Sour Cream Frosting – Tangy and Sweet Buttercream Frosting
Published , Last updated by Stef
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Sour cream frosting adds a delicious tangy note to the classic sweetness of buttercream frosting. This sour cream frosting won’t taste like sour cream, but people will notice its wonderful bright flavor when paired with all manner of desserts.
Adding just a touch of sour cream into frosting can make a world of difference!
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Tips for Making Sour Cream Icing
You can take a few steps to make sure that your sour cream frosting recipe comes out great every time:
- Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature. The butter needs to be soft but not melting, and the sour cream should have been sitting out of the refrigerator for a few hours before you begin.
- Beat the butter on high speed with an electric mixer for three minutes. Beating the butter this long is necessary to incorporate air; if you beat it for too short of a time, the frosting will be heavy instead of light and airy.
- You can use vanilla extract, but try using vanilla bean paste for a stronger vanilla flavor. It’s made with actual vanilla beans and the flavor is sensational.
Best Ways to Use Sour Cream Icing
- Lemon Cupcakes (Use instead of lemon frosting with lemon cupcakes if you don’t want too intense of a lemon flavor.)
- Cherry cupcakes (You’ve heard of sour cherries, but sour cream paired with cherries is just as good!)
- Banana cupcakes (Bananas go really well with the tart flavor of sour cream.)
- Vanilla cake (This sour cream frosting goes perfectly with any vanilla cake recipe.)
- NY Cheesecake (Pipe the frosting on top of cheesecake instead of whipped cream to make it even more decadent!)
Substitutions
Use full-fat sour cream for the richest frosting flavor. However, low-fat sour cream and even Greek yogurt will also work.
You can also use cream cheese and it will be great – but I like to use a higher ratio of cream cheese to butter than I do sour cream to butter. See my cream cheese frosting recipe for the exact recipe.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a review!
Sour Cream Frosting
Add a delicious, tangy taste to the classic sweetness of buttercream frosting with this recipe for sour cream icing.
Servings 12
servings
Calories 263kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar add more until it reaches your preferred consistency
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract use vanilla bean paste for a stronger vanilla flavor
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream room temperature
Instructions
- Beat butter on high speed with an electric mixer for about three minutes until light and airy.
- Mix in confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar) a little bit at a time.
- Add vanilla, salt, and sour cream and continue to beat for another minute. If desired, add more more confectioners' sugar to make the buttercream frosting stiffer.
Notes
This frosting frosts about 12 cupcakes with a large swirl or an 8″ square cake.
Nutrition
Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 103mg | Potassium: 11mg | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 503IU | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?Click here to leave a comment and rating!
Perfect on chocolate cupcakes!!!
I LOVE this recipe! I add a wee bit more sour Creme, and more vanilla paste. Other than that, it’s about the only frosting I’ll use anymore. Thank you!
Can a sour cream buttercream be used on a layer cake? IF so how long can it sit out at room temperature. I am doing a two tiered cake and using a filling of chocolate sour cream frosting. I recently read that a cake with sour cream frosting should NOT be left out at room temperature for more than “1 hour”. Since most cake need two hour to come to room temperature I am now hesitant to use a frosting with sour cream in it. Also can you freeze the sour cream frosting a couple of weeks before decorating the cake? Thanks for any advice.
I leave mine at room temperature for days, but I’m not a food safety expert so don’t take my word on that. Yes, you can freeze it. Just bring it room temp and give it a mix before using.
I made this recipe. I iced 12 cupcakes and had a fair amount left to freeze.
Someone else bitched about it being salty. It is not too salty. I actually added more sour cream than called for. I probably added another 1/8 cup.
The tip about beating the butter thoroughly before adding any of the sugar was the best trip I’ve ever gotten! It came out sweet but not sticky sweet smooth with a tangy kind of tasty. Five stars and I’ll make it again!
This is my #1 frosting for carrot cake.
Great idea!
I substituted Starbucks instant coffee granules instead of vanilla extract. Used this to frost a chocolate mocha cake. So yummy!
I added Starbucks instant coffee granules instead of vanilla flavoring with the powered sugar. I used this to frost a chocolate mocha cake. So yummy!
How can I make this chocolate sour cream frosting?
Ooooh! I think I might try this using plain Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. Thanks for sharing!
Camber – Sure!
Could I substitute vanilla yogurt for the sour cream?
My friend’s dad makes the most AWESOME chocolate cake with chocolate sour cream frosting. He makes it whenever we go there for dinner. I haven’t had vanilla sour cream frosting though. Definitely need to give this one a try.
that sounds good. I love sour cream and bet this is fantastic!
O my my my!! Your recipes and pics just keeps getting better and better!! I LOVE your blog and always look forward to see what I should try and whip up next :)
CONGRATULATIONS!! I would like to give you this BLOG AWARD!!!
http://ourshallowocity.blogspot.com/2009/10/now-how-cool-is-this.html
Cheers,
Celeste
This sounds super delish. Thanks so much for sharing.