Let me teach you how to make naturally flavored (and naturally colored) strawberry buttercream frosting. The secret is to replace some confectioners’ sugar with freeze-dried strawberry powder. This strawberry buttercream is ultra creamy and smooth, with loads of real strawberry flavor.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and a few more success tips.
One reader, Kristen, commented: “I made a variety of cupcakes for a wedding. I made this frosting and I have to say it was easy to make and hands down the best frosting I’ve ever had. I love all of your recipes. ★★★★★“
Let’s talk about how to make naturally flavored, naturally pink strawberry buttercream frosting.
Have you ever tried making frosting with fresh strawberries? I have, and the results were disastrous. I chopped up the strawberries, even blotted the moisture a little bit, pureed them, and then added it to a vanilla frosting. The buttercream instantly curdled as a result of the excess moisture—yuck! Same thing happened with strawberry jam, which also made the frosting too sweet.
Instead of relying on artificial strawberry flavor, I tried a trick I learned while writing my cookbook Sally’s Candy Addiction. Use freeze-dried strawberry powder!
I have a recipe for strawberry buttercream candies in that cookbook—they’re actually the pretty pink striped candies you see on the cover. The filling is creamy and smooth with lots of concentrated strawberry flavor, which comes from—you guessed it—ground freeze-dried strawberries. I decided to make actual strawberry frosting the same exact way. It’s really easy.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting (6 Ingredients)
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: You’ll grind these into a powder. Want to make a raspberry buttercream? Use freeze-dried raspberries instead.
- Unsalted Butter: Start with room temperature butter. Room temperature butter is actually cooler than you think. If the butter is too warm, the frosting will be greasy.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Confectioners’ sugar is the bulk of this frosting, sweetening it and binding the ingredients together.
- Heavy Cream or Milk: Liquid thins out and adds creaminess to the frosting. You can use heavy cream, milk, or even half-and-half.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds incredible flavor.
- Salt: A pinch of salt offsets all the sweetness.
That’s it! No artificial flavoring or food coloring in this pretty pink strawberry frosting.
Grind the freeze-dried strawberries into powder using a food processor or blender:
Success Tip for Super-Smooth Strawberry Buttercream:
If you prefer a smoother strawberry buttercream, with none of the teeny-tiny seeds, you can sift out the seeds and larger pieces of the ground freeze-dried strawberries with a fine mesh sieve, and use just the super-fine strawberry dust. If I have an extra minute, I usually do this.
The rest of the recipe is similar to making regular vanilla buttercream or chocolate buttercream. You’ll need a handheld or stand mixer.
Where Can I Buy Freeze-Dried Strawberries?
I always find freeze-dried strawberries in my regular grocery store in the dried fruit aisle. Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, and Amazon all carry them.
Do not use “dried strawberries,” which are chewy like raisins or dried apricots. They have a gummy texture and don’t grind into a powder. You need freeze-dried strawberries, which have all of the moisture removed. There’s also freeze-dried raspberries, which is an ingredient we use to coat these chocolate raspberry crinkle cookies.
What Tastes Best With Strawberry Buttercream?
The dessert flavor-combo possibilities are endless! This recipe makes enough for a dozen cupcakes, a 3-layer 6-inch cake, or a 9×13-inch quarter vanilla sheet cake. I would 1.5x the recipe for a 2-layer cake.
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Pistachio Cupcakes (pictured below)
- Confetti Sprinkle Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cupcakes
- Strawberry Cupcakes
- Peanut Butter Cupcakes (for a PB&J flavor combo)
- Piñata Cupcakes
- Vanilla 6-Inch Cake
- Fruit Pizza
- Lemon Cupcakes (pictured below)
I also halve the recipe and use it to fill these chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes.
Strawberry Frosting Variations
If you love strawberry buttercream frosting, you’ll also love these delicious variations!
- Strawberry cream cheese frosting from this strawberry cake
- White chocolate strawberry buttercream from these white chocolate strawberry cupcakes
- Nutella-strawberry swirl buttercream from my Valentine’s Day cupcakes
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: about 3 cups
- Category: Frosting
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Freeze-dried strawberries are the secret to adding real flavor and natural color to strawberry buttercream frosting. Rich and creamy, this flavorful frosting pairs perfectly with an array of confections including chocolate cupcakes, lemon cupcakes, and/or a vanilla sheet cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (about 25g) freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream or whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Using a food processor or blender, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a powdery crumb. You should have around 1/2 cup. If it’s not grinding down fine enough, you can sift it with a fine mesh sieve to rid larger seeds/pieces. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, strawberry powder, heavy cream/milk, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Taste. Add 1–2 more Tablespoons of heavy cream/milk if needed to thin out, if desired. (I usually add at least 1 more.) Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- Use immediately or cover tightly and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer. After freezing, thaw in the refrigerator then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. After thawing or refrigerating, beating in a splash of heavy cream or milk will help thin the frosting out again, if needed. (It stiffens in the refrigerator.)
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Fine Mesh Sieve | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer)
- Where to find freeze-dried strawberries: I always find freeze-dried strawberries in my regular grocery store in the dried fruit aisle. Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, some dollar stores, Target, and Amazon carry them.
- Do not use fresh, frozen, or dried strawberries. Fresh and frozen strawberries add too much moisture. Dried strawberries are chewy like raisins or dried apricots. They have a gummy texture and don’t grind into a powder. You need freeze-dried strawberries, which have all of the moisture removed.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream produces an extra creamy frosting, but whole milk or half-and-half work too. Lower fat or nondairy milks work in a pinch, but the frosting won’t be as creamy.
- Quantity: This recipe is enough to frost 12–18 cupcakes, or a thin layer on a 9×13-inch quarter sheet cake. 1.5x the recipe for a 2-layer cake. (Doubling the recipe would be far too much.)
Reader Comments and Reviews
Wow! This was so good. What a great idea to use freeze dried strawberries. Went perfectly with a strawberry cake for my daughter’s birthday party. The flavor was spot on. Highly recommend!!
Personal preference for a stronger fruit flavor and less sweetness, so I halved the powdered sugar by weight (210 g) and it was still plenty sweet with an excellent texture/thickness – I still had to add some extra heavy cream to thin it out towards the end. A little extra salt helps it sing. I ended up using a whole bag of Trader Joe’s freeze dried strawberries (about 35 g), knowing that I would lose some when I sieved out the seeds and larger pieces that didn’t get pulverized. I think my sieve wasn’t fine enough as plenty of seeds still made it in but the texture was still nicely smooth.
These topped some mini funfetti (also a Sally recipe) and mini chocolate cupcakes and were a perfect combo.
My kid’s one request for his bday dessert was strawberry frosting and he was so happy!
For the freeze dried strawberries, is it 1/2 cup (25g) measured as sliced strawberries or 1/2 cup (25g) once ground into a powder? I tried weighing out 25g of the powder form thinking it wouldn’t matter which form since I was weighing it, and my icing tastes extremely bitter. Not sure if I used too much? Or maybe it was just the brand I bought?
I tried adding more sugar, more whipping cream, and more salt, and even mixed in about 4 oz of cream cheese – it helped but still very tart? Any help/feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Amanda, It will be 25g (about one cup) of sliced strawberries and then ground into a powder.
Can I use this recipe for a 3 layer 6in cake or would it be to much frosting?
Hi Kate, it should be just about the right amount. You may need a little more if you plant to do extra decorative piping.
I didn’t see the recommendation of doing 1.5 for a 2 layer cake until it was too late so it wasn’t enough to cover the whole cake but when I say this frosting is AMAZING….I mean it’s probably the best strawberry frosting I’ve ever had! This will be my go to from now one!
Hi, id like to use this to frost some cupcakes for a baby shower. Will the frosting stay stable for a few hours in the outdoor heat?
Hi Harmony, that shouldn’t be a problem, but of course will vary on the exact temperature. If you can, keep them out of direct sunlight and keep them in the refrigerator before setting out, so that they are starting out cold. Hope this helps!
Hi Sally! I came across a recipe for vanilla cookies and it suggested that buttercream frosting or sprinkles etc. would be a good compliment on top. Do you think this icing would do well on the cookies? Thanks!
Hi Lindsey, we can’t see why not!
So tasty!
Did the strawberry one and one with freeze dried Raspberries, came out perfect.
Would recommend wearing a mask when working with the freeze dried fruits during and after blending, to avoid inhaling the dust.
I absolutely love this recipe so much, thank you!! I’m wondering… Can I make this with freeze dried blueberries?
Hi Sabrina, Sure can!
Oh my a delight! I forgot about the salt but didn’t find it too sweet at all. I used it on a homemade angel food cake and it was soo good. It was very hard not to eat the remainder out of the bowl! I got the strawberries at Aldi’s and one bag had over a cup in it.
Is this frosting stable enough to use between layers too?
Thanks
Absolutely!
Hi (: I’m glad I found your site. Please tell me if I can use freeze dried strawberry powder instead of the sliced strawberries? My blender isn’t very efficient. I wanted to know what brand you use so I make sure to get the right flavor. Amazon sells an organic freeze dried powder by micro ingredients? Also if you think the powder will work as well, do I use 1/2 cup of powder instead of the 1 cup sliced? I appreciate your help. Beginner baker. I’m excited for a strawberry frosting for a birthday cake. Thank you!
Hi Holli, this recipe does call for freeze dried strawberries. Are you thinking of another one by chance?
Thank you, I’m just going to try the freeze dried strawberry powder. Hope it works.
Would this buttercream work well in macarons?
Absolutely!
Do I need to refrigerate cupcakes with this frosting?
Hi Susan, After decorating anything with buttercream frosting, it’s fine for 1 day at room temperature. After that, we would refrigerate it. But, use your best judgment and whatever you are comfortable with- we’ve never had any problems leaving frosted desserts at room temperature for a day.
I halved this recipe for a smaller cake and ground up 14 grams of freeze dried strawberries. The color was lovely but flavor was not that intense. Will up the amount next time.
For this recipe, how much freeze dried strawberries do I need to purchase? Will a 2oz package be enough or too much?
Hi Leslie, you’ll need 1 cup (about 25g) of freeze dried strawberries.
Hi Sally, I have made this icing a number of times and it is always a hit thank you! Can you tell me though, would it be enough to cover the two layer Perfect White Cake?
This was absolutely delicious! I used it to make strawberry lemonade cupcakes (lemon cupcake, strawberry buttercream). I found my freeze dried strawberries at Aldi. This recipe is already printed and put in my recipe binder (which is a place of honor!).
Can I freeze this frosting?
Hi Melissa, yes, frosting will freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Would this be good on your strawberry cake recipe?
Yes, absolutely. We love both this strawberry buttercream and the cream cheese strawberry frosting on that cake.
This frosting is exquisite. Have you tried it with any other freeze dried fruit: mango, blueberry, etc?
Hi Morgan! We haven’t tested varieties other than other berries, but we don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Would love to hear what you try.
Hi sally, I’m making this frosting this weekend for my son’s birthday. Could use half the icing sugar and still keep the same consistency in the frosting?
Hi Lindsey, unfortunately, no; the icing sugar is needed to thicken the frosting as well as sweeten. If you want a slightly less sweet strawberry frosting, you could try the strawberry cream cheese frosting from this recipe for strawberry cake. Hope this helps!
This is an amazing icing! The flavor is spot on. I will say that you should definitely use the weight (25 grams) as opposed to the measure as mine blended down to less than a half cup and I was worried it wouldn’t be enough but it was perfect!
This strawberry frosting is perfect! I used it on a chocolate cake, and it’s so yummy!
This was perfect! I would double it next time to pipe decorations on it. Otherwise, the batch as is provided just enough for two-9 in rounds plus a layer of frosting in the middle.
Hi Sally! I’m using this to frost your three layer lemon cake. Can I replace the vanilla extract with lemon extract to amp up the overall lemon flavor? Thanks!
Hi Amy, that could work – we would still use vanilla, though. You could try half and half. Or you could layer in some lemon curd when assembling your cake – yum!
I want to decorate an 8 in cake but I’m going to use filling inside so there will only be and ring of froting for each layer. There will be 2 layers cut in half so 4 layers. But I want to decorate the tops and the sides like a bento cake. SHould I still double it.
Yes, we would still double the recipe so you have enough for decorations.
I have made this so many times. I love them and so do the receiving party
I am confused. Do I need 1 cup or 1/2 cup of freeze dried powder?
Hi Kat! You need about 1 cup of freeze dried strawberries, ground down into 1/2 cup powder.
I made the mistake of using 1 cup of powder and it was so bitter. I tried to fix it with more sugar, more milk and it just didn’t work. It’s really dark red not a light pink and I am not sure what to do with it. I am thinking I might ad another cup of butter and just double the recipe to try and fix it. So, not 1 cup of powder it won’t work for you. Hoping to find a way to salvage what I have.
I have made this buttercream several times. It is so delicious and not too sweet. It is the first to be eaten every time I make a variety of cupcakes.
Would this recipe pair with “The Best Vanilla Cake I’ve Ever Had”? Is this enough for a 3 layer cake?
Hi Molly, absolutely, those two would go great together. We’d double the recipe for a 3 layer cake.
Measurements for 1.5x:
1½ cup freeze dried strawberries
1½ cups (340g) softened butter
6 cups (720g) confectioners sugar
90ml (just shy of ½ cup) heavy cream or full fat milk, room temp
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
After food processing the strawberries, there should be ~¾ cup strawberry powder.