Sweetened Condensed Milk Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons hot water
- 1 packet 3.3 g instant coffee
- 2 cups cold butter softened
- 1 cup sweetened condensed milk chilled
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Combine the hot water and instant coffee until dissolved. Allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Also chill the sweetened condensed milk in the refrigerator.
- The butter should be softened but cold. What does this mean? You should be able to dent the butter with your finger easily, but if the butter seems warm or melting at all, then it's softened too much and you should place it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up.
- In a stand mixer, whip the softened, cold butter for a couple minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then add the sweetened condensed milk and whip until combined. Scrape down the bowl again. Then mix in the coffee mixture and vanilla extract. Last, with the mixer running (or in batches if using a hand mixer), add the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Notes
If the frosting appears grainy, check this post for a couple tips to fix this. I used a Starbucks Via Instant packet for the instant coffee here, but other brands/types will work and this may mean the 3.3 grams listed may vary slightly. If you wish to make plain vanilla sweetened condensed milk buttercream frosting, simply omit the hot water and coffee. You could add another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of another extract to flavor it differently or try mixing in some vanilla beans to enhance the vanilla flavor. Lots of options!