helps the buttercream whip up to be light and fluffy.
Tools & Supplies for Making Buttercream Frosting
How to Make Candy Cane Buttercream Frosting
- Whip the room temperature unsalted butter for about 5 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale in color.
- Add in the powdered sugar and finely crushed peppermint hard candy and mix until well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt and continue to mix on low until combined. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Turn the mixer to medium speed and whip the buttercream for 10 minutes. This step is key to make the buttercream light and smooth and to achieve the right consistency. Mix until the peppermint candy is fully dissolved and the buttercream is creamy.
Recipe Tips
- Check out my baking tips blog post on 10 Tips for Making Perfect Buttercream to learn simple tips and tricks to make the best buttercream frosting.
- Be sure to grind the peppermint hard candy or candy canes into a very fine powder with a food processor. You will want the peppermint candy powder to be as fine as possible, resembling powdered sugar. If there are any chunks, they will not dissolve into the buttercream.
- Whip it good! The peppermint hard candy powder will make the buttercream grainy if not mixed long enough. Whip the buttercream for at least 10 full minutes to dissolve the peppermint candy.
- This recipe will make 4 cups of buttercream frosting which is typically enough to ice 2 dozen cupcakes or a 3-layer 7-inch round cake.
- Store the buttercream in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To use, bring the buttercream to room temperature and rewhip until it is smooth and creamy.
Click here to see a quick video on how to make peppermint buttercream frosting! Follow Cake Me Home Tonight on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for more recipe videos and baking tutorials!
Candy Cane Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- Stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or electric hand mixer
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup finely ground peppermint hard candy
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, whip the room temperature unsalted butter for 5 minutes until it is light, pale, and fluffy.
- Add in the powdered sugar and finely ground peppermint candy/candy canes and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and salt and mix on low until combined. Drizzle in the heavy cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally to ensure the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium speed and whip the buttercream for 10 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy. This step is important as it will help dissolve the peppermint candy and make the buttercream smooth.
Notes
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