Turn Canned Frosting Into Silky Buttercream With Just One Ingredient

If you've ever had to whip up a cake or batch of cupcakes under a time crunch, chances are you've perused the baking aisle at your local grocery store and grabbed a tub of canned, ready-made frosting. But while this option is indeed quick and convenient, canned frosting may present an overly sweet, waxy flavor that often leaves much to be desired. 

Well, if you've ever found yourself wondering how you can make your canned frosting taste less, well, canned, and more like the buttercream Grandma makes, there's one simple ingredient you can add, and you almost certainly have it in your fridge: butter. It turns out that mixing softened butter into your canned frosting can work wonders to upgrade its flavor, offsetting that store-bought taste and creating a silky, rich, and delicious topping. 

Additionally, as canned frosting (even the whipped varieties) tends to have a thicker consistency that is significantly more difficult to spread than its homemade counterpart, with this hack, you can create a lighter, fluffier texture that makes piping and decorating easier. However, for this upgrade, you'll want to use real butter — not margarine or shortening, which lack the same richness in flavor and mouthfeel — and you'll have a delectable buttercream no one will believe you didn't make from scratch.

Using softened butter to transform your canned frosting into delicious buttercream begins with determining what types of butter to use. As with most recipes, you'll want to use the highest-quality butter you can find — adding grade AA (the highest quality) or European butter (which has a higher amount of butterfat) will lend rich, creamy flavor to your frosting, and contribute to that homemade taste. Either salted or unsalted butter will work fine, but if using unsalted, you'll want to consider adding a pinch of salt to balance out the flavor and help cut that overwhelming sweetness. 

Once you've softened your butter, you'll simply add it to your frosting (no more than 2 tablespoons of butter per can of frosting) using an electric mixer for about five minutes or so. While you can achieve the same flavor boost by stirring it in manually, using your electric mixer adds the air needed to lighten up your frosting's texture and make it as fluffy and significantly easier to spread due to the fat from the butter. 

Additionally, whipping your frosting will expand the amount — sometimes to almost double — allowing you to frost more generously, or even make a few extra cupcakes or another layer for your cake. And an added benefit of this recipe addition is that the butter will prevent your frosting from hardening as quickly after your cake is iced, allowing that soft, velvety mouthfeel to last for days. 

There are a number of ways to upgrade buttercream frosting to take that silky texture and buttery flavor to the next level. Want to create a delicious fruit-flavored frosting? Consider adding between 2 tablespoons to 1 cup of your favorite fruit jam per can of frosting before mixing. The butter and salt additions will help bring out the sweetness of the fruit without being too overwhelming. 

However, it's important to note that adding jam will likely impact your frosting's consistency, so the thicker the jam the better. If you find that your frosting becomes too runny for your liking, add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar to thicken it. Alternatively, you can add freeze-dried fruit, which is typically easy to incorporate into frosting due to its lack of water, and it's less likely to change the consistency of your buttercream, keeping it silky-smooth without being runny. 

Fruit frosting not your thing? You can also upgrade your buttercream by gently folding in some crunchy toppings like chocolate chips, your choice of crushed nuts, or even sprinkles for a party-cake variation. Yes, taking that canned frosting to the next level is easy, not to mention seriously delicious.