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How to Flavour Buttercream with Oils, Emulsions and more!
• Lynsey Macdonald
While plain buttercream can be delicious on its own, adding a dash of flavour can be a game-changer! From fruity vibes to classic caramel or coffee, whatever the occasion there's a flavour to suit. In this post, we'll break down how to flavour buttercream with oils, emulsions and more.
Adding a nice flavour can be a great way to compliment the colour of your frosting! You can check out our beginners guide to colouring buttercream if you're new to this. Adding a nice strawberry flavour to a pink buttercream is a no-brainer! But you could also have fun with unexpected pairings - something like an unexpected lemon flavour in blue buttercream!
So if you want to make buttercream taste nice with some simple additions to your baking kit, keep reading...
Contents:
How do you add flavour to buttercream? How much flavouring should I add to buttercream? Can I flavour buttercream naturally without extracts? How can I make chocolate buttercream? How can I make coffee flavour buttercream? Can I flavour buttercream with Nutella?
How do you add flavour to buttercream?
It's actually very easy to make flavoured butter icing - there are lots of different options you can turn to! We'll run through a few of them here.
Flavour Concentrates
Flavour concentrates are one of the most popular types of food flavouring - they are a quick and easy way to add flavour to your bakes. They are made by extracting natural flavours through distillation, and then dissolving that flavour into a water-soluble carrier substance like propylene glycol.
These liquid flavourings are alcohol-free, heat stable and, as the name would suggest, highly concentrated. This means they only require a tiny amount (a couple of drops sometimes!) to achieve a strong flavour. This is beneficial when choosing to flavour buttercream as it means adding minimal liquid, which can impact on the consistency of your frosting!
Flavour Extracts
Flavour extracts, on the other hand, often do have alcohol as a base. The raw material the flavour comes from (e.g. a fruit) is steeped in alcohol to draw the flavour out. That flavour is then separated out and either concentrated or diluted down.
Flavour extracts, therefore, are usually not as potent as concentrates. If you are looking to add a gentler flavour, this is perfect! However, if you want a more intense flavouring, a concentrate may be preferable to ensure you don't thin out your buttercream with a lot of liquid.
Baking Emulsion Flavourings
Baking Emulsions are water-based flavourings. This is ideal if you're looking to avoid alcohol, which is present in a lot of extracts.
To make a baking emulsion, oil soluble flavourings are mixed into a water-base with an emulsifier, dispersing the flavour particles throughout. This creates a flavouring that distributes evenly within your buttercream and, again, thanks to the thicker consistency, is less likely to alter the consistency.
Powder Food Flavourings
Choosing to flavour buttercream with powder flavourings is also a popular option! There should be minimal disruption of the consistency of your buttercream, but in the opposite issue to liquids, they might slightly thicken it! If it does, simply add a splash of milk to your buttercream to take it back to that perfect texture.
Paste Food Flavourings
Using paste flavourings to flavour buttercream is ideal because of their texture! Different brands of flavour paste will be more or less concentrated, so just be sure to check the individual listings depending on what you need. Be mindful that if the flavour paste is coloured, that will impact on the shade of your buttercream.
How much flavouring should I add to buttercream?
The key when learning to flavour buttercream is to start with a little and build up gradually! The amount needed varies entirely depending on the type of flavouring you choose. This table gives a rough overview of what to start with for each.
Please note - this is a very basic starting off point. Each brand of food flavouring will have their own dosage instructions, so pay attention to that at all times.
| Type of food flavouring | Amount needed to flavour 500g buttercream |
| Flavour Concentrate | Start with a couple of drops |
| Flavour Extract | Start with one teaspoon |
| Baking Emulsion | Start with one teaspoon |
| Flavour Paste | Start with one tablespoon |
| Powder Flavouring | Start with one teaspoon |
Can I flavour buttercream naturally without extracts?
You can absolutely make up your own natural flavourings to flavour buttercream if you want to avoid using extracts. There are a few ways you can do this effectively.
You could start off simple with a citrus juice, like lemon or lime - just make sure not to use too much or you risk thinning out your buttercream!
If you want to go a step further, you can cook some fruit, softening it down into a paste (add a little water if needed) which, when cooled, you can add to your buttercream.
Or, you can make your very own powder flavouring by blending frozen fruits into a powder form and add them to your buttercream that way.
How can I make chocolate buttercream?
There are a few different ways to make chocolate buttercream. Chocolate frosting is always popular, so it's good to have these options in your baking kit!
Can I use Cocoa Powder to flavour buttercream?
You can flavour buttercream with cocoa powder for a rich, chocolatey taste! This is probably the most popular way to make it. Simply add in 50g of cocoa powder to 450g of icing sugar (or equivalent amounts!) and mix with your butter (in this case, 250g).
Can I use Melted Chocolate to flavour buttercream?
Melted chocolate is a great option as it gives a really creamy, authentic taste! It is a little more time consuming than cocoa powder, as you have to melt down your chocolate in the microwave or bain-marie. Once melted, gently fold into your buttercream until fully incorporated.
Is Chocolate Paste, Liquid or Powder flavouring good for buttercream?
Many of our favourite brands have ready made chocolate flavourings you can add to your buttercream. Fractal Colors, LorAnn and Foodie Flavours are just a few options!
How can I make coffee flavour buttercream?
You can make coffee buttercream using instant coffee granules, or espresso powder. Simply mix together your coffee with either water or milk and let it fully dissolve. Set it the side while you make up your buttercream. Add it in as the final step and, again, mix until fully incorporated.
Or, like with the chocolate flavouring, you can work with a coffee flavouring from one of our favourite brands.
Can I flavour buttercream with Nutella?
Absolutely! You can easily use Nutella (or other spreads like Biscoff) to flavour your buttercream. Add it in at the end, once your butter and icing sugar have been fully mixed together, and combine together. It's a really easy way to add a delicious flavour for filling or frosting!
Now you know how to flavour buttercream, all that's left is to pick your vibe! Our flavourings collection is packed with everything you could need. And remember, if you're in a rush and don't have time to flavour your own, we have a fantastic selection of pre-flavoured buttercreams and frostings to shop here.
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