How Much Frosting Do You Add 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.

The Best Black Buttercream Frosting Recipe

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.

Perfect Buttercream Frosting

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.

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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.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe

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. […]

Minute Vanilla Frosting, Quick Vanilla Frosting

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!Learn how to make buttercream frosting with this easy tutorial. This is the BEST recipe forhomemade buttercream, it pipes perfectly, and makes a great base for other frosting flavors too!

The Best Ever Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe (with Video)

Today we’re covering how to make buttercream frosting. Actually, we’re covering just how EASY it is to make your own frosting right at home. If you’ve been buying store-bought, you’ll want to ditch it after seeing just how easy it is to make your own.

I originally published this recipe in January of 2017, but decided it was finally time to update it with better instructions and more information. In today’s post, I’m breaking down everything you need to know about how to make the best buttercream frosting.

This recipe also makes a great base for so many different flavor variations. The possibilities are really endless, but I’ve included four different variations for you to try!

Dairy Free Frosting Recipe (vegan)

This easy buttercream frosting uses just 5 ingredients – butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Here’s a simple overview of each ingredient:

To start, set your butter out ahead of time so that it can soften. This will ensure that the frosting issmooth and creamy. You will need two sticks of unsalted butter, which is equal to 1 cup or 230 grams.

Beatthe butter with a mixer for about 1 minute, just until it’s nice and smooth. You can either use a handheld mixer or stand mixer for this recipe, either one works fine!

Easy Butter Icing

Next, you’ll mix in the powdered sugar. I typically only use 3 cups of powdered sugar for a batch of this frosting. Some recipes call for quite a bit more powdered sugar, but I’ve found that 3 cups is all you really need. Feel free to sift the powdered sugar, but as I mentioned earlier, I usually skip this step.

Note:When you first start mixing the powdered sugar with the butter, mix it on low speed so you don’t end up throwing itall over the place. You may also mix the powdered sugar in 1 cup at a time to make it easier.

Once the butter and powdered sugar are mixed together, mix in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. If needed, stop and scrape down the sides of your bowl and mix again to make sure everything is well combined.

Dairy Free Vanilla Frosting Recipe

Easy, right? At this point, you can go ahead and use this frosting to pipe onto cupcakes or decorate a cake. Or you can store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

The best thing about this recipeis that you can change it up to make different flavors of frosting. I’ve included 4 different variations below, but keep in mind that you can do so much more with this recipe.

This frosting can be made 1 to 2 days in advance. While it’s not necessary to refrigerate it, I do recommend covering it tightly and storing it in the refrigerator so it stays fresh longer. When you are ready to use it, bring it to room temperature, and mix well before frosting cupcakes or a cake.

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This will also freeze well for up to 3 months in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature and mix well before using it.

Learn how to make buttercream frosting with this easy tutorial. This is the BEST recipe for homemade buttercream, it pipes perfectly, and makes a great base for other frosting flavors too!

Storage Instructions: Frosting can be made 1 to 2 days in advance, cover tightly and transfer to the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting cupcakes/cakes.

How To Make Buttercream Frosting

Freezing Instructions: Frosting will also freeze well up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature and mix well before frosting cupcakes/cakes.

Heavy Cream: You may replace the heavy cream with milk, but keep in mind that the frosting won't be quite as creamy.