Can you make buttercream without icing sugar

Then slowly pour the warm milk in as you whisk this avoids lumps. Cook over medium heat until it thickens in a thick dolloping custard. In fact, the frosting holds its structure longer, and it pipes with sharper, more defined edges even though it is just as fluffy. It will become like a thick, pasty, thoroughly unappetising jelly and at this stage you will start doubting me.

Have faith! You can also leave it overnight in the fridge but take it out about 1 hour prior to dechill it and bring to room temperature. Beat butter until creamy — just for a couple of minutes. Add dollops of the roux, beating as you go. Take about 1 minute to add all the roux in, this will ensure your Frosting stays smooth;.

Or transfer to a piping bag and pipe sky-high swirls, as pictured throughout this post Wilton 2D tip. In fact, this frosting was the traditional frosting used for Red Velvet Cake!

It was only in modern times that cream cheese frosting became the frosting of choice for Red Velvet. Treat it like your everyday buttercream — this frosting can be tinted and flavoured with concentrated flavouring.

The butter in this frosting will require refrigeration if the temperature is warm enough for the butter to start softening — this causes the frosting to droop. The frosting firms up in the fridge because the butter goes hard which is not very pleasant to eat! It will soften faster than fridge-cold butter because the fridge-cold frosting is not as hard as butter.

So, now you know my secret frosting recipe. Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook , Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Your email address will not be published. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. I ran out of milk and tried oat milk for half….

Thank you Jeanne — yes we tried this with lots of different flours and milks including soy — if I can get it to work another way, I try to post it! My mother made this cake in the 50s, and I always loved it and the frosting!

I look forward to trying your method of prep. Made this and it turned out more like a custard rather than fluffy frosting. Is there any way to fix this???? Love love love this frosting! Soooo buttery but not sickeningly sweet! So smooth and creamy yet holds up great when decorating! I am going to add a berry filling. Do you think a couple of tablespoons of the cooked down berry filling would be alright to add to the icing to add color with out it splitting?

Sounds great! I have a four tier wedding cake to make with fondant or sugar paste roses on it. Will this hold up and keep the roses in place or will they slide? Can I make the frosting ahead of time and just thaw it out when I need it? Does it need rewhipping coming out of the fridge? Since I discovered this recipe earlier this year, this is the only frosting I will make. Yes, it is more labor intensive, but it is worth it. This time I added the food coloring to the milk for the roux and added just a touch more flour less than a tablespoon extra.

It was a little less vibrant than I wanted, but it worked. Hi Nagi, would this frosting work as a crumb coat under fondant, and as the filling between the layers, on a birthday cake? My daughter has asked for a less sweet filling and this sounds ideal. This is seriously the best vanilla frosting recipe. I have been trying out several and stopped after this one. Thank you for sharing. Hi Amber, I am so glad to hear the recipe worked great for you! Thank you for taking the time to comment, we really appreciate it.

I have not timed how long it takes but it should be less then 20 minutes. Hi, I usually do put mine in the refrigerator because it helps to keep the frosting hard, my house is usually pretty warm.

It is very creamy, but at first it tasted a little sweet, then I refrigerated it and left it out for a day, and it tasted delicious, I did find it hard to turn into a paste though. Mostly was a good experience. Thanks for the recipe. I usually put mine in the refrigerator also.

And also no problem to the comment thing I am glad to help and tell you my experiences : You are welcome too. But, if there was a rating I would rate 5 stars overall. Do you have a good recipe for glaze, I used one and there was sugar particles and it was way too sweet, I think that if you did make glaze it would be a hit!

Be sure to tell me if you have one or if you could take the time to make one. Sorry, IN the beginning… one of the problems was……….. Then read the above. This recipe is fantastic. But after adding about 2 TBS of milk, I got the right consistency. I used the paddle attachment first to cream everything and then swapped to the big whisk attachment and the icing probably quadrupled in volume.

Hi Jen, I am so glad the recipe turned out for you. I will have to try adding cocoa sometime. Thank you for sharing your tips on adding cocoa, milk, and using the whisk attachment. Brooke, Yes others have commented that they added cocoa powder to make it chocolate frosting with success.

Thanks for reaching out. Hi Kiki, It probably needs to mixed more with an electric mixer and you can add more sugar to it. Also refrigerating it will help. Hi Katie, I am interested to try this recipe. I just want to know if this recipe will still work if I will be using a wisk? If wisk is okay, how many minutes do you think will take me to have the right consistence of the frosting?

Hi Maureen, I feel like an electric mixer is a helpful if not crucial part of making this frosting because it really needs to be whipped. It may be possible to make with whisk but it will definitely take some additional time. This recipe is made with common ingredients. Powdered sugar and heavy cream are not always staple items that everyone keeps in their kitchen. These ingredients are more common and easier for someone to make without having to run to the store.

That is why it calls for milk instead of heavy cream. Hi Andrea, I think it is fine to add cocoa powder, I know others have made the recipe and added it. Hi Gretta, I believe it would work for this recipe. Someone messaged me that it worked for them when they tried it. Thank you for this recipe. I have tried for years to come up with a good icing recipe that does not use powdered sugar.

This recipe nailed it. We use coconut sugar and Einkorn flour and it turned out absolutely perfect. You are welcome. I am glad you liked the recipe and that it worked out for you. Thank you for taking the time to comment, we appreciate it. Can you go into further detail about how to do the milk and flour part, and how long should it take? Where has this recipe been all our life? I have had many birthdays with many cakes and many attempts at the perfect frosting recipe with nothing being just quite right.

This recipe is perfected and will be a birthday cake repeat for years to come. For our family, all I did was substitute the sugar for coconut sugar and it was fantastic. I use this recipe frequently. Anyway, it tastes delicious.

I SO screwed this up, but damn it if still tastes amazing!! Thanks, will make this again for sure. Hi Rumi, Did you use an electric mixer? How long did you mix it for? It can take a few minutes. Also putting it in the fridge will help it set. I wanted to add to it because it looked so boring and flat. I only had skim milk so I used vanilla ice cream instead. I added walnuts on top of the icing and it turned out delicious.

Thanks again, Andrea Limingelli. Hi Andrea, So glad you liked the frosting recipe and that the substitutions worked out for you. Frosted banana bread sounds delicious! Madelyn, I have never tried adding anything to this frosting recipe but I think when the recipe is finished it would be fine to add an additional flavor like peanut butter, etc. Others have commented that they adding things like cocoa powder, etc. Just regular all purpose flour. Going to use this recipe moving forward as my family loved it.

Ran out of powdered sugar, saw this recipe, and I was so happy with the result. I did replace the vanilla with lemon extract, and added just a tablespoon of flour to thicken. It was perfect and sweetness was just right. Hi Lucy, So glad the recipe came in handy for you and that it turned out. Adding lemon sounds delicious. This worked great for my wheat free corn free girl. We also keep the flour in the freezer so I think that helped it mix well with the milk.

She was happy we found something without the funky tapioca starch taste you get with corn free powered sugar. Hi Jennifer, So glad the recipe worked out for you using gluten free flour.

This recipe saved my vegan cupcakes when I ran out of powdered sugar. I switched out the butter and milk with dairy free alternatives, and it was delicious. Hi Tracey, So glad you were able to make vegan frosting for your cupcakes. Sarah, Let us know how it turns out.

Others have mentioned that it worked with gluten free flour. Thanks for commenting. Yes, unsalted butter is fine. This was amazing! Saved me another run to the store, I thought I had another bag of powdered sugar only to discover it was flaked coconut!

So glad you liked the recipe and that it saved you a trip to the store. Great recipe!! I was all out of confection sugar and I was so glad to find this.

It turned out delicious. I added a little cream cheese. I will make this again! Highly recommend. Hi Lisa, So glad the recipe turned out for you. Adding cream cheese sounds like a great idea. First, you must add the milk TO the flour and mix thoroughly each time — this eliminates the first type of lumps.

Next you must stir the cooking mixture with a spatula — not a whisk. Push the upside down spatula away from you scraping and lifting the thickening paste from the bottom of the pan. Quickly flip the spatula right side up and press down on the paste you just lifted and pull it toward you, smearing it into the bottom of the pan. This motion smashes out any lumps being formed as the mixture cooks.

Stirring with a whisk just moves the lumps around. Virgin baker, first time icing maker, and it turned out… Delicious! Not overly sweet so the cake shared the spotlight… great! Hi JoAnn, So glad you liked the frosting recipe. Turned out great. I think this will become my go-to vanilla frosting recipe!! Thanks for sharing. So glad the substitutes worked! You have to mix them cold in the pan then add heat to thicken and you probably need to used a sifter to get the flour nice and powdery compacted.

Hey Katie! Hopefully you catch this : does the frosting need to be refrigerated or is there a limit to how long it lasts? The frosting will last a few days like other frostings. I know this is years late.

But I mixed the flour and milk separately before adding to the saucepan- zero lumps. Hi Joanne, So glad you liked the recipe. Is it okay to frost the cake before the day of celebration? How do you store it?

Can you put it in the refrigerator or leave it on room temperature? This tastes wonderful! My finished product did have some grittiness, however, I used Simply Nature Organic Cane Sugar from Aldi similar to Florida Cyrstals , and the sugar crystals are huge compared with ordinary white sugar.

Katie, you saved me! The wet ingredients in the icing were way off, I tried it twice. I used this recipe of yours adding in the expresso powder and it came out light, fluffy, and full of flavor.

Hi Mike, So glad the recipe came in handy for you. I looked all over for an easy recipe and came across yours, with A LOT of great comments, so had to try. BUT …. I followed your instructions to the T and it came out beautifully!!! So light and fluffy. Wish I could post you a picture. Thanks for sharing what substitutes worked for you. I had very low expectations for this recipe at first, then it worked and was the creamiest frosting ever thank you so much!!!!!

I know that this is super late but next time mix the milk flour and salt first before putting in in the pan. This recipe is a little suspicious! I almost messed up every single step and still had a decent icing to go with my cinnamon rolls. Very forgiving. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Food Advertising by. Classic White Sandwich Bread ». Comments Hard to get the lumps out of the flour milk mixture!!! I tried a few times then gave up. Hi Lea, I frost about 18 cupcakes with this recipe.

Katie thanks for the recipe i frost 12 cupcakes its was pretty good!!? Thank you so much for the kind comment and review. I wa so excited to find a cream cheese frosting recipe without all the sugar! However, I wanted to make a lemon glaze for my almond flour lemon cake also sweetened with honey so instead of the vanilla and milk, I used the juice and zest of a lemon.

I also cut the recipe in half but used about three tablespoons of honey to balance the tartness of the lemon. Btw, the frosting is delightfully tart and refreshing. That sounds delicious Sonya, I love the sound of a lemon honey frosting. Thanks so much for sharing, and for the kind words and nice review.

Enjoy your cake. It also repeated on me. I know it was the icing as I tasted it a couple of times to check sweetness etc. It has a very similar texture to cornstarch, but is not made from corn and is grain free.

I hope this helps. Hi Emily, thank you for this super sounding recipe I have not tried it yet , from the comments, I can tell it is an absolute winner. Do you think maybe cornstarch could be replaced with merringue powder?

If you can, I would suggest doing a test batch of frosting, before making it to frost your dessert, if you are sharing with others. Please let me know how it turns out, I would really love to know if this works, I am very curious.

Hi Emily, I tried this frosting. It was so delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe. I have a question. I have some icing left over apart from using it for the cake. How long can it be stored in refrigerator and used? Thank you, I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the frosting.

It should be good for at least a week, maybe up to 2 weeks. Just make sure to allow the frosting to come to room temp again before you go to frost anything next time.

Tried this recipe but turned out runny and can taste the cornstarch. Used 3T of the cornstarch because after the 2nd T, was still runny! What can I do to correct this? Hi Maria, what kind of sweetener did you use? And how much milk did you add? If you used agave nectar, or maple syrup — which are both runnier then honey — and you still added the full 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk, that might be why the frosting is too runny. To fix the current batch of frosting I would suggest doubling the amount of ingredients except for the sweetener, milk, and corn starch.

Only add the sweetener at the end, gradually, to taste. You might have extra frosting this way, but it will keep in the fridge for at least 1 week, maybe 2. I used 2tbsp of maple syrup, 1tbsp of milk, and 1tsp of arrow root.

She and I loved dipping blackberries in the leftover frosting, too. Hi Emily, that is so great to hear that you and your kids enjoyed the frosting. It sounds like you had such a fun time baking together. Blackberries sound delish. So glad you will be making the frosting for your future baking adventures. Thanks so much for sharing, and for the kind review. Loved this recipe before adding the cornstarch even better than normal cream cheese icing!

But i didnt think it needed it anyway so would make again without! Glad to hear that it worked out for you without corn starch. Just out of curiosity, what did you use the frosting on? Thanks for sharing. Oh yes this was amazing!!! I think I like milk too much lol cornstarch definitely did the trick to thicken it back upyummy yummy yummy :-p. Hi Jen, so glad to hear that you enjoyed the frosting!!! The strawberries sound like a great way to enjoy it.

I am glad to know that you found the recipe to be so flexible with the amount of cornstarch and milk you added. Nowhere near the same taste or consistency as normal frosting. I had to add extra vanilla and throw in cinnamon to make it even close to edible.

Used thick honey, the more runny kind is hard to get ahold of here. Also I added fresh raspberries instead of milk, which made a nice pink color and taste. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the frosting Isabel. Thanks for sharing your experience. The raspberries sound like a tasty addition. Do you think I could mix maple syrup and honey together? Yes, I think that would work fine. Let me know how it turns out :. Thank you!!!!

So glad to hear that everyone loved it. Thanks for the kind comments, and reviews. I really appreciate it. Pro-tip: If you don't have confectioner's aka powdered sugar, I recommend this cream cheese frosting recipe instead.

It can be sweetened with honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar, and has the perfect […]. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.