Fresh Blueberry Frosting is a light and creamy frosting, whipped into fluffy blueberry loveliness. A dollop of this frosting is sweet heaven on a cupcake. On a spoon, on a cracker, or on an actual cake this blueberry buttercream frosting is irresistible.
I’ve been making Fresh Strawberry Frosting for several years now and it’s easily the most requested frosting I make. However, blueberries were on sale a couple weeks ago and I couldn’t resist playing with my recipe and switching it up to make a blueberry buttercream frosting.
I’m a blueberry lover for life and I suspected we’d love this new frosting as much or maybe even more than the strawberry version. As it turned out, I was right. I topped this Gluten Free White Cake (baked into cupcakes this time) with the blueberry frosting.
My helper had a lot of fun swirling the topping onto each cupcake. If you haven’t watched his little hands help with the frosting, it’s a fun watch. (Says the mama who knows that he’ll be a teenager in a couple of weeks.)
I probably don’t even need to mention it, but this frosting is also lovely spread on graham crackers. This is a taste test requirement every time we have frosting in the house.
It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that I have made this frosting more than a few times without a cake to put it on. There’s no shame in my frosting game.
Kitchen Tip: I use this mixer, these cheap piping bags, and this tip to make this recipe.
Blueberry Frosting Recipe
- Place about 1 ½ cups worth of the blueberries in a small food processor or blender and puree until smooth, stop to scrape the sides as needed. This should only take a minute or two.
- Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy, add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat again. Add 1 more cup of powdered sugar and beat to combine. Add ½ cup of blueberry puree and beat again until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Add more berry puree as desired, for a creamier or pourable icing or add additional powdered sugar, for a thicker and more pipe-able frosting for decorating.
- Use the remaining berries to decorate the cake as desired. Store the decorated cake or cupcakes in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
If you’re looking for more great homemade frosting recipes to try, Fluffy Chocolate Frosting is always a hit. This Cookie Dough Frosting and this Toasted Coconut Frosting both look incredible as well.
PLEASE NOTE: The directions for this recipe will make more berry puree than you will need in order to make this frosting. I haven’t found any way around this, simply because it requires a minimum amount of berries in order for the blender to puree them. Do NOT dump all of the puree into the butter/sugar mixture or you will have a soupy mixture on your hands.
I save the leftover berry puree and add it to smoothies or stir it into oatmeal. You can also freeze the pureed berries in an ice cube tray and toss the cubes in a ziploc bag in the freezer until you are ready to use them.
Fresh Blueberry Frosting
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fresh blueberries
- 1 cup butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Place about 1 ½ cups worth of the blueberries in a small food processor or blender and puree until smooth, stop to scrape the sides as needed. This should only take a minute or two.
- Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy, add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat again. Add 1 more cup of powdered sugar and beat to combine. Add ½ cup of blueberry puree and beat again until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Add more berry puree as desired, for a creamier or pourable icing or add additional powdered sugar, for a thicker and more pipe-able frosting for decorating.
- Use the remaining berries to decorate the cake as desired. Store the decorated cake or cupcakes in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 4/26/18 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/27/23}
M says
Hi! I was surprised by how little flavor the blueberries added to the frosting, basically none. Frosting was still good but I was wondering if freeze dried blueberries would help add more of a punch? Beautiful color but didn’t get the flavor of the berries.
Mary Younkin says
Were the fresh berries flavorful by themselves? It will definitely be affected by the amount of flavor in the fruit itself. The frosting should be pretty flavorful with the berries.
MH says
My puree set out for a bit and I ended up putting in the refrigerator while I was making cupcakes. The puree had more of a gelatin consistency once I was ready to use. I also added the vanilla before the puree and took about a half cup out so I could have a little vanilla frosting on the side. I added all the puree and it turned out amazing! Both the vanilla and blueberry frosting were perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Mary Younkin says
Glad you like it.
Allison says
Another way to proceed is to gently reduce the 1.5 cups of blueberries then pass the reduction through a sieve. Concentrated blueberry flavor, less water, no skin flecks, and you don’t have to mess with pureeing. This may not technically be “fresh” anymore, but I ended up with exactly a half cup of reduction. Delicious frosting. Thanks for the inspiration!
Mary Younkin says
You are welcome, Allison. Good way to make the recipe your own.
Judy A Gallagher says
Reduced meaning you cooked the berries?
Alvex says
Haven’t tried this yet, but it looks fabulous, this and the strawberry frosting recipe. I’m sure that the homemade strawberry frosting will be much better than the cans of strawberry frosting from the store, plus it won’t have all that hydrogenated oil transfat in it. And as for the blueberry frosting, I’ve never actually seen cans of that at the store, but that’s ok because even if there was, it wouldn’t be as good as this homemade blueberry frosting. I am sure of that
Mary Younkin says
I hope that you love the frosting, Alvex.
Alvex says
This looks fabulously delicious. I’m going to try this recipe and let you know what I think. I may even put this blueberry icing on blueberry muffins 😊
Mary Younkin says
I hope you love it, Alvex!
Lola Martino says
Do we use salted or unsalted butter?
Mary Younkin says
I use salted butter in all of my recipes, Lola.
Janet Chapman says
Would this work with frozen blueberries? I have made your strawberry frosting and it’s great. I did reduce the sugar by about 1/2 cup to lessen the sweetness a little but consistency still seems good.
Mary Younkin says
I think it will work with frozen berries, Janet. However, I’d probably thaw them first to make sure they will blend smoothly.
Cony says
Looks great!
Thank you for the recipe and for clarifying that there will be extra purée leftover.
I want to try your blueberry frosting. I think will use my nutrí bullet to purée the berries so I don’t. Have leftover.
Mary Younkin says
That’s a great idea, Cony. Enjoy!
Honeytoast says
It doesn’t say how much butter to use. Or was it lost in the ridiculously long introduction?
I’d love it if the actual recipe was at the top, the millions of ads that kept popping up made the page take forever to load. It’s a lot of words, a lot of loading, for a very short simple recipe.
The recipe itself is great though.
Mary Younkin says
It’s 1 cup of butter. There’s a handy “jump to recipe” button provided at the top of this post. And like most other websites, if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see the printable recipe card with all the information.
Rachel says
This was a great recipe and I 100% recommend:)
Mary Younkin says
I’m thrilled that you enjoyed it, Rachel!
Brittany Curry says
Mine isn’t mixing together it’s like the powdered sugar stuck to the butter and the butter isn’t blending
Mary Younkin says
Was your butter room temp, Brittany? or still cold? Hopefully it came together for you.
Sarah H says
Hi! Does this hold up for a couple of days!? I’m wanting to make this for a birthday cake with fondant on top! Do the fresh blueberries still stay fresh? Thanks!
Mary Younkin says
I’ve never tried this with fondant, so I honestly can’t say, Sarah. However, as a traditional frosting, it will keep nicely for a couple days in the fridge.
DARSHNI says
what is vanilla? do you mean vanilla extract?
Mary Younkin says
Yes, vanilla extract.
DARSHNI says
did you use frozen bluberries?
Mary Younkin says
I’ve used both frozen and fresh. You’ll want to thaw completely and drain any water first, if using frozen.
Brook says
Has anyone tried adding the extra purée in between cake layers? Hoping to use this recipe for a layer cake this weekend.
Mary Younkin says
While it would likely be tasty, Brook, it would probably dissolve into the cake. The puree is fairly liquid. I’m not sure how it might affect the structure. Perhaps if you do a solid layer of frosting, topped by the extra puree, that could work. If you try it, let me know how it works for you!
Reger Ferndalw says
Most amazing frosting
Bradley Herman says
I also love it
Mary Younkin says
That is so good to hear, Bradley.
Bradley Herman says
The frosting goes so well with blueberry muffins
Mary Younkin says
Thank you, Reger.
Mariah says
I’m trying this for my daughters birthday. Can I make the frosting ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two?
Mary Younkin says
Frosting can be hit or miss when made in advance. I’ve successfully done it in the past though. It will need to return to room temperature, without actually being “warmed up.” Then just give it a stir or a few seconds with the mixer and it should be fine.
ur ml says
the icing taste like play do
Mary Younkin says
Hello! Did you happen to substitute or skip any ingredients in this recipe, or change any steps? I can’t imagine what might have gone wrong in your kitchen; I’ve never heard that complaint before.