Homemade cake frosting that's soft and creamy

[gulab jamun]

Hello,

I've tried the ready-made cake frostings such as those made by Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, but I'm looking for something softer and creamier that's easy to spread. I don't know if I can find a good ready-made frosting like this, and they might have preservatives and weird ingredients.

So, I guess a better option might be making homemade frosting.

Perhaps the easiest recipe I found online was to mix powdered sugar with a little milk, but this would be way too sugary. My wife suggested whisking heavy cream and sugar. Does anyone know if this would work?

Also, I don't have an electric mixer, so I need a recipe suitable for hand whisking.

Thanks!

 

[CherryRed]

Try this: Kittencal's Creamy White Buttercream Frosting/Icing Recipe | Recipezaar

I used the author's chocolate icing recipe for a cake I made last week and the consistency was very good. It's very forgiving in that you can play with ingredient amounts until the texture is the way you want it. I'm sure you'd be able to mix it by hand, too.

Hope this helps!

 

[Fiona]

I normally beat icing (confectiners) sugar into softened butter, with cocoa if chocolate requited. Add a drop of milk if too stiff & balance the quantities to your own taste.

 

[kitchenelf]

And along Fiona's line, I mix confectiners sugar into softened butter and then add strong coffee - makes the BEST coffee icing. For many years I didn't know there was another kind of icing

 

[archiduc]

frosting

Hello,

I've tried the ready-made cake frostings such as those made by Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, but I'm looking for something softer and creamier that's easy to spread. I don't know if I can find a good ready-made frosting like this, and they might have preservatives and weird ingredients.

So, I guess a better option might be making homemade frosting.

Perhaps the easiest recipe I found online was to mix powdered sugar with a little milk, but this would be way too sugary. My wife suggested whisking heavy cream and sugar. Does anyone know if this would work?

Also, I don't have an electric mixer, so I need a recipe suitable for hand whisking.

Thanks!

Hi Gulab Jamun,
I live in the UK and our usual cake fillings are a "butter cream" filling. This is very easy to spread. Sometimes, it`s a bit too easy and one needs to refrigerate it first.

The recipe is so simple - butter and confectioners (icing) sugar plus any flavourings. Should using butter be out of the question for religious reasons you could use margarine. Note also that the mixture freezes well.

Next we come to the standard recipe:

150 gms butter
225 gms confectioner`s or icing sugar - sieved.

* Cream the butter until light and fluffy using a wooden spoon or an electric whisk.
* Gradually beat in the sieved confectioner`s/icing sugar.

Flaovours:

VANILLA - beat in vanilla extract to taste - use 1 tsp at a time. Taste and discard the spoon after tasting.

CHOCOLATE - I mix cocoa powder with boiling water to give a thick paste, allow this to cool and then beat in. Alternatively, you could add 75 gms of melted and cooled chocolate to the basic mixture. If using chocolate you need to let the chocolate cool a bit otherwise it will melt the butter or fat.

ORANGE - add the grated rind of 2 oranges and the juice of 1 and a couple of tablespoons more of sieved icing sugar.

COFFEE - make a thick blend of instant coffee with boiling water. Cool and use to flavour the icing.

MOCHA - use a blend of cocoa (see above) and coffee (see above) to flavour the icing.

When I bake a cake I normally make 2 x 20 cms cakes. I split each horizontally and layer (3 layers) and cover the top and sides with butter cream and a little piping on top. For this I need 2 times the base recipe which I`ve outlined for you.

Hope this helps - there is another variation of icing which is known as "Meringue Butter Cream" using egg whites, sugar and butter which is a very smooth filling for cakes. Useful for using with meringues but not necessary for cakes containing flour.

Hope this helps,
Archiduc

 

[B'sgirl]

I normally beat icing (confectiners) sugar into softened butter, with cocoa if chocolate requited. Add a drop of milk if too stiff & balance the quantities to your own taste.

This is what I do but you can add vanilla or almond extract instead of cocoa. You can always try a cream cheese frosting too. You just use softened cream cheese instead of butter (and more of it). It also tends to be less sugary because the cream cheese is pretty thick and doesn't need a lot of sugar to thicken it up.

 

[CherryRed]

I just used the recipe I linked to (second post) and it came out great! Very creamy, perfect consistency for spreading. I definitely recommend that

 

[meshoo96]

I just used the recipe I linked to (second post) and it came out great! Very creamy, perfect consistency for spreading. I definitely recommend that

How sweet is it? I HATE frosting that is too sweet.

 

[CherryRed]

How sweet is it? I HATE frosting that is too sweet.

It's sweet... maybe about average in terms of frosting? The taste of the butter kind of balances it out nicely though. It definitely isn't overkill; I hate frosting like that too.

 

[karenlyn]

I don't like too-sweet frostings, either. So I love to make cream cheese frostings. You get plenty of creaminess and super spreadability, but the tangy cream cheese cuts the sweetness. SO good. I like to do a butter/cream cheese combo.

 

[B'sgirl]

The more sugar, the better. And if it tastes like pure sugar you have succeeded in making the perfect frosting--in my book.

 

[honeybee7]

Frosting for Cake

2 eggs whites (cold)
1/4 lb sifted powdered sugar

Beat the whites in a cool place, till a very stiff froth. Sift the sugar, and beat it in until you can pile it in a heap. Flavor with lemon or rose water. Spread on with a knife, after the cake is cool, and then smooth with another knife dipped in water. Set it in a warm place to dry.

 

[meshoo96]

I've been looking for an easy recipe to pipe decorations that will dry hard. The butter cream frosting recipe i have is great for piping, but it doesn't dry. Any suggestions?

 

[CherryRed]

How hard do you want it to dry? I've used the Wilton recipe and it hardens nicely, but it's not rock-solid like royal icing. Are you looking to use this for cakes, cookies, or something else? Once I know that I can probably help you.

 

[archiduc]

Hello,

I've tried the ready-made cake frostings such as those made by Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, but I'm looking for something softer and creamier that's easy to spread. I don't know if I can find a good ready-made frosting like this, and they might have preservatives and weird ingredients.

So, I guess a better option might be making homemade frosting.

Perhaps the easiest recipe I found online was to mix powdered sugar with a little milk, but this would be way too sugary. My wife suggested whisking heavy cream and sugar. Does anyone know if this would work?

Also, I don't have an electric mixer, so I need a recipe suitable for hand whisking.

Thanks!

Hi Gulab Jamun,
Which recipe worked out for you?

All the best,
Archiduc