Flavoring Buttercream

You can flavor buttercream with virtually anything: ground spices such as cinnamon or ginger, coffee, chocolate, spirits such as kirsch or Cognac, or vanilla or almond extract. Most of these flavorings should be added to taste, a very little bit at a time. Liquid ingredients must be used very sparingly because if you add too much, you’ll make the buttercream too runny—avoid adding more than 1 tablespoon liquid per 1 cup of buttercream. If you want more flavor from a liquid ingredient such as brandy, add it to a simple syrup and brush it onto the cake layers instead of adding it all to the buttercream. All the flavorings listed below should be added to finished buttercream; beat the flavoring in until it’s thoroughly incorporated and the buttercream is light and fluffy. This usually takes about one minute in a stand mixer equipped with the whisk attachment on high speed.