Sweet blueberries and tangy cream cheese make this blueberry buttercream recipe taste just like summer! This blueberry-infused frosting is the perfect topping for cupcakes or my best-ever blueberry cake, and has a bright blueberry flavor your friends and family will beg you to make for every occasion. You've been warned!
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Equipment Checklist
This recipe is easy to make, but it really helps to have the right tools. I highly recommend making this fresh blueberry buttercream frosting in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle or whisk attachment. So much easier!
This makes it easy to whip the butter and cream cheese together. You can also use a handheld electric mixer and a medium bowl.
Why You'll Love This Blueberry Frosting
- Undeniable blueberry flavor - This blueberry buttercream uses both real blueberries and blueberry emulsion for the most authentic flavor.
- Gorgeous color - There's no food coloring here! That gorgeous purple color comes directly from the blueberry puree. It's pretty, isn't it?
- Versatile topping - Although I developed this recipe for my blueberry cake recipe, it's a wonderful topping for vanilla cake, chocolate cake, and a variety of other flavors. Pair it with white chocolate, lemon curd, or any of my bakery-tested cake fillings. There are so many options!
Ingredients
This recipe starts with my bakery-style vanilla buttercream, but then tweaks it to add real blueberry flavor in two different ways.
You'll need:
- Powdered sugar
- Instant Clearjel
- Cream cheese
- Salted butter
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Olive Nation Blueberry Emulsion
- Blueberry puree (made by blending frozen or fresh blueberries)
Baker's Tip
I have only tested this cake with Olive Nation Blueberry emulsion, and am not sure if other brands will work quite as well.
Olive Nation has provided Amycakes Bakes readers with the coupon code AB20 for 20% off on their website. Enjoy!
Variations
- Try different cakes - This frosting pairs wonderfully with lemon cake, white cake, vanilla cupcakes, or any of your favorite cake flavors.
- Make strawberry buttercream - Replace the blueberry puree with strawberry puree and add strawberry emulsion. Great on my Strawberry Cake!
- Add lemon zest - For a citrus note, add lemon zest or replace the vanilla extract with lemon extract. Learn more about the best extracts for baking.
- Decorate with fresh berries - After decorating with this frosting, top the cake or cupcakes with fresh berries, blueberry sauce, blueberry compote, or even powdered freeze-dried blueberries.
- Make it blue - There are really no blue foods, and even blueberries are purple, as you can see in the photos. If you want blue frosting for your cake or cupcakes, add several drops of blue gel food coloring until you achieve your desired color.
Storage
Store any leftover frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. For longer storage, freeze the frosting, then thaw and whip again before using.
Key Recipe Notes
- Use fully softened butter and cream cheese. If the dairy ingredients are too firm, they'll be dense (instead of soft and fluffy) and also won't cover as much. Only use room temperature butter and cream cheese.
- Cool the cake completely before decorating. With all the butter and cream cheese in this creamy frosting, they will melt if added to warm cupcakes or cupcakes. Allow the cake layers to cool completely before decorating.
- Don't skip the salt. It's so tempting to replace the salted butter with unsalted, but that's not a typo. You'll get a much richer, more balanced flavor using salted butter. Promise!
Doesn't this blueberry buttercream look so thick and fluffy? It's truly the perfect blueberry frosting. Whether you're craving something light and summery or deep and dark, blueberry frosting matches up nicely with so many different bakery-style cakes and fillings.
If you can't wait to make this recipe and never want to miss another bakery-style recipe, be sure to subscribe for email updates! Be sure to tag @amycakesbakes on any photos on social media, too. We love to see your creations!
Thanks for Reading. ❤️
-The Amycakes Bakes team
📖 Recipe & Step-by-Step Instructions
Blueberry Buttercream Frosting
Equipment
- OR Handheld Mixer
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese
- 2 ½ sticks (10 ounces) Salted Butter (at room temperature)
- 715 grams (5 ½ cups) powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Instant Clearjel ((optional, but when omitting you may need to add more powdered sugar or use less blueberry puree--please see note #1))
- 1 ½ teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Natural Blueberry Emulsion ((I recommend Olive Nation--see Note #2))
- ⅓ cup blueberry puree ((made from thawed frozen or fresh blueberries. See Instruction Step #1).)
Instructions
Make Blueberry Buttercream Frosting
- Thaw the 78 grams of frozen blueberries in the microwave until completely thawed. Puree the blueberries with all the juice in a food processor until it resembles a fine puree.
- Whisk together powdered sugar and instant clearjel in a small bowl. Set to the side.
- Using a stand mixer (preferred) or handheld mixer and a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until broken up and softened.
- Add the room temperature salted butter and continue to beat until there are no lumps, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- While the mixer is on low, slowly sprinkle in the powdered sugar and instant clearjel mixture. The mixture will be thick, but continue to slowly beat on low until it is fully integrated.
- Add the pure vanilla, blueberry emulsion, and blueberry puree. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then beat the buttercream on high for two-three minutes. This important step will add air into the buttercream and make it light and fluffy.The buttercream will thicken over the next 10 minutes. If you did not use instant clearjel, add up to 1 more cup of powdered sugar for a thicker frosting.
- This buttercream is best served at room temperature. If you aren't serving it within 24 hours, refrigerate it, but remove it from the fridge a couple of hours before using so that it may come back to room temperature before frosting cakes, cupcakes, or serving.
