The Best Frosting {a.k.a. Magical Frosting}
This magical frosting is simply the BEST frosting ever. It requires a bit more planning than every day buttercream, but the results are worth it.
I am rarely left speechless {if you are my husband you are seriously nodding your head right about now}. I like to talk {husband still nodding}. To dissect the details of important matters, such as great toenail polish and food {husband falling asleep}.
However, after taking a taste of this frosting, I was left completely speechless. No words. None. Just absolute, incredible tastebud bliss {husband shocked into silence himself}.
The Best Frosting of My Life
It is the best frosting I have ever tasted in my life.
You might have seen the phenomenon of this type of frosting swirling around. I tried the Tasty Kitchen version (highlighted by the Pioneer Woman) twice, and both times it was a disaster. I had given up on the so-called miracle of flour-based frostings until I saw and made this latest version.
It left me weak and trembling.
And do you know what tops it all? There is a chocolate version. Oh, heaven help me.
I slathered this frosting on the most decadent cake I’ve made to date (posting tomorrow!) and I can’t begin to describe the magical web of fluffy, creamy sweetness that is beholden in this frosting.
I am a self-professed frosting hater, which makes my testimonial of this frosting all the stronger. I abhor the greasy, filmy, overly-sugary taste of traditional buttercream. Even the adventurous seven-minute/marshmallow frostings of the world leave me wanting.
But this frosting…well, it belongs in The Best Recipe section no doubt about that.
My search for the best frosting is over.
I’ll be honest, it is a little more work and requires a bit more planning than throwing butter and powdered sugar together in a mixer but I’m promising you here and now that the results are worth every minute.
The real issue now becomes making sure any of this frosting actually makes it to the cake before being inhaled by my little lips.
One Year Ago: Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
The Best Frosting {a.k.a. Magical Frosting}
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (36 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups milk, I use 1% or 2%
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (340 g) butter, cut into 24 pieces and softened at room temperature (I use salted butter)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk. This could take anywhere between 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove, heat, etc. It should bubble quite a bit at the end (be careful of the splatters) and thicken considerably.
- Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature – this is extremely important! If it is even slightly warm, the frosting won’t beat up properly. I refrigerated my initial mixture overnight. If you do this, make sure to pull it out in time to let it warm back up to room temperature. If you try to proceed with the rest of the recipe and the mixture is too cold, the butter won’t absorb into the frosting like it should.
- Once the frosting is completely cooled to room temperature (it should have no hint of warmth at all!), beat the mixture with the vanilla on low speed until it is well combined, about 30 seconds (a stand mixer will work best for this). Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer work it’s magic. Beat the frosting for five minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Let the frosting sit at room temperature until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour. I suspect if you chill it for an hour or so, it would be stiff enough to actually pipe with instead of frosting with a rubber spatula.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Country Oct/Nov 2010
1,090 Comments on “The Best Frosting {a.k.a. Magical Frosting}”
I did just see in the comments (should have read some of them first) that you said it does work to do the piping on the cupcakes; do you have an opinion on adding food coloring?
Also, the last time I made this frosting – I didn’t want to frost all of the cupcakes at once since it was just for my family. I just kept the frosting in the fridge and we used it when we wanted a cupcake. It stayed perfect; like it was fresh but I did not re-whip it. It was hard to spread being that it was firm and cold though!
Jackie – I’ve never added food coloring to this frosting…I think it might work although I would add it right at the end of whipping so the frosting doesn’t get overwhipped. My only concern is since the frosting is so buttery, with coloring, I”m wondering if the color will fully absorb or if it will look grainy?? Not sure, but it’s worth a try. Let me know how it goes if you try it out!
So, I love this frosting as much as you do 🙂 I plan on using it this weekend on cupcakes – have you ever ended up piping with it and, if so, did it work? Also, can you add food coloring to this one? I’m going back and forth between coloring it and just using colored sugar on top . .. I don’t want to mess up the consistancy of the frosting.
wao sorry, didn’t see your response. Thanks a lot! (running to the kitchen!:))
Hi, I’d like to put this frosting on cupcakes, but you mentioned that its consistency might not hold up being piped like a regular buttercream(?). Would it be too soft to create swirls on cupcakes? Thank you!
Hi, I’m thinking of putting this frosting on cupcakes, but you mentioned that it doesn’t really hold up when piped? would it be firm enough to make swirls on cupcakes like regular buttercream? Thanks a lot!
Ruby – I think the frosting is a bit harder to pipe if doing fine details, but I’ve used it to pipe large swirls on cupcakes and it works great.
I’ve made this frosting twice. I made it yesterday and it was gobbled up by my co-workers in less than 2 hours. I had to make another cake for today because I was craving a slice so badly.
I absolutely love your recipes and have placed you in my permanent read section! Your version of this frosting (adding the sugar in the cooking process) is fantastic and eliminates a good step that would probably make the icing grainy if added after the cooking process. I really really really appreciate your tips and side notes and updates. Keep up the great work or I’ll wither and die into a crumpled mess of flour and sugar!
To save time, I’ve made the flour mixture the day before with great success, that way you only need to beat the butter in, instead of having to wait for it to cool.
Hi Kristen – sounds like a fun birthday bash! In answer to your question, yes, I would double the recipe. I have a feeling you’ll have some leftover but I don’t think one batch will be enough to do both the cake and cupcakes. I haven’t had great success making this frosting in advance, although several other commenters have said it works just fine to make it the night before. If you have the time, I would say make it the morning of for the best results. Good luck!
Hi Mel!!
My son and daughter both share the same birthday, it is on Sat. Oct 1st. I was going to make the unbelievable chocolate cake for my son, and do your vanilla buttermilk cupcakes for my daughter. I want to use this frosting for both the cake and cupcakes. I take it I have to double the recipe for this frosting to have enough to frost the cake and cupcakes right? Also, their party is on Sat. at 1:00. Would it be best to make the frosting in the morning that day or the night before? Thanks in advance!!!
I made this for a birthday cake recently and it was completely awesome! I doubled the recipe because I was making an 11×15 sheetcake and I wanted to decorate it. I chilled the “decorator” icing for just about 20 minutes and it piped beautifully. I even had some leftover. Bummer! 😉 This will definitely be a go-to recipe for me in the future. I made a half chocolate-half red velvet cake and it was awesome on both. I am pretty sure it would make cardboard taste good. Thanks for the recipe!
Do you think that this frosting needs to be refrigerated? I made this today for my son’s birthday tomorrow…
Maria – yes, this frosting needs to be refrigerated long term. Did it work out?
Just an update: I had leftover frosting that I refrigerated for 3 days then took out the morning I needed it and used it about 8 hours later and the texture was perfect, like fresh. I didn’t re-whip it.
Oh my gosh! I, like you am a frosting hater. I usually scrape it off to the side, but not any more 🙂 since finding this recipe 3 days ago, I’ve made it with your chocolate cake recipe into cupcakes twice! I’m going to be huge from eating it all the time. It’s hard not to eat 6 cupcakes a day! I’m breastfeeding twins and they get so upset when I eat chocolate but I can’t help it, I’ll deal with gassy babies just to have this frosting on your chocolate cake 🙂 thanks so much for sharing! Btw, my Dh has approved of the both the chocolate cake and frosting too, which is huge because he swore I already had the best recipe!
This recipe is my favorite! You could also add a little Amaretto Extract to it if you can find any. I have never been able to.
Yummy Frosting!
1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening
8 oz cream cheese, softened
(Whip these together very well)
2 LBS powder sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla (not imitation, it makes a big difference trust me)
1/2 tsp. pure Almond Extract
1/2 tsp. Coconut Extract
Add milk to desired consistency, I use about 1/4 cup, or even a little less. Depends on how thick you like it. You can also use coconut milk if you are making coconut cup cakes just make sure to add a little more coconut extract if you do. I personally like it with just regular milk.
Can I freeze the frosting. We are going up north and I want everything already made. This was amazing! I just made it for my son’s 1st birthday party.
Michelle – unfortunately, I wouldn’t suggest freezing this frosting. I’m sorry! I hope you have a way to make it work still. If you DID freeze it and it worked, be sure to let me know! I’m thinking it might have a weird, separated texture if it is frozen and defrosted.
I have been using your recipes for a long time with great success but have never commented on your site…but after making this frosting I just HAVE to thank you:) I made it with your chocolate cake recipe for my little boy’s birthday but I added chunks of oreos to the cake and then whipped crushed oreos into the frosting. Honestly, I can’t believe any of the frosting actually made it onto the cake! My boys (I have 4 like you) were begging for spoonfuls of it. My husband NEVER eats cake but I made him taste this frosting and he ended up eating 2 pieces! It really is magic! I’m sad for all the commenters who said it didn’t work for them because it is amazing! Thanks.
Mel, may I suggest that you add to this recipe your comment about how I doesn’t work to refrigerate the frosting before piping or spreading this frosting? I had dimmed the comments a week before I made this and must have missed that comment. I was so excited when my frosting worked. It was so tasty and I am glad I indulged myself and had a cupcake with it before I refrigerated the frosting. It was only in the fridge about 5 hours and I tried letting it sit and un-chill and then I rewhipped it….and 🙁 . It does not taste as good as when it was fresh. I am glad I tried it fresh because if I hadn’t, I don’t think I would make this again. For me, I will only use this frosting if I have time to prepare it and serve it fresh. I am taking the cupcakes to my family dinner today but my opinion if it has that much butter in it it has to taste incredible or it’s not worth the calories and fat grams. This stuff is definitely worth it, as long as you eat it when it’s fresh. Thanks for an awesome recipe.
Oh my. I must say, I am a sweet frosting fan but this, even though it is not sweet, is DIVINE!!! I am putting it on the sisters cafes lindt truffle stuffed cupcakes and I know it will be perfect with the sweetness in the cupcake. This is much easier than a chocolate frosting I tried that has flour in it. It just takes time. Well worth the wait. I am a huge fan and I am sure this won’t help me to not become huge physically but this is worth every calorie and fat gram. Please make a cookbook Mel. I don’t care if every recipe is on your blog I would still buy it! Love everything that comes from your site!!! Thanks a bazillion.
I tried this frosting recipe yesterday and was disappointed with the results. The frosting literally fell off my cupcakes. I have made other flour frostings where you mix the milk and flour first, cool and then add to the butter/sugar mixture and never had this result. Is it possible to overbeat the frosting?
Hi Linda – sorry this frosting didn’t work out for you. Did the frosting fall off the cupcakes because it was too runny? Yes, you probably can overbeat the frosting but it would probably make the frosting very stiff – is that what happened do you think?
I was sold on this recipe UNTIL I saw it required 3 sticks of butter. 3 sticks?? You have all the fat/oil in the cake and then you slather it was butter?? No wonder you were trembling and weak when eating the frosting… it was probably a mild heart attack. haha
PS I posted your recipes today at the Sisters Cafe. You rock!
Mel, can we just adopt you as one of our sisters? I am totally jealous of Erin. Seriously you are amazing! I loved this frosting (and that is understated)! And your vanilla cupcakes are to die for, too. Thanks again for some seriously fabulous recipes.
Hey!
I am sorry and I don’t know if you said it somewhere else but I couldn’t find it. What was the cake you made this with? Was it the Divine Chocolate one? This is my first time coming to this site. But I found this recipe through pinterest and it looks great. I am a frosting lover so I am interested to see if I will like this. There is a place here in Tampa, FL that has the BEST cupcakes and frosting but it is the most unusal frosting so I am hoping this one is similiar to it. B/c its very light and buttery though the usually the coat the frosting on the top with the sugar crystal sprinkles. So good… I can’t wait to try this! Thanks Casey
Casey – I used the frosting on the Unbelievable Chocolate Cake. Hope you like the frosting if you try it!
I’ve now made this frosting several times and it is *always* much softer than a buttercream. The first time I did this (and I let my frosting cool overnight in the refrigerator and then brought to room temp), I had trouble with my 2nd layer wanting to slide off and the frosting on the top and sides holding on just barely to the top and sides.
I solved this in follow-up batches by not allowing the frosting to come to room temp completely so it was a bit more solid. Then I frosted the top of the bottom layer and refrigerated it so it would solidify. About an hour later, I removed it, put on the top layer, finished frosting (did refrig. the remaining frosting for 30 min. of that hour) and then stuck it back in the refrigerator.
This frosting acts more liked a whipped cream frosting which needs to be kept cool and refrigerated.
I loved the taste of the icing, however I could not get it to set up. I beat the frosting for over 5 mins and let it set for over an hour, but the frosting never set. I used the frosting on the cake but it just ran off the sides. Help please because the taste is amazing. I would love to make the frosting again just need to know what I did wrong.
Hi Shauntae – sorry the frosting didn’t set up for you. The main reason this frosting doesn’t set up is if the base (the mixture that was cooked on the stovetop) didn’t cool completely. I’ve had the same thing happen to me even when that frosting base was just every so slightly warm. It needs to be completely cooled. Other than that, I’m not sure why that would have happened. If you try it again, I hope it sets up perfectly for you!
Oh, the great frosting debate. I usually only comment after I have tried something because when I read comments, I wish I could filter and only read comments of people who have tried the recipe. But I have a few comments to add here. Fr the carrot cake people, mel’s whipped cream cheese frosting would be perfect. I don’t care for it on cookies, but it’s great on bars and cakes. It is truly divine. I made sugar cookies recently and hidden in mel’s recipe for vanilla buttermilk cupcakes is a great buttercream that I love on sugar cookies. I have yet to try this frosting, but last week for my sons birthday I made the monkey cake on our best bites. The cake was a Martha Stewart and I didn’t care for it but the frosting was from our best bites and so good. It’s a chocolate version of this magical frosting but uses chocolate chips to hold it together. Darker chocolate and very tasty. I couldn’t strain mine…it was too thick. Maybe I cooked it too long. Anyway, there’s my 2 cents. Mel, you have the best recipes hands down. I can’t wait to try this…so far I feel like our taste buds are identical. I am sure people send you recipes a lot. I found a focaccia recipe that people have gone nuts over…my husband says it’s the best bread he’s ever had and it’s way easy. I found it in a cookbook when I couldn’t find a focaccia recipe on your site. If you want to try it, let me know. I know a bread recipe is the last thing you want….you have so many winners….but if you want it, I will send it to you. Thanks for making me a cooking star!
Jill,
It may be that your butter was too warm. When a recipe calls for ‘room temperature’ butter, it means that you can put an indent into the butter with slight pressure, but it should not be squishy. You should still be able to cut it into separate pieces. If you can’t, it means it’s too warm.
My son’s girlfriend loves chocolate so I made this recipe (along with your dark chocolate cake recipe) for her. Based on past experience, to get that rich dark chocolate taste, I omitted the semi-sweet chocolate in the frosting and substituted 1 cup (instead of 1/4 c.) Hershey’s dark cocoa. Perfect.
Hi Mel! I was wondering if this frosting could be made a few days in advance? I’ve actually made it a couple of time already and have had a lot of success with it, but I’ve never tried to store it for any amount of time. Thoughts?
Hillary – I’ve made this frosting in advance, just once, and I have to say the results did not fare well for me. I made it a few days in advance, stored it in the refrigerator and took it out a few hours before to let it come to room temperature. Then I rewhipped it (following the advice of the original recipe) and it completely went grainy and separated on me. I couldn’t ever get it back to the right consistency. You may get different results than me, but that’s my fair warning that making it ahead was a bust – which is a bummer since it would be nice to be able to rely on advance preparation!
I have just made the frosting, and I find it very disappointing. I read from someone else that their comment is the same as mine. The butter is separating a lot. I made sure the mixture was completely cooled and I mixed it for 5 min. I let it set for an hour and I also refrigerated it for a time trying to get it to set up and have a little more body to it. I have frosted the cake and it is drooping off and looks separated. What did I miss?
Jill – I have no idea what you missed and I’m not sure why it would be separating. Whenever I make this, it whips together like a fluffy, creamy whipped cream. The temperature of your butter might be an issue (either too cold or too warm) but really, it’s almost impossible to know why it would have separated unless I could be right there with you while you made it. I’m sorry!
Thanks for your feedback! I think I made my question a little confusing… I, too, won’t frost my cake more than a couple of hours before serving, but I was wondering how you store your cakes with this frosting after you’ve had the party and eaten some of the cake. Do you keep the leftover cake on the counter or put it in the fridge?
Lindsay – oh, that makes sense. I usually store the leftovers in a cake cover at room temperature if I think we’ll eat the leftovers within 24 hours. To be honest, we haven’t had leftovers beyond that but if I did, I’d probably put them in the refrigerator after that.
Hmm.. I do have another question, too. After the fact, is it best to keep cakes frosted with this frosting at room temperature or in the fridge for the next few days? Will it ‘hold together’ sitting out on the counter? Thanks for all your help!! =)
I, as well, have tried the Tasty Kitchen (PW) recipe and quite liked the taste of it, but it didn’t seem to come together as well as I had hoped. I am intrigued by your recipe (as you have tried the Tasty Kitchen one, too), but I am wondering about the amount of butter this recipe calls for… 3 sticks of butter seems like a lot! Does it have a greasy/filmy/overly buttery taste to it? Also, do you use unsalted or salted butter for the frosting? I am wanting to find a good frosting recipe for a chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday. It really does look great…and any feedback you have would be great! Thanks so much!!
Lindsay – reading through the other comments on this, you’ll notice that there are a fair amount of people that do think it is very buttery. That’s actually what I like about it but it might be a turn off for you. I always use salted butter because I never buy or have unsalted butter on hand. As for storing the frosted cake, I’ve never frosted a cake more than a few hours before serving. The frosting hardens quite a bit in the refrigerator (I’ve noticed with leftovers of the frosting) so I’m not sure you would want to store the frosted cake in the refrigerator. I’m afraid that when it came to room temperature it might separate a bit – which is what I’ve seen happen to the refrigerated frosting leftovers. Hope that helps!
I made this today to ice some hummingbird cupcakes and it was amazing! Not to sweet, not greasy.. just great! I did cut out one stick of butter and added 6 oz of cream cheese (I had a partial block in the fridge) so it had just a subtle cream cheese flavor. Also, I refrigerated it for a few hours to pipe it on which worked like a dream too. Thanks for sharing I will be keeping this around!
Now that it’s been a few weeks since making this, I can talk about it. My 3 year old insisted on having a princess birthday cake, so I obliged, thinking I could make it with this frosting. The frosting was so good! I kept snitching at it. I colored it pink, and frosted the princess cake (I piped it and it worked great). I finished the cake completely at 12:30, it was beautiful and finished! Then, at 12:45, before I could even take a picture, the whole thing fell apart. It was so sad! The birthday party was supposed to start at 1:30, so I whipped up a “cake” out of a paper plate stuck on Barbie, frosted it with a can of the nasty store-bought cake, and we blew candles out of that, then I served scoops of my collapsed cake. Everyone thought the frosting was good, the presentation…not so much!
Hi Mel,
I want to try this frosting, but I don’t need 4 cups. Will it work just as well if I cut the recipe in half?
Hey! When I add the butter I find that the frosting starts to separate. Do you know why this is?
Hi Jessi – that is normal for this frosting. Once the butter is added piece by piece, the frosting will look like it is separating but as it mixes (and it needs to mix for a long time), it will come together. Make sure the frosting base is perfectly cooled before adding the butter. Hope that helps!
ok, I made a comment about the yummy delicious “unbelievable” chocolate cake with ganache and said I would try the magical frosting. Well, my oldest daughter, 11, was the first to taste it while it was in the making process and she said it reminded her of cool-whip but a little firmer. I thought that was a pretty good description. I made the “unbelievable” chocolate cake for my youngest daughter’s 8th birthday last month. I also made the “magical” frosting to go with it and topped it off with ganache….OMG…that was the BEST EVER. The whole family fell in love with the cake combination. Even my babysitter said she had never had cake/frosting that good before. It was chocolately, moist, creamy, rich, and fluffy all in one bite. It wasn’t overly sweet, it was the perfect combination to make your taste buds give you a hug.
Oh..my..gaaaah!! I too was left speechless when I tasted this. I just made a batch for my son’s 2nd bday party which is in a couple days. I’ll be making one of your cupcake recipes to put this on top of. I hope it’s just as good after it sits in the fridge for a couple days.
I’ve been wanting to try this frosting for months and I finally made it today! It’s soooo good! I don’t like buttercream or gritty/sugary frosting but this was creamy and delicious! Where has this been all my life?! LOL
I let the frosting chill a little bit in the fridge after the final step. Then I piped it onto red velvet cupcakes. Yum! Thanks for the great recipe!
Did you ever pipe with this?? I am hitting birthday season here in Minnesota!!
I have wanted to make this for a long time, but I am gluten-intolerant so the flour was a no-no. Today I made it for my son’s birthday cake, and just subbed cornstarch for the flour (when using flour as a thickener, you can sub half the amount of cornstarch instead) so 5 T. total cornstarch, and it came out perfectly! I could not believe how delicious, how light and fluffy and perfect it was! A lot more work than my standard powdered sugar frosting that I always make, but so much more delicious! Thanks for another great recipe, Mel!
Catherine – look at you getting all brilliant and making this recipe gluten free. That’s awesome! Thank you so much for checking in with your variations…I know it will be able to help others with gluten intolerance.
I made this back in December for my daughters 2nd birthday and it was a hit! I made the chocolate version today for my mom’s birthday and it was wonderful!!! My husband has already requested that I make it for his birthday!
Christine – glad you loved both versions!
Having tried this last night, and I’m pretty sure I made it correctly, I thought it was so-so. Really I think it’s a matter of preference. I don’t like butter cream, so I thought I would love this, but I didn’t. Everyone else thought it was just ok too. The texture was great, but the taste was lacking for me and I thought it was too buttery. Sorry Melanie, this was the first of your recipes that I haven’t raved about, but everyone has different taste buds. One thing I can’t wait to make are your vanilla pudding cinnamon rolls on Christmas again this year. Those are definitely magical in my family!
Shante – my only wish is that everyone’s taste buds love this frosting as much as I do, considering I make it for everything. But I’m glad you shared your opinion even though you weren’t crazy for it!
For Tricia,
Try adding salt to help with the soapy flavor. I’ve always had trouble with frosting and recently realized that the answer was more salt. It helps fix weird chemical flavors. Good luck!
Mel I am also very, very picky about frosting. In fact, I usually scrap off most of it when eating any kind of frosted dessert. I hate when it’s too sweet or too gritty. This frosting was neither! It was, as you call it, magical – so smooth, light and fluffy, and not too sweet. This was my first try at homemade icing and it came out perfect! I put it on the Schoolyard cupcakes (which are also awesome, btw). Thanks so much!
Tiffiny – thanks for letting me know you loved this frosting – great idea to use it on the schoolyard cupcakes. I’ll be trying that thanks to your suggestion!
My flour mixture is currently cooling, I’m getting excited!
Has anyone tried a non-dairy version of this frosting? If so, what modifications did you use? I was thinking of Coffee Rich or soy in place of milk, but have never tried boiling either. And would sub. margarine for butter. Any thoughts?… Need a TNT, non-dairy frosting that is not overly sweet. Taste and quality come first.
Good luck on your non-dairy search, Cristina. I can’t give any advice at all since I’ve never worked with diary replacements.
Tricia – hope you can save it!
We moved a couple of months ago and I had LOTS of butter in my freezer. I was too cheap to just throw it away. Honestly, I was too cheap to give it to a neighbor. That is when I canned it to make it “moveable” and it is great! It was super duper easy. Totally google it!
Once I adjust the frosting with more sugar, I think it will be great. I love texture of it so I am sure that the 3rd time will be a charm!