How Much Frosting Do You Add To Cake To Make Cake Pops

The age old question…how much buttercream do I need?? For a batch of cupcakes? A 6-inch layer cake? For a wedding cake?!

This post shares everything you need to know to make the perfect amount of frosting for any baking project. It’s basically the frosting version of my cake batter calculator.

This guide can be used for pretty much any type of frosting. Whether you’re using American, Swiss, Italian, Russian, or even German, a cup of frosting is a cup of frosting.

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My only note on this is that I find I sometimes need a tiny bit more American buttercream to make a perfectly smooth cake.

If I’m using a meringue-based frosting, it usually is a bit easier to smooth and I can use slightly less on the sides of the cake.

To know how much frosting we’ll need, we need to use the formula of a cylinder, the formula of a circle, and then back out how many cubic inches are in a cup to get to our answer.

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(area of a circle x thickness of the layer of frosting x number of layers) + (surface area of a cylinder minus top and bottom)) / by cubic inches per cup

I had to make some assumptions in this formula, including that the outer coat of frosting will be about 1/4 inch thick, and that the frosting layers inside the cake will be about 1/3 inch thick.

This is based on how I actually decorate my cakes! I love thick layers of frosting inside, just like in my death by chocolate cake shown above.

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However, if you use a lot less frosting between your cake layers, or if you want to make a design that requires a lot of extra buttercream (like buttercream rosettes) these numbers might need to be adjusted.

If you aren’t a big fan of math, don’t worry! I’ve used this formula to create a chart below that’s super easy to use. It’ll instantly tell you how much buttercream you need 🙂

In general, I find one batch or about 6 cups of frosting is the perfect amount for a 7-inch or 8-inch layer cake that’s decorated with buttercream swirls on top.

How Much Buttercream Do I Need? Helpful Chart & Guide

Based on the size of your cake, use the charts below to figure out how much frosting you need. This is just to fill, crumb coat, and cover a layer cake.

Add an additional 1-2 cups of frosting to the numbers below if you want to pipe large buttercream swirls on top of the cake.

Or if you want to make a frosting-intensive design like covering a cake in buttercream rosettes, add an additional 2-3 cups of frosting for a cake ranging from 6-8 inches. It sounds insane, but those designs require so much extra frosting!

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Most recipe cards list the yield at the top of the recipe card or will share it in the notes section at the bottom of the recipe card.

Now that you know how many cups of frosting you need, you can back into how many batches of frosting you’ll need to make.

I’d love to hear if you found this post helpful, or if you end up using it! Tag me @ and # on social media.

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Hi Chelsea, I am using your chart to determine how much frosting I need for my daughter’s wedding cake. I wonder how much I should reduce, in cups, for a semi-naked cake?

Hi Chelsea, Thank you so much for the formula. I was trying to compute how much filling vs. frosting as I am going to fill with a different buttercream. I used the formulas you gave (Thanks for this) then spent several minutes trying to figure out why my numbers were lower than yours I finally realized that you are multiplying by the number of layers for the filling calculation as opposed to (number of layers -1) which is effectively the number of filling layers. I will use your formula to be on the safe side and since it is tried and true. When I use the number of cake layers instead of filling layers, my frosting + filling cups match yours. I really appreciate your thorough explanation.

[…] If you’re struggling to figure out how much buttercream you need for a larger cake, check out my buttercream calculator. […]

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Could you please make a chart for sheet cakes or would I just do one and a half batches of a square?

Thank you for this I am not sure how to calculate how much buttercream to make if I have to decorate about 80 cupcakes with simple rosettes . Can you help me out?

It can vary a bit based on how big of a rosette you pipe, but I'd estimate that you'd need about 2 cups per dozen, so probably about 12-13 cups for 80 cupcakes. Hope that helps, happy baking!Irvin is a critically acclaimed cookbook author and food blogger. His cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered was chosen as one of the best baking cookbooks of 2016 in the New York Times.

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A layer cake can be simultaneously comforting and sophisticated. But for some folks, making and frosting a layer cake can be a daunting task.

Here's the easy way to frost a cake, from setting the layers and applying the crumb coat, to the finishing frosting and decorating.

But first, before you get started, make sure a few things are set and ready. Follow these three tips to ensure you give yourself the best possible chance to make a great-looking frosted layer cake!

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Frosting a just-baked, still-warm cake layer is a recipe for disaster! Let the cakes cool in their pan for 20 to 30 minutes, then unmold them onto a wire rack and let them cool to room temperature, about 2 to 3 hours depending on the ambient temperature of your kitchen.

I like to chill the cake for an hour in the fridge, which helps firm up the cake crumb as well, but this isn’t absolutely necessary. It’s just helpful and makes frosting a little bit easier.

If the cake layers developed a domed top during baking, take the time to level the layers by slicing the top dome off the cake. Again, slicing off a domed cake layer is easier to do if the cake has been chilled in the fridge, but it’s not always necessary.

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If you made your frosting ahead of time and stored it in the fridge or freezer, make sure it’s at room temperature as well. Cold frosting is difficult to work with and doesn’t spread easily.

Once the frosting is brought to room temperature, use a mixer on the frosting for 20 to 30 seconds to make sure the temperature and consistency of the frosting is even and to fluff it up again. Stored frosting in the refrigerator or freezer is denser than recently made frosting

You don’t need any special tools to frost a cake, but there is some specialty kitchen equipment that will make frosting a cake much easier.

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The mix and matching of cakes and frosting is a personal choice, especially when it comes to flavor combinations! That said, some frostings are sturdier and better for layer cakes.

I like to chill my cake layers for up to an hour in the fridge before frosting. Cake, with its delicate crumb, can be fragile as you spread frosting on it; chilling firms it up and makes it more forgiving when you frost it. (Chilling the cake after you apply the crumb coating helps as well for the same reason.)

I’ve also frosted plenty of cakes without chilling the cake layers! As long as you have a completely cooled cake and your kitchen is cool, you’ll be fine frosting the cake as is without chilling it.

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I usually recommend at least 4 to 5 cups of frosting for a two-layer cake and 5 to 6 cups of frosting for a three-layer cake. I also always make a little bit extra just in case. It’s better to make a little extra frosting and have it for decorating than to run out of frosting halfway through and have to make more.

Keep in mind that most extra frosting can be frozen in a resealable ziptop bag if you wish. If I am traveling with the cake, I often bring that spare frosting with me, as a “repair kit” in case of emergency. You never know what could happen in transit!

When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.Lately I’ve been trying to get back to basics. While I’ve shared tons of my favorite cake recipes, I’ve never shared a detailed post on how to

How Much Buttercream Do I Need? Helpful Chart Included!