Why Professional Bakers Are Moving Away from Homemade Buttercream

For many years, making buttercream from scratch was considered a badge of honour in professional cake making. As bakers, we believed that handmade always meant better quality, better flavour, and better results.

However, as our cake business grew and customer expectations increased, we started to notice recurring issues that homemade buttercream simply could not solve consistently.

This is a reality many professional bakers quietly experience but rarely talk about.

The hidden challenges of homemade buttercream

Homemade buttercream sounds simple, but in a professional setting it comes with real limitations.

Temperature sensitivity is one of the biggest problems. Even small changes in room temperature can affect texture, spreadability, and finish. What looks perfect in the morning can become soft, greasy, or unstable by the afternoon.

Consistency is another major issue. No matter how carefully recipes are followed, small variations in butter temperature, mixing time, or ingredient batches can lead to noticeable differences from one cake to the next.

Time is also a factor. Making buttercream from scratch repeatedly takes valuable time that could be spent on decorating, design work, or fulfilling orders more efficiently.

Why consistency matters in professional cake making

When customers order a cake, they expect the same quality every time. Texture, flavour, and finish should not depend on the weather or the day of the week.

For professional bakers, consistency is not a luxury. It is a requirement.

Unstable buttercream can lead to cracked finishes, uneven piping, and structural issues, especially on larger cakes or detailed designs. These problems increase stress, slow down production, and can affect customer satisfaction.

The shift towards ready-made natural buttercream

More professional bakers are now choosing high-quality, ready-made buttercream solutions, not for convenience alone, but for reliability.

A well-formulated natural buttercream offers:

• Stable texture across different temperatures
• Predictable piping and smoothing results
• Consistent flavour and colour
• Significant time savings

The key difference is choosing a buttercream made with real ingredients, without gums, fillers, or artificial stabilisers that compromise taste.

This is the approach we have adopted in our own cake business.

What we use in our professional kitchen

After extensive testing, we now rely on a natural, ready-made buttercream that delivers consistent results without sacrificing flavour.

We use Frostella natural buttercream in our professional cake work because it provides the stability and smooth finish we need, while still tasting like real buttercream should.

The difference it has made to our workflow and finished cakes is significant. We can focus on design, creativity, and customer experience instead of constantly adjusting buttercream batches.

Is ready-made buttercream right for every baker?

Every kitchen is different. Some bakers will always prefer making everything from scratch, and that is completely valid.

However, for professionals handling regular orders, wedding cakes, and detailed designs, consistency and reliability are essential. In those cases, a natural ready-made buttercream can be a practical and professional solution.

What matters most is not how the buttercream is made, but the quality of the final result and the experience delivered to the customer.