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Spiced buttercream is the perfect frosting to pair with pumpkin, chocolate or vanilla cake! With cinnamon and nutmeg, is this a great fall spice frosting!

spiced buttercream piped in swirls onto a metal plate
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This recipe came to life because I was making this doctored up pumpkin cake BUT I didn’t want to frost it with cream cheese frosting.

HOLD IT. Don’t go on hating. I do like cream cheese frosting… now that I am older. When I was young I didn’t like anything associated with the word cheese.

Cheesecake. No way.
Grilled cheese.
String cheese.
Cheese puffs.
Cheese ball.
Cream cheese.

No, no and no.

Cheese pizza was about the only form of cheese I liked!

spiced buttercream piped in to a glass jar

I have nothing against cheese, I just didn’t really like it growing up.

But now that I am older, I’m starting to dabble in the cheese world. I’ve confirmed that I do in fact LOVE cheesecake. And I’m learning that my dislike for cream cheese frosting all these years was silly.

But, I wanted to try a different frosting for my pumpkin cake.. pinterest is flooded with recipes for pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.

I was thinking about doing chocolate buttercream because I’m a big believer in eating chocolate every day, but Ryan wasn’t as on board as I was. So I said “what about a spiced buttercream?”

He said yes, and onward I went to make one!

spiced buttercream in mixing bowl with electric mixer

Buttercream is very easy to make. Although, I will admit that I was intimated by it when I first started this blog.

Now it’s probably one of the easiest things I can make because there is no baking or cooking involved and you pretty much can’t screw it up.

There isn’t too much science behind buttercream (okay, there’s a little science) but it’s primarily based on taste. I ALWAYS taste my buttercream as I make it. Especially to determine if I’ve added enough powdered sugar. And to decide if it tastes good or needs any adjustments at the end.

So give this spiced buttercream recipe a try! It would be great paired with pumpkin cake, pumpkin cupcakes, vanilla cake and chocolate cake!

spiced buttercream piped on top of a pumpkin cupcake

Spiced frosting video

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Spiced Buttercream

By: Beth
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 5 cups
Spiced buttercream is the perfect frosting to pair with pumpkin, chocolate or vanilla cake! With cinnamon and nutmeg, is this a great fall spice frosting!

Ingredients 

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (1 & 1/2 cups)
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg

Instructions 

  • In a mixing bowl beat the softened butter using an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add in the powdered sugar (2 cups at a time) and the cinnamon & nutmeg, mixing by hand or on low. Continue to beat in the powdered sugar until the frosting is smooth and tastes good to you!
  • Use on cupcakes, cake or cookies. Store in an air tight container for up to 2 days. Makes enough frosting to frost 24 cupcakes or one 9×13 inch cake.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 3mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 212IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg
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About Beth

I believe that everyone should have a go-to dessert to bring to parties! With hundreds of recipes, I'll help you find yours!

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8 Comments

  1. thank you for this recipe. I made & used it on a pumpkin roll cake, as I had run out of cream cheese. It was a perfect  substitute

    1. Hmm! Other than making sure you did the right measurements, you may need to cut down on the beating time!

    2. Bit late now, but maybe your butter was too soft to start with. That’ll make your frosting too soft, just like over beating. And for pretty much the same reason.

  2. I’m hesitant to try this … The recipe says 3 sticks of butter but the video shows two sticks. Hmmmm ……

    1. Hi Sarah! I made a scaled down version for the video because I was only frosting 12 cupcakes. It’s the same recipe!