What is the best frosting for a cake?
The newly minted 3-year-old looked delighted as he got ready to enjoy a slice of the tasty confection, which was adorned with aqua blue frosting and lined with rainbow sprinkles. A dazzling gold sparkler topped off the festive cake. “Ben had the best 3rd ...
How do you make homemade cake frosting?
To make enough frosting for 6 medium-sized cupcakes, you will need:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 and 3/4 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar
- 1/2 tsp good vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.
- 1 tsp cold water
How to pick the right cake frosting?
Royal icing that sets very hard can be used for…
- Piping designs on a cake
- Extension work
- Piping flowers
- Assembling Mexican paste or pastillage structures
- Constructing a gingerbread house
- A ‘glue’ for joining gum paste sugar flowers
- The centers of some gum paste sugar flowers
- Flood work
- Brush embroidery
- Icing Cookies
What is the best cake frosting recipe?
- Milk, sugar, flour – Stir the sugar and flour in a dry saucepan over medium heat – this just toasts the sugar lightly to bring out some flavour. ...
- Cook over medium heat until it thickens in a thick dolloping custard. ...
- Scrape it into a bowl (“it” being a roux);
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Which frosting is best for cake?
Royal icing is one of the best icings for decorating cakes. Mixing together powdered sugar, egg whites, and meringue powder or liquid provides a consistency relative to pancake batter. This makes it easy to pour into pastry bags to fulfill your decorating dreams.
What are the 7 types of frosting?
There are seven basic types of icing: buttercream, flat, foam, fondant, fudge, royal, and glazes. Buttercream icing has a sweet flavor and a smooth, fluffy texture.
What is the difference between icing and frosting?
Icing is thinner than frosting but not quite as thin as a glaze. Typically made with powdered sugar and liquid, such as water, milk, or juice, icing can be drizzled or spread. Icing has more shine and a smoother consistency than frosting.
What is homemade frosting made of?
Like vanilla buttercream, vanilla icing is made with confectioners' sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract. The differences are the ratio of ingredients and absence of butter. The terms icing and buttercream are often used interchangeably, but icing is typically light and liquid.
What type of frosting is best?
Buttercream is the icing most commonly found on store-bought cakes, and it's usually what you're using when you cheat and pick up a can of premade frosting from the supermarket. It's rich, sweet, and can typically survive at room temperature without making a mess. Buttercream is also very versatile.
Which cream is best for cake decorating?
The most well-known of cake frostings, American buttercream is simply butter and icing sugar whipped together until fluffy. Its consistency is perfect for spreading smooth or piping beautiful shapes, and it's most commonly used to decorate cupcakes and sponge layer cakes.
What are the 3 types of icing?
There are three types of structural icing: clear, rime, and mixed. In most cases, the type of structural ice is most dependent on the air temperature. However, the likelihood of clear ice increases with droplet size.
How do you make frosting icing?
1:395:11How to Turn Canned Frosting into Royal Icing - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipStep 2 microwave the frosting for 15 to 20 seconds or until melted carefully pour your meltedMoreStep 2 microwave the frosting for 15 to 20 seconds or until melted carefully pour your melted frosting into a squeeze bottle. This will make it easier to use while decorating.
How do I make icing harden?
0:321:26How to Make Icing That Hardens : Icing & Frosting - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSugar. Once the sugar is dissolved. You then can take this icing pour it over your cake. And it willMoreSugar. Once the sugar is dissolved. You then can take this icing pour it over your cake. And it will harden within a couple minutes and that's how you make the icing that hardens you.
How make icing for cake at home for beginners?
How to Frost a CakeTrim and level the cake layers. ... Cover the extra space with parchment paper strips. ... Place the bottom cake layer onto your turntable. ... Apply the first layer of frosting. ... Stack the cakes. ... Crumb coat the cake. ... Frost the cake and smooth the sides. ... Decorate with piping bags and tips.
Is powdered sugar the same as icing sugar?
Yes! Powdered sugar, confectioners' sugar (including confectioners sugar and confectioner's sugar too), icing sugar, and 10X (a reference to the size of the particles) are all the same.
Is powdered sugar?
Powdered Sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, 10X sugar or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state.
Nothing compares to homemade frosting! Find all the best frosting recipes in this collection, including buttercream, chocolate, cream cheese and more
Nothing compares to homemade frosting! Find all the best frosting recipes in this collection, including buttercream, chocolate, cream cheese and more.
Italian Meringue Buttercream
I use this creamy Italian meringue buttercream on my lemon-raspberry cupcakes. It's not as sweet as American buttercream, so it really complements the sweetness of the cupcakes. —Katelyn Craft, Stamford, New York
Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
This simple peanut butter buttercream frosting makes enough to frost a three- or four-layer cake. For peanut butter-lovers, this is the only frosting they need in their recipe boxes. —Iola Egle, Bella Vista, Arkansas
Chocolate Ganache
This smooth, satin chocolate ganache recipe will bring a touch of elegance to even the most basic cake. A simple garnish, like fresh fruit, adds the finishing touch. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
French Buttercream
French buttercream has a custard-like texture and is great if you're going to be piping shapes or decorations. — Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Best Vanilla Buttercream
Why is this recipe crowned the best vanilla buttercream frosting? With its powerfully decadent vanilla bean flavor and delightfully creamy texture, your family and friends will scrape every last bit of this frosting off their plates. —Margaret Knoebel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
Chocolate and peanut butter are such an enjoyable combination. This delicious chocolate peanut butter frosting makes a satisfying topping to these moist chocolate cupcakes.—Ruthe Stevenson, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1. American buttercream frosting
Perhaps the simplest of all frostings is this uncooked, powdered-sugar-sweetened version of buttercream. It’s the classic type of frosting found on many old-fashioned birthday cakes.
2. Swiss meringue buttercream
Making European-style buttercream is slightly more complicated than making American-style: there’s usually some kind of cooking involved, you’re often dealing with hot sugar, and timing matters. But the process truly is forgiving and the results undeniable (make a bomb frosting, and you’ve just established your credentials as a Serious Baker ).
3. Italian meringue buttercream frosting
Italian buttercream also relies on egg whites, but it comes together a bit differently. In this case a hot sugar syrup is slowly added to the egg whites while they’re being whipped. Once cool, butter is added in much the same way as in the Swiss buttercream.
4. French buttercream frosting
The method for making French buttercream is very similar to the way you make Italian buttercream, except that instead of whipping egg whites, you whip just the yolks. French buttercream also tends to have a higher ratio of butter than the frostings above.
5. German buttercream (a.k.a. crème mousseline)
This version of buttercream starts with a pastry cream or custard—that is, a mixture of cooked egg yolks, milk, sugar, and either cornstarch or flour. Once the pastry cream is cool, it’s whipped with softened butter into a wonderfully light frosting that’s often used for cake fillings but works well to cover any cake.
6. Whole-egg buttercream frosting
This version of buttercream lands somewhere in the middle of Swiss meringue buttercream and French buttercream. It asks for whole eggs, which means it has the richness of yolk-based buttercreams and lightness of meringue-based. Plus, it eschews tricky syrup techniques—you simply warm this buttercream gently on a double boiler.
8. Seven-Minute Frosting
Bright white seven-minute frosting is a long-time companion of dark, rich devil’s food cake. If you’re looking for maximum color contrast, it’s the pairing to beat.
Types of Frosting to Make at Home
There are lots of different options for making frosting to decorate a cake. It's often tempting to buy pre-made products to save yourself time. As good as some of these products are, home-made frosting is even better. Once you have gotten the hang of the basic recipes, you can start to experiment with different flavors.
Salted Caramel Buttercream
This should be enough to decorate approximately 10-12 cupcakes. You'll find instructions to make the caramel sauce first, and then the actual caramel buttercream frosting after that.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC) is made by making Swiss meringue and then adding in butter and flavorings. It uses egg whites and the finished product is smooth, creamy, and delicious. A lot of people think it's complicated and more time consuming than some of the other recipes, but this type of buttercream is actually very simple to get right.
Chocolate Frosting
This is an incredibly simple recipe for a chocolate frosting. It goes well on chocolate or vanilla cakes. To make enough frosting for 6 medium-sized cupcakes, you will need:
Classic Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese frostings are absolutely delicious—smooth and creamy and luxurious. A classic combination is red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. The frosting is really simple to make, and the key to getting it just right is to use good quality ingredients and to ensure that your frosting has a nice smooth texture.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
This goes really well with a classic vanilla cake and makes a wonderful summer treat. My recipe uses fresh strawberries. You should always use fresh fruit where possible to get the best natural flavor. This should make enough for about ten cupcakes.
Mistakes to Watch Out For
Don't put powdered sugar into a mixer and turn the speed on to high—you'll get coated in the stuff.
Staff Picks
This traditional frosting goes well with almost any type of cake. It is quick and easy to make.
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There's a whole world of tasty frosting beyond buttercream. Discover your new favorite with our top homemade frosting picks!
There's a whole world of tasty frosting beyond buttercream. Discover your new favorite with our top homemade frosting picks!
Whipped Cream
Forget the sad, frothy stuff out of the can—the crème de la crème of whipped creams is the one you make at home. It’s so easy to make and doing it yourself means you can add cheeky extras like cinnamon, vanilla bean or lemon zest to take it to the next level.
7-Minute Frosting
Famous for its distinctive fluffy marshmallow-like texture, seven-minute frosting is an old-fashioned treat which is ultra-light and delicately sweet. Use this as a filling for whoopie pies —the two were practically made for each other.
Ganache
The chocolate lover’s dream, ganache can be used as a frosting, filling, or licked off a spoon while you catch up on Netflix. An exquisite topping to crown a cupcake or a beautiful chocolate cake, everyone should have a good ganache recipe up their sleeves.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot cake and red velvet may be old standbys for cream cheese frosting, but it’s equally divine with these pumpkin spice cupcakes, just in time for fall. For best results, let your cream cheese soften up a bit before you break out the whisk.
Boiled Milk Frosting
Seasoned bakers may know that boiled milk frosting goes by many names. Roux frosting, ermine frosting, flour buttercream. As the last one suggests, it’s a cousin of buttercream, but a little lighter on the tongue and was the original choice for decorating a red velvet cake.