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
I see that this is an old post (with a TON of comments!) but I wanted to let you know I made this frosting today and it was ahhhmazing. The texture was very similar to the chocolate frosting found in this recipe (my FAVE chocolate frosting)- http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dessert/brownie-batter-chocolate-fudge-cupcakes.html
Glad that now I have a to-die-for vanilla frosting recipe too! Instead of vanilla I tried almond extract, but I think for my daughter’s birthday on Sat. I’ve decided to do the original vanilla instead. 🙂 Thanks!!!
Mel, my sister-in-law, Bonnie, put me onto your site. I LOVE it! Question about this frosting: Do you think I could substitute 1/2 cup of the milk for lemon juice? I really like a frosting with flavor (i.e. browned butter frosting, or lemon and coconut—you HAVE to try adding coconut oil to your frosting recipes sometime. It’s delicious! I use it half-n-half with butter. And have you ever tried browning your butter for chocolate frosting? Wow! It does change the fluffiness aspect, though.) Anyway, I’d like to make a lemon frosting, but I was really excited to try this recipe. What do you think?
Hi Natalie – I love Bonnie! Thanks for the note! I know there are a ton of comments on this recipe but I know someone else made lemon. I don’t think they subbed out the milk instead they added lemon zest in at the end. It might be worth reading through the last few comments because I’m pretty sure it was recent and I could be wrong. Good luck! Love your other tips!
This is very similar to the recipe my Grandma made and I was so glad when I found it again. It’s the frosting I use on my Red Velvet cake (not a huge fan of cream cheese icing) and I have always gotten rave reviews.
Fabulous frosting! I found the cooked portion of the frosting extremely easy to make in the microwave….I cooked it at 50% power and stirred it every couple of minutes. This was perfect on top of the favorite chocolate cake recipe!
What cocoa powder did you use, Dutched or regular? Could a dark cocoa make the chocolater version darker or have you tried it before? Thanks.
Ela – I’ve used both with good results.
Mel, I was wondering if there is a way to incorporate coffee into this frosting recipe without cocoa. Would love to know if you’ve tried or if anyone else has tried. I don’t know if using brewed coffee in place of milk would work…might not thicken. ???
I have not tried coffee, but I did use Chai concentrate once (Tazo brand) to make a chai spiced icing and it turned out amazing!
I finally made this after looking at it, for I think, since you posted it. I made it exactly as you have it and it turned out awesome. Mine didn’t come out as fluffy as yours but I piped it onto my cupcakes (I turned your cake into bite-sized portions) and it still has to be the very best icing ever. It doesn’t look like anything special, but wow, it is. I don’t know if I will ever want another recipe again.
I cooled the frosting in an icebath while stirring.. it worked like a charm and cut out a lot of time! This is hands down the BEST frosting I have ever eaten!! I had it with your chocolate cake, nutella filling and topped it with fresh strawberries! mmmmm
Did anyone else have issues with it being too runny? I had to use margarine as it was all I had on hand. Could that be a reason? Other than that it was amazing!!! Love the flavor!
Lanaya – margarine does not produce the light and creamy result in this frosting that butter does so that is most definitely the issue.
I’ve tried the Tasty Kitchen version before, with no problems what so ever. I’ve tried your version yesterday, but it was too sweet for me, and the finish icing was separating a little bit. Good enough for spread icing, but not piping.
For the second batch, I forgot to put in the sugar with the flour mixture. So I decided to make it a la Tasty Kitchen and gave it a little tweak. After I creamed the butter only, for 30 seconds, I put only half of the granulated sugar, then the flour mixture. After it was fluffy, I substitutes the other half of the granulated sugar with icing sugar, then whipped it again until it’s very fluffy. The consistency was much stiffer…great for piping. The butter did not separate at all.
You should also try to use Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder. It’s amazing, I love the above so much better than regular.
Mel- this frosting is to die for! my question is would it stand up to a layer cake? is the frosting too light that it would not support a top layer on it? also how to make the chocolate frosting darker in color?
thx!
Hi Lisa – actually, I use this frosting for layer cakes most of the time. It holds up beautifully! Not sure on the chocolate frosting – try using a combination of unsweetened chocolate (it will darken the frosting more than milk chocolate) or maybe even try adding some cocoa powder.
I have been wanting to try this for a while and I finally found time. I have read several comments of what the consistency of the flour mix should look like cooking and when it’s ready to place in clean bowl and cool. My question is, what is it suppose to look like after it has cooled before you add the butter and vanilla? I’m a little worried mine is not quite right.
Michelle – it should look like a thick pudding.
I am going to make a Minnie Mouse star piped cake. Do you think the chocolate version would turn to a black with black food coloring? I can never make black frosting. Ugh
Krista – you stand a better chance of getting black frosting starting with a chocolate base so it’s worth a try. Make sure to use good-quality gel coloring (my favorite brand is Americolor).
I know someone in the earlier posts asked whether it needed to stay chilled and you recommended putting it in the fridge. However, I’m planning on using this frosting on several dozen cupcakes that will not all fit in my fridge. Is it possible to leave them covered on the counter over night or will the frosting melt?
Tiff – the frosting won’t melt unless your house is unusually warm but at cool room temperature (anywhere around 70 degrees) and you should be ok to keep them covered at room temperature.
Hi! Great recipe, thanks. By the way, I used coconut milk ( I live in the Caribbean) and it made it totally super amazing. Also, I kept the extra, (there was lots) in a tub in the fridge and totally used it for a couple days, I just didn’t re-whisk it at all, just let it warm up a bit then it was smooth enough to spread! Super frosting.
Wow! This was definitely worth the extra effort. I made this for some cupcakes today, a double batch of vanilla and a single batch of chocolate (using dutch-process cocoa and bittersweet chocolate) and it was amazing. I piped it onto my cupcakes using a 1M tip immediately after the five-minute fluffing, and they are beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. I cannot wait to share these cupcakes with our graduates tomorrow at church.
After cooking the sugar/milk mixture, I spread it in a glass 13 x 9 pan so that it could cool quicker with good results. It cooled quickly and whipped up beautifully. Wonderful frosting!! Definately a great change from traditional frosting!!
I have been baking professionally forever and always use Italian meringue because I don’t like the powdered sugar stuff. This was SO easy to make and delicious. Next time I am going to decrease the butter to two sticks instead of three, it was a little to much buttery for me but I think with decreasing it to two sticks would make it taste identical to Italian Meringue without the trouble of boiling water/sugar and the difficulty that comes along with making Italian meringue. Wonderful recipe!
is the butter salted or unsalted?
Denise – I use salted butter.
i love the recipe!!! sounds amazing!!! is there any way i can replace the butter with any thing else??? cant have any butter what so ever..
Chad – nope, I’m afraid there aren’t any substitutions for the butter. It just wouldn’t be the same. Sorry!
i made this to frost for my son’s chocolate cake, and my dad who never liked ANY frosting/buttercream said he loved this. Not overly sweet nor greasy. Thanks for the recipe! I coloured my frosting after crumb-coating and left it in the fridge whilst waiting for the crumb-coat to harden. At first the frosting came out all grainy and separated when I took it out of the fridge, but became smooth again after whipping. Loved this!
this is the frosting I grew up with we all called it “The Good Frosting”. so happy to know that the recipe is out there. I have no idea where my Mom got the recipe from but she used it for my 1st birthday and every birthday after that until she died.
It’s FANTASTIC!!!
I made it last week and it was far more delicious than expected 😀
Today I wanna try the chocolate version but I have a question: when do the melted chocolate has to be added?
Hi Angela – instructions for the chocolate version are below the recipe. It tells when to add the cocoa powder and melted chocolate.
Will this stand up at a County Fair??? I have to use it in a double layer cake, so I assume I have to find a *from scratch* very light chocolate cake being the frosting is very light???? The cake would be sitting in the fair building overnight until judging the next day. Temps could not fall below 80 degrees. PA in August. I would love to use this delicious frosting.If anyone could suggest a good lightweihht choc cake
???
Thought I’d just pop back with a couple of comments now that I have finished my frosting, and indeed my cake!
Firstly, the chocolate version of this frosting is absolutely DEVINE, My OH loved it so much that he polished of the several spoonfuls I had leftover straight from the bowl! He is looking forward to me trying out the vanilla version very soon. I have to admit I initially thought that although it had a lovely flavour there was something about the taste that was a little bit… lardy? To combat this I added in a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice (I would have tried extract if I’d had any in the cupboard) and it really did the trick – it just gave a very slight tang, kind a cream cheese flavour just without the actual cream cheese!
Secondly, I took a chance on using it under fondant and it worked totally fine!
I have to thank you Mel for bring this frosting into my life, and my OH’s!
Mel, I just wanted to say that I think it’s amazing you posted this in September of ’10 and are STILL responding to comments. You are awesome!
My first icing adventure is currently in the cooling stage 🙂 I read over all the other comments to avoid asking a duplicate question (I apologize if I missed it somewhere) and I was amazed that no one has attempted/asked about a peanut butter version of this? Could you possibly substitute a bit of the butter for peanut butter? I made my first from scratch chocolate cake and PB frosting seems the perfect fit. In a bit I guess I’ll see how this adventure turns out!
Hi Rachel – after all these comments and yes, I think you are the first to ask about peanut butter! Great idea (may have to steal it) although I think I would add it in addition to the butter and not take out any of the butter. The frosting really needs all that butter (and yes there is a lot) to stabilize and fluff. But I think after it has whipped most of the way, you could definitely add 1/2 cup peanut butter or so to the mixture and whip.
Eek! I totally should have read the comments first… my flour mixture is now cooling ready for use tomorrow and I was intending on using this under fondant for a decorated birthday cake but now I am concerned that it won’t be suitable. Has anyone had any success (or otherwise!) using this frosting under fondant? Wondering whether I need to be hunting down a last minute alternative!
I have tried frosting twice and I can not get the milk mixture to thicken like you describe in the recipe, it said it is suppose to become difficult to easily whisk. I follow the recipe exactly. Do you have any idea I love the taste but it wont even hold a Rosette. hope you can help me thanks
Tonda, without being in your kitchen with you, I have no idea why your frosting isn’t thickening. Are you cooking it long enough?
It should be hot enough to bubble and thicken.
I made this recipe today, and it is divine. I divided the cooled napalm into 2 bowls before adding the vanilla and butter. I made one as specified here, and the other I replaced the vanilla with banana extract and a little yellow food coloring. Wow, that tasted good. Also, I took the finished vanilla icing, about a cup of it, and whipped in about 3 tablespoons of a honey-whipped peanut butter. I’ve never tasted anything so good! It mixed in very well.
The net result: Elvis Cupcakes. Chocolate cake, peanut butter cream filling, and banana icing on top. Long live the KING!
It looks quite tasty 😀
I’m trying it tomorrow.I will let you know how it comes out.
Have a nice day.
I just made this frosting and was so sad when it separated. I believe my batch is beyond repair. I refrigerated the base for a couple hours while I left the house and let it sit out for over an hour to get back to room temp. I let the butter sit out at the same time. I really thought is was the right tempature but it was sooo oily and lumpy when I added the butter. I whipped it for a full 5 min, too. The only thing that I can think of that I must have done wrong was use butter from a tub. Since you said 24 T. I thought it was okay to use a spread. Very sad day because I was eager to try it with your unbelievable chocolate cake.
Hi Emily – yes, it is most definitely due to the butter spread which is much different than butter (usually more oil and water). Sorry it didn’t work out for you. Usually I’ll indicate in the notes above a recipe if other ingredients can be subbed for the ones called for in the recipe.
Initially after making this frosting and tasting it I found it wasn’t a lick the bowl kind of frosting that I liked. Had hubby taste and he liked as he said it wasn’t sickenly sweet as his preference is for more plain cakes such as pound cake. I decided after making it that I would frost the white texas sheet cake. On the cake frosting was phenomenal. Everyone who had some loved it as I did. Could not stop eating. Thanks for a great cake frosting.
It’s 24 ounces or 340 grams. There are tons of conversion sites on the web.
Excuse my ignorance but how much is 3 Sticks of butter in grams please ?
This is the best frosting I have ever made. I fixed a chocolate cake using the recipe for “making a box cake taste like it came from the bakery,” then frosted it using this recipe and my husband loved it …. Not only loved it, but has asked me to “bake THAT” cake again and again!
For all those who are asking, I left the cake out with the icing on top for 15 full hours on a dry and cool day (around 25 degrees Celsius in Hong Kong) and it didn’t melt…tasted delish!
I made this to frost a chocolate/strawberry layer cake for my Dad’s birthday the other night and you’re right. It’s Absolutely. 100%. Magical. (It was so good nobody could believe that I actually made it) Thank you so much!
I was a little unsure of this frosting recipe as I was making it but it turned out great. I should know that I can always trust one of your recipes!
I was wondering how well the frosting holds up, and also would I be able to substitute the butter with shortening?
Stacey – this question is answered already in the previous comments but no, you shouldn’t substitute shortening.
Like most of you, I don’t care for frosting. I want to like it but I’ve made so many frostings and they all disappoint. There are so many good reviews for this one, I’m excited to try it but does it have a strong butter taste?
Shauni – yes, you can definitely taste the butter in this frosting.
any suggestion on how to make a coffee flavoured of this recipe?
Can you use margarine instead of butter…don’t have enough butter in house…just wondering.
Laureen – no, margarine wouldn’t work out in this recipe. It really does need to be butter.
Holy smokes, it worked! I got fluffy frosting and it tastes AMAZING!!! I’m no cook or baker and I was able to do it! Thank you so much!!
I followed your recipe exactly except I scraped the seeds from a vanilla bean and whisked them into my flour mixture. I made it yesterday to frost a chocolate cake I was taking to a dinner party last night. The hosts are friends that own one of the best and busiest restaurants in town – he is the chef and an incredible one at that so I was a little nervous. I knew it was awesome when he kept slicing small slivers of the cake and eating them while we were finishing our wine after dessert. All four of us LOVED this frosting and I will be using the recipe for years to come. Thank you!!
Have you tried piping it yet?! My daughter’s birthday is coming up and I’m looking for an alternative to buttercream!
I just made this frosting after having it bookmarked for several months. I substituted 1 8oz block of cream cheese for 2 of the sticks of butter and let me tell you! This is the most amazing frosting I have ever tasted! I made the chocolate kind, and it was delicious even before I added 5 oz of room temp melted semi sweet chocolate. I just want to go eat this frosting with a spoon! I will have a tough time buying frosting now. The only con is the time it takes, but it is so delicious I really don’t think it matters.
Girl – You are in the wrong business – you need to be in sales! I fell for your claims on this one, the best/magical frosting, but I’m not sure I haven’t been swindled. I think this one needs a tutorial and I must say that the build up of your previous disasters with The Pioneer Woman’s frosting did nothing to bolster my confidence – yikes! I have a frosted chocolate cake (your Ultimate!), but it sure isn’t pretty. The frosting looks a little curdled and I was scared to death of doing something wrong (have you seen the price of butter!?), so I followed your directions to a T. My question is this…can this frosting be overbeaten? If not, then I could maybe have whipped it some more. Pictures of the different stages would be helpful because, although I do trust you implicitly, it was a leap of faith to follow through. Here’s to it tasting better than it looks!
Tabitha – I’m really not sure the difference – this is the only recipe I’ve made that is a flour-based frosting.
Hi! I’v been hunting for a good frosting recipe and other similar ones w/flour beat the sugar and butter then add the milk/flour… What do you think the difference is? Iv never tried either
Mel, I just made this frosting today and piped it on my son’s birthday cupcakes- it turned out truly magical!! I am so thrilled I found it through your blog, since nobody in my family is a big buttercream frosting fan! Thank you! Thank you! I just posted your recipe on my blog and linked it back to you. Forever grateful! It is perfect! Looking forward to trying the chocolate version next! 🙂