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Sour Cream Frosting – Tangy and Sweet Buttercream Frosting

Published 1/27/2020, Last updated 11/14/2022 by Stef

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Sour cream frosting adds a delicious tangy note to the classic sweetness of buttercream frosting. This sour cream frosting won’t taste like sour cream, but people will notice its wonderful bright flavor when paired with all manner of desserts.

Cupcake topped with sour cream frosting — This sour cream icing is a great substitute for cream cheese icing or buttercream frosting!

Adding just a touch of sour cream into frosting can make a world of difference!

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Tips for Making Sour Cream Icing

You can take a few steps to make sure that your sour cream frosting recipe comes out great every time:

Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature. The butter needs to be soft but not melting, and the sour cream should have been sitting out of the refrigerator for a few hours before you begin.

Adding sour cream to frosting — Sour cream icing will have a similar consistency to a classic buttercream but with a slightly tangy flavor that adds interest to your favorite baked goods!

Beat the butter on high speed with an electric mixer for three minutes. Beating the butter this long is necessary to incorporate air; if you beat it for too short of a time, the frosting will be heavy instead of light and airy.
You can use vanilla extract, but try using vanilla bean paste for a stronger vanilla flavor. It’s made with actual vanilla beans and the flavor is sensational.

vanilla bean paste on a spoon — Vanilla bean paste will give your sour cream icing a strong and authentic vanilla flavor.

Best Ways to Use Sour Cream Icing

Lemon Cupcakes (Use instead of lemon frosting with lemon cupcakes if you don’t want too intense of a lemon flavor.)
Cherry cupcakes (You’ve heard of sour cherries, but sour cream paired with cherries is just as good!)
Banana cupcakes (Bananas go really well with the tart flavor of sour cream.)
Vanilla cake (This sour cream frosting goes perfectly with any vanilla cake recipe.)
NY Cheesecake (Pipe the frosting on top of cheesecake instead of whipped cream to make it even more decadent!)

Piping sour cream frosting on a cupcake — This sour cream buttercream frosting has gorgeous specks from the vanilla bean paste and makes a great topping for all of your favorite desserts and baked goods!

Substitutions

Use full-fat sour cream for the richest frosting flavor. However, low-fat sour cream and even Greek yogurt will also work.

You can also use cream cheese and it will be great – but I like to use a higher ratio of cream cheese to butter than I do sour cream to butter. See my cream cheese frosting recipe for the exact recipe.

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4.49 from 47 votes

Sour Cream Frosting

Add a delicious, tangy taste to the classic sweetness of buttercream frosting with this recipe for sour cream icing.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 5

Total Time 10

Servings servings

Calories 263kcal

Author Stefani

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
▢ 3 cups confectioners’ sugar add more until it reaches your preferred consistency
▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract use vanilla bean paste for a stronger vanilla flavor
▢ 1/2 teaspoon table salt
▢ 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream room temperature

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Beat butter on high speed with an electric mixer for about three minutes until light and airy.
Mix in confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar) a little bit at a time.
Add vanilla, salt, and sour cream and continue to beat for another minute. If desired, add more more confectioners' sugar to make the buttercream frosting stiffer.

Notes

This frosting frosts about 12 cupcakes with a large swirl or an 8″ square cake.

Nutrition

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