Whether you’re creating an intricate cake design, filling and frosting a cake of a specific size, or decorating a multitude of cupcakes, it can be overwhelming to estimate just how much buttercream frosting you’ll need for the task. Each of my buttercream recipes yield about 3 Cups of frosting, but exactly how far will you get with that amount? The answer depends on so many factors – the size of your cake or amount of cupcakes, the style of frosting finish you’re going for, whether you’re planning on using buttercream as filling between cake layers, and whether you’ll be piping decorations with it (to name just a few).
To make things a little easier, I whipped up some handy charts below to give you a good estimate of how much frosting to make for your bakes.
Will This Chart Work with Any Kind of Frosting?
I wrote this chart with American Buttercream in mind (which is my go-to frosting). If you’re going by volume (not by weight), this chart will work with any kind of frosting – swiss meringue buttercream, italian meringue buttercream, whipped cream frosting, etc. Most frosting recipes will state how much they yield in Cups (aka by volume), so you can base your estimations and scaling off of the chart below regardless of your preferred frosting.
Let’s say you need 4.5 Cups of frosting based on the chart below, and you notice that one batch of the buttercream recipe you’re using yields only 3 Cups. How should you proceed?
Working backwards, you’d divide 4.5 Cups by 3 Cups to get your answer: 4.5/3 = 1.5. In other words, you’ll need 1.5 batches of your buttercream recipe to have enough for your project. That means you’ll multiply each ingredient in your buttercream recipe by 1.5 to scale the recipe properly.
If you don’t want to do all that math by hand, I recommend using a recipe scale calculator like this one where you can simply copy/paste your ingredients list and choose the scale amount (in this case, scale by one and one half) to get the correct amount of each ingredient.
I will say that it’s always better to have a little more buttercream than you expected than to not have enough. To prevent that scenario, I recommend rounding up when estimating.
*A Note on Gram Measurements: I didn’t put gram measurements on this chart because different kinds of frosting vary by weight per cup. If you’re using American Buttercream (like most of my recipes), then you can go with the gram measurement of 1 Cup = 215g and scale the recipe from there.
Round Cakes
Size of Cake
Number of Layers
Filling + Crumb Coat
Frosting
Total
4-In
2
½ Cup
½ Cup
1 Cup
4-In
3
1 Cup
1 Cup
2 Cups
6-In
2
1 ½ Cups
1 ½ Cups
3 Cups
6-In
3
2 ½ Cups
2 ½ Cups
5 Cups
7-In
2
1 ¾ Cups
1 ¾ Cups
3 ½ Cups
7-In
3
2 ¾ Cups
2 ¾ Cups
5 ½ Cups
8-In
2
2 Cups
2 ½ Cups
4 ½ Cups
8-In
3
3 Cups
3 Cups
6 Cups
9-In
2
2 ½ Cups
2 ½ Cups
5 Cups
9-In
3
3 ½ Cups
3 Cups
6 ½ Cups
10-In
2
3 Cups
2 ½ Cups
5 ½ Cups
10-In
3
4 Cups
3 Cups
7 Cups
12-In
2
4 ½ Cups
3 ½ Cups
8 Cups
12-In
3
5 Cups
4 ½ Cups
9 ½ Cups
14-In
2
5 ½ Cups
6 Cups
11 ½ Cups
14-In
3
7 Cups
6 ½ Cups
13 ½ Cups
Other Cake Sizes
Square Cakes
Add 1 Cup to the grand total above (or ½ Cup to the filling/crumb coating amount and ½ Cup to the frosting amount)
9×13-In
3 Cups
Buttercream Borders (for 6 or 8 inch cakes)
Type
Total Amount
Star Border
1 Cup
Swirl Border
1 ½ Cups
Braided Border
1 ½ Cups
Rope Border
2 Cups
Cupcakes (Per Dozen)
Style of Frosting
Total
Iced with a spatula
1 ½ Cups
Piped into a tall swirl
2 ½ Cups
Piped as a rosette
2 Cups
I hope that you find this chart and info helpful for your cake planning! Let me know in the comments if you do and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me what you make! I always love to see what you create.
However, it's easy to customize the flavor and color if you're planning to use this buttercream to frost cakes or cupcakes. One recipe makes about 3¼ cups of icing, enough to ice an 8 or 9-ich round cake; a 13 x 9-inch sheet cake; or 24 to 36 cupcakes.
However, it's easy to customize the flavor and color if you're planning to use this buttercream to frost cakes or cupcakes. One recipe makes about 3¼ cups of icing, enough to ice an 8 or 9-ich round cake; a 13 x 9-inch sheet cake; or 24 to 36 cupcakes.
To make the middle tier just double the recipe, and for the bottom tier make sure to triple it. Likewise, you'll need between 12 and 18 cups of buttercream frosting.
Learn how to make homemade buttercream frosting with this classic, quick and easy recipe! This recipe makes 2 cups of frosting, enough to frost 24 cupcakes.
But generally speaking, you can prepare a cake with buttercream frosting up to three days beforehand. You can freeze the cake if you need to prepare it further in advance. Cakes with buttercream icing should be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap first, followed by aluminium foil, before freezing.
Most standard cakes are no more than two or three layers tall (to avoid becoming too heavy). For an 8- to 9-inch cake, you will need at least 3 to 4 cups of a medium consistency buttercream.
-Spread the icing around the sides of the cake and use a cake scraper or palette knife to make sure it is smooth. This layer doesn't need to be too thick, just enough to seal in all the crumbs. -Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes; then repeat with another, thicker layer of icing.
Homemade buttercream has many benefits over shop bought buttercream. Not only is it simple to make but it also means you have more control over the sweetness, texture and taste. Homemade buttercream also has less preservatives and artificial flavours as well as being more cost effective.
Continue to mix, mix, mix, adding vanilla, salt, and any other flavorings you like until the frosting is soft, shiny, and white. Although Italian buttercream is extremely light, it's stable enough to hold its shape through warm weather.
Adding too much buttercream to both layers can add too much weight to the exterior and cause the buttercream to sink/slump down when it starts getting to room temp. To try and expel any air that is trapped in the layers and crumb coat, weigh it down in the fridge.
"Prepare, bake, and cool the cake completely. Then, wrap each cake layer in cling film, nice and tight, and place in the fridge for at least two hours," he says. That's right, you won't be frosting your cake at room temperature; a chilled cake is essential before applying any frosting. "This step is the most important.
In general, we recommend a total of 5 cups of frosting for three 8- or 9-inch round layers and 4 cups for two layers. Here's how to divvy it up. Use 3/4 cup of frosting between each layer.
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. I usually have a tiny bit left over, but it's just about right.
A full sheet cake weighs 8 pounds of batter. The average super market box cake weighs 15.25 ozs. Add in the eggs & water & oil & you have just about 2 lbs. So you would need 4 boxes, maybe a little more for waste because most people don't scrap the bowl very well & lose product that way.
Generally, a full sheet cake can serve around 70 to 80 people, a half sheet cake serves about 36 to 48, and a quarter sheet cake caters to approximately 20 to 24 guests. Q: How much batter do I need for a sheet cake? A: The amount of batter depends on the sheet cake size.
Beat together butter, shortening, and vanilla with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy. Blend in confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk; continue mixing until icing is light and fluffy. Store icing covered until ready to use.
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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