Raspberry Buttercream Frosting (Fresh or Frozen Raspberries)

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This best ever raspberry buttercream recipe uses real raspberries for that punchy zingy raspberry flavour. Perfect for all the raspberry lovers out there!

This creamy raspberry frosting is an American-style buttercream, made from scratch.

It also has a bright natural pink colour, making it easy to turn any treat into a cute pink dessert!

It’s perfect for topping desserts for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, bridal showers and girl baby showers.

homemade raspberry buttercream piped onto a cupcake with fresh raspberries around it

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✏️ Recipe creation
🥘 Ingredients
🔪 Equipment
📖 Method
🍱 Storage
💭 Top tips
❔ FAQs
♻️ Variations
🧁 Frosting uses
🍪 Other goodies
📋 Recipe

✏️ Recipe creation

I’m a huge fan of raspberries, and I’m a little bit obsessed with this homemade raspberry buttercream. It’s got that fresh and tangy flavour with a hint of lemon that ups the zingy taste!

Using real raspberries in your buttercream is a bit more faff than using jam, jelly or preserves from the grocery store, but the homemade raspberry reduction gives it an unbeatable flavour.

You can also use either fresh or frozen raspberries! I love using seasonal ingredients and this recipe is great for using up leftover raspberries too.

It’s the perfect recipe for adding a fresh summer twist to your cakes and bakes.

🥘 Ingredients

This frosting recipe calls for the following ingredients:

Raspberries
Fresh lemon juice
Water
Unsalted butter
Icing sugar (powdered confectioners’ sugar)
Salt (optional)

See the recipe card for quantities.

Ingredient substitutions

For this raspberry frosting, you can use either frozen or fresh raspberries. I prefer using fresh fruit as I find it easier to work with, but both will give you great homemade frosting.

I usually use fresh red raspberries for this delicious recipe, but you can also use black raspberries.

It’s best to use fresh lemon juice in this recipe, but bottled lemon juice will also work if you don’t have a lemon. You can also add some lemon zest for some extra flavour!

Ingredient tips

Room temperature ingredients mix better than cold ones. Take your butter out of the fridge to come up to room temperature before you start making your frosting. For me, this takes about 30mins to warm up.

Using unsalted butter lets you control the amount of salt in your frosting. I like mine to be low salt so I don’t add much, but you can add an optional pinch or ⅛ teaspoon of salt to taste.

For a smooth frosting, sieve your powdered sugar (a.k.a icing sugar or confectioners’ sugar).

To measure your ingredients, it’s best to use weights rather than cups for better accuracy.

🔪 Equipment

I use the following equipment for this recipe:

Blender / food processor
Small saucepan
Electric hand mixer or stand mixer (or whisk/fork)
Medium / large mixing bowl (unless using a stand mixer)
Sieve
Silicone spatula or wooden spoon
Weighing scales or measuring cups
Measuring spoons

homemade raspberry buttercream in a mixing bowl with fresh raspberries around it

Equipment alternatives

I usually use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer with a large or medium bowl for this recipe because it’s really easy.

You can instead swap to use a whisk, spatula or fork. This might take some elbow grease though!

You can use a metal sieve or fine mesh strainer to sieve your raspberry puree.

Equipment tips

I use digital scales to weigh ingredients as it's quick, easy and accurate.

Use real measuring spoons. Cutlery teaspoons and tablespoons aren’t actually the correct volume.

I’d also recommend levelling off any heaped scoops for a more accurate measurement.

When using a stand mixer, I like to use the paddle attachment with a low or medium speed to remove air bubbles and reduce the chance of overmixing.

It’s a good idea to scrape down the sides and bottom of the stand mixer bowl a few times to get an even mixture while you beat the butter and frosting.

📖 Method

Puree raspberries, lemon juice and water in a blender or food processor then press it through a sieve into a small-medium saucepan.

Discard the pulp and heat the sieved juice on a low-medium heat for 10-15mins, until reduced to a thick liquid.

Raspberry puree before and after heating to raspberry reduction — Raspberry puree (before) heated to raspberry reduction (after)

Allow the reduction to cool while you beat the butter, using a hand mixer in a large bowl or a stand mixer, for several minutes until pale and fluffy.

Next, sieve in half of your powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Repeat with the other half of your powdered sugar.

Beat in the raspberry reduction, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired flavour and consistency, and salt (if using), then enjoy!

🍱 Storage

Your raspberry buttercream should last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

You can also freeze your frosting for up to 3 months in an airtight container. It’s best to label your frozen frosting with what it is and when it was frozen so you don’t forget.

Defrost your buttercream and re-beat it before use.

💭 Top tips

If using frozen raspberries, it's easier if you thaw them or microwave them (30-45secs) first before you puree them. That way, you can push more fruit puree through the sieve.

For the most intense raspberry flavor, push as much raspberry puree through your sieve as you can.

For creamy frosting, beat your butter until it’s pale, light and fluffy before adding your other ingredients. This could take several minutes with an electric mixer and longer by hand.

If you’re using an electric mixer, you can sometimes get a cloud of powdered sugar kicked up into the air. To stop this, stir your sieved powdered sugar into the butter with a wooden spoon or spatula briefly before using the electric mixer again. Though if you want to breathe tasty sugar air, I won’t judge!

If your raspberry frosting is too thick to pipe, then you can add more raspberry reduction, milk or heavy cream (½ tablespoon at a time) to thin the frosting until you get the desired consistency.

If your frosting is too thin, you can try chilling it in the fridge for 15-20mins before use. Alternatively, you can beat in a few more tablespoons of butter to thicken it.

If you want a strong pink color, you can add pink or red food coloring to your raspberry buttercream. I recommend using a gel colouring to prevent adding too much liquid. The photos shown here are the natural colour from the fresh raspberries.

If you have any leftover frosting, use it for cake pops and cakesicles!

❔ FAQs

How long does homemade raspberry buttercream last?

Your raspberry buttercream should last for up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

You may need to bring it to room temperature and re-beat it before use.

Can you freeze raspberry buttercream?

Yes! You can freeze your buttercream stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost and re-beat before use.

Can you make raspberry frosting ahead of time?

Yes, you can make your raspberry frosting ahead of time and either keep it in the fridge (up to 4 days) or freeze it (up to 3 months) until you’re ready to use it.

How do you get rid of air bubbles in frosting?

To get rid of air bubbles in your frosting, beat it on a low speed using a paddle attachment. The whisk attachment can sometimes add too much air.

Alternatively, you can stir it with a spatula or wooden spoon by hand for a few minutes.

Troubleshooting

If you’ve got any specific questions on making your fresh raspberry frosting, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to help out!

Alternatively, you can get in touch via my Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest – I’d love to hear from you!

homemade raspberry buttercream piped onto a cupcake with fresh raspberries

♻️ Variations

Flavour options

I love this delicious raspberry frosting as it is, but you can add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to your frosting for a sweet vanilla twist on your icing.

This raspberry buttercream frosting recipe lends really well to the addition of alcohol.

Add a boozy twist to your frosting with 1 tablespoon of Chambord, Baileys, limoncello or any spirit/liqueur of your choice. Do this as the last step.

Frosting options

You can also swap half of the butter for cream cheese to make a raspberry cream cheese frosting instead.

Another option is adding your raspberry puree to a swiss meringue buttercream.

You can make your frosting creamier by adding 1 tablespoon of heavy cream or sour cream.

Vegan option

To make vegan raspberry frosting, you can swap the butter for a firm dairy-free butter (baking block). You must use the solid kind rather than a liquid or soft variety.

If you’re baking for vegans, be sure to then use your vegan raspberry frosting on a vegan cupcake, cake or cookie!

Gluten-free

This is a gluten-free raspberry buttercream recipe, but always check your ingredients for cross-contamination if you're unsure.

🧁 Frosting uses

You can use this raspberry icing to frost your cupcakes, cakes, cookies, macarons, blondies, brownies and more!

Frost your baked goods with this homemade raspberry buttercream by spreading a generous amount using an offset spatula or knife.

Alternatively, you can pipe your buttercream using a piping bag and a piping nozzle of your choice.

When I frost cakes and cupcakes, I usually use the nozzles from this large piping tips set.

I also love this frosting as a cake filling, between your cake layers for a real raspberry flavour in your layer cakes.

You can take your sheet cakes to the next level with this fresh frosting!

Personally, I love combining chocolate and raspberry, so adding it to chocolate cake or chocolate cupcakes is perfect!

Add it to your favourite cupcake recipes, like these matcha cupcakes, funfetti cupcakes or Bailey’s cupcakes.

I use this recipe on vanilla cupcakes for the delicious raspberry vanilla cupcakes.

You can make lemon raspberry cupcakes by adding extra ½ tablespoon lemon juice to your frosting and sprinkling lemon zest on the top of cupcakes!

Amounts

This recipe makes enough to frost 10-12 cupcakes (regular size). Make sure you’re using cool cupcakes not ones fresh from the oven.

To frost a cake fully (outside coating and between layers), you’ll need to double this recipe (scale up by x2) for a 3-layer round 6-inch cake.

For a 3-layer round 8-inch cake, triple this recipe (i.e. scale up by x3).

Depending on how sweet you like your traybakes, you’ll only need half the amount of this frosting recipe for 8-inch square traybake cakes or brownies. Spread a thick layer across your cooled traybake before cutting it into slices.

Great goodies to frost

Raspberry buttercream would go great on these treats:

Toppings and decorations

There’s a lot of great options for topping your berry buttercream.

One of my favourite ideas is to top your frosted sweet treats with fruit. Freeze-dried raspberries and fresh raspberries are perfect!

Pieces of other fruits like strawberries and blueberries also work a treat.

If you want your fresh fruit to last longer, you can glaze it with raspberry jam or a syrup like golden syrup.

You can also top your frosting with raspberry sauce or coulis.

Another classic idea is to drizzle melted white chocolate, milk chocolate or semi-sweet / dark chocolate on top. Decorate with fun and colourful sprinkles or chocolate chips too!