Saturday, May 9, 2009

Not-Too-Sweet Frosting

One of the first recipes I asked to copy from my Mother-in-law was for her cake frosting. IT IS NOTHING SHORT OF AWESOME!!! Its just the right combination of fluffy and subtle sweetness and it doesn't use any powdered sugar, so it isn't sickening sweet like butter cream frosting. Many people ask us to bring cakes to get togethers just so they can eat the frosting!

This frosting is there for all of our special events. We use this frosting for nearly every birthday, anniversary and graduation cake we make and it is always a hit! You can also use it as the filling for Devil Dogs which you can make by preparing Devil's Food cake mix and dropping large spoon fulls on a greased and floured cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 for about 11 minutes. Cool. Slather this frosting between 2 of them and enjoy!

ADDITIONAL NOTE- I would say this frosting is fine at room temp for about 5 days, up to two weeks in the fridge, but I prefer not to freeze it if it is to be spread and needs to look pretty. I do love to put it between graham crackers, wrap with plastic wrap and freeze them. It is one of my kids' favorite treats!


Here is the frosting recipe:

1 Cup Milk5 Tablespoons Flour

1/2 Cup Butter (softened)

1/2 Cup Shortening

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract


Whisk flour and milk together in medium saucepan over medium heat until thickened. Pour into shallow dish, cover with plastic wrap and let cool (I put mine in the refrigerator for a couple of hours). Beat butter and shortening together for 4 minutes. Gradually add sugar to the butter mixture. Beat an additional 4 minutes. Slowly add the cooled flour paste to the butter mixture and beat an additional 4 minutes. Add vanilla and beat well.

27 comments:

Stephanie Appleton said...

I'll have to try this. I don't have a decent frosting recipe.

Julie said...

This sounds like a great frosting recipe, I'll give it a try. Thank you for sharing. I love you blog, keep up the great work. Want to take a moment and check out mine? go to www.umengine3.blogspot.com a little bit of this and that. Take care, God Bless!!

Cross Home Concepts said...

Tried it - loved it!! Question: I had more than I needed and put the leftovers in the fridge. I know it will take a little work to bring it back to the right consistency, but how long will it last?

Heather said...

Cross Home Concepts- Glad you liked the frosting! Usually we don't have much in the way of leftovers with my two boys (LOL!), but they should last about 2 weeks in the fridge.You can also freeze it in plastic wrap (doubled) and whip it up after thawing in the fridge.

Cross Home Concepts said...

Heather - this stuff is AMAZING! I had the leftovers in the fridge for just over a week, warmed it up, fluffed it with a fork, then put it on a new batch of cupcakes. Same great taste!! Totally my new go-to recipe for frosting, because I can't stand the really sweet stuff. Love it, love it, love it.

Thanks again for sharing!

Gina

Unknown said...

Will this icing hold form (can you decorate with it)?

Heather said...

Sorry Amy, but this frosting isn't very good for decorating. I use a decorator icing for the designs and edges.

pugs said...

Love a good healthy SWEET recipe. Eating healthy does not have to always taste drab!!!

Unknown said...

Have you ever added cream cheese to this recipe? I've been looking for a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting recipe. Any suggestions on modifications?

Thanks for the recipe. It's difficult to get icing recipes that aren't 90% sugar :)

Heather said...

Thanks Elizabeth! I never have added cream cheese to this, but I'd love to know how it turns out! You could probably substitute it for the butter or shortening. Thanks for reading!

Elizabeth said...

I did end up trying the recipe with cream cheese on top of a light carrot cake recipe. It turned out really well actually. I halved all of the incredients, and substituted 4oz cream cheese for 2 oz or shortening. It was much less sweet than a regular powdered sugar, so I'm sure this will be my new standard recipe. Thanks again!

LaGabberGirl said...

Help,help! I just made this recipe, and my frosting started to get that 'curdled' look after I added the cooled flour mixture to the butter mixture. Is there any way to save it? I poured too much of the flour mixture to the butter one too fast. Is that why this happened?! Actually, I don't even know if I have time. My son's bday party is at 2pm tomorrow. Saturday the 13th! :(

LaGabberGirl said...

P.s. I failed to note that I used RiceMilk (because my son is allergic to dairy), and coconut oil instead of the shortening. I'm guessing the RiceMilk is the problem.

LaGabberGirl said...

P.s. I failed to note that I used RiceMilk (because my son is allergic to dairy), and coconut oil instead of the shortening. I'm guessing the RiceMilk is the problem.

Carrie said...

Okay tried this, mine too had the curdled look after adding the flour mixture and seemed to runny. It is sittign in my fridge waiting to harden some (hopefully it will - if not, I will have to find what hardens frosting). On the up side - delicious! Perfect. I substituted cream cheese for the shortening. Tasted it, was great, then added marshmellow cream - even better. I am just hoping it will harden enough to use on a cake.

Carrie said...

Heather, do you have any suggestions for making the frosting stiffer. It was absolutely delicious but the frosting didn't harden in the fridge so after slicing a few pieces, the top layer slid off. I would love to make this again but I have no idea what I did wrong. Thanks

Anonymous said...

OMG!!!!! the frosting is so good, I just made it to try since I've been looking for a frosting that is not so thin (like icing) and not so sweet, I love it, but my mom will be the taste test since it's for her. Thank you so much for sharing.

Anonymous said...

tnx. for posting your recipe...this frosting looks like delicious to me..i'm going to try this frosting to my aunts wedding!:)thanks again.

Unknown said...

Hi Heather, I tried this too and made it exactly as noted on the recipe, but it started to curdle after adding the flour mixture.

Do you know what I might have done wrong?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Can I use this frosting to decorate with fondant?

Ellen said...

I am wondering if anyone has successfully substituted water or something else non-perishable for the milk? I'm making this to serve as filling and dirty icing for a fondant-covered cake and since fondant cakes can't be refrigerated, it needs to be non-perishable. Thanks!

Heather said...

Ellen- this frosting does not have to be refrigerated. It should last as long as the cake just sitting at room temperature. :)

Anonymous said...

This is just what I am looking for! I can't stand sickly sweet frosting, and don't know many people that can stand it. Thank you so much! :)

Anonymous said...

Yum! Just made this for my 4 year old to decorate her mini cakes. It is just the right amount of sweet and is so easy to spread for little ones. Often frostings are not so kid friendly, but this one is easy for little ones to spread without destroying the cake!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

Anonymous said...

I tried this and it's fabulous! I was wondering...when you say it will last as long as the cake lasts, are you implying that the cake will be consumed the day it's made or will this last for more than a day? I may use this on a wedding cake or other treats but would need it to last longer than a day. Don't want to make anyone sick. Thanks!

Heather said...

Glad you liked the frosting! Great question by the way! I generally think of cake as being good for 5 days. After that, I throw out any remnants... if there are any. :o) So I would say this frosting is fine at room temp for about 5 days, up to two weeks in the fridge, but I prefer not to freeze it if it is to be spread and needs to look pretty. I do love to put it between graham crackers, wrap with plastic wrap and freeze them. It is one of my kids' favorite treats!

Anonymous said...

My daughter wanted a white cake with chocolate ganache topping for her wedding cake. I used this frosting, made my first tiered cake, and got rave reviews. Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe.