This is known as Ermine Frosting, or sometimes referred to as boiled milk frosting, because it begins with a cooked roux of flour and milk. That might sound incredibly strange for a frosting recipe, but trust me! I’d say it’s the perfect frosting. It’s not so thick and sweet that you need a gallon of milk to get it down your throat. It’s mild and smooth, and light as air. I also love it because it doesn’t take away from a good cupcake like other really rich frostings can. It’s often the traditional frosting used with Red Velvet Cake. This frosting has a similar taste and texture to a Swiss Buttercream, but with way less effort. Try this unique frosting recipe and you’ll be hooked!
Instructions
The frosting starts out with a mixture of all purpose flour and milk.
And even though I’m showing it here being whisked together, I’ve actually found you’ll get a much smoother result if you mix this part in a blender first and then pour it in your pan.
Now comes the weird part. You’re going to cook this mixture until it gets thick–it happens fast and you’ll want to have a rubber spatula and constantly smash/stir it to keep it smooth.
I usually take it off the heat when it looks like this photo above. There are still some wet spots but as you stir it all comes together like this:
Don’t taste it. It’s not frosting yet! Pop it in the fridge; it needs to cool completely (I sometimes pop it in the freezer if I want it to cool fast.) Put it in a bowl and smoosh it around and stir every few minutes to cool it off.
While it’s chilling, place some real, high-quality butter (definitely no margarine) and granulated sugar (not powdered sugar!) in a stand mixer.
Whip it up for a few minutes so it’s light and creamy. I use the whisk attachment on my kitchenaid, but any paddle should work. Then you’ll add that glob of flour. I know. Weird!
I’m warning you right now it’s going to look weird at first. Like, what the heck did I do weird. But keep going. You’ve got to whip it for a long time for all the sugar to dissolve and everything to come together. Don’t be startled if it looks curdled and weird. Eventually it will look like fluffy soft clouds of heaven.
I usually give it a little taste and if I can still feel quite a bit of granulated sugar I keep on whipping. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes, other times I let it go for almost 10 or so! It’s worth it for this silky, fluffy, magical mixture.
Pipe it or spread it or fill it or whatever. Anyway you eat it, it’s fantastic.
Helpful Tips
1. Use real butter, and a good name-brand. Cheap butter does weird things.
2. If you beat for the 6-8 minutes and the mixture still looks strange, beat longer and at a higher speed if you can. It should come together, but it takes a little patience!
3. I personally think this frosting is best eaten fresh. You can store for a few hours at room temperature, or try storing in the fridge overnight, letting it come to room temperature on its own, and then re-beating to fluff. If you want to frost cupcakes or a cake the day before, refrigerate and just let come to room temp after.
4. Add extracts to your hearts content; lemon and almond are both wonderful! Food coloring is also okay.
5. The white sugar can be exchanged for brown. Try 1/2 white 1/2 brown for a warm caramel flavor.
6. Do not try to make other substitutions or additions. Sour cream, fruit purees etc. can do disastrous things. Some people have had amazing success, just experiment at your own risk.
7. If trying to decide whether or not to double it- double it. Chances are you’ll want more. It’s a rather small batch, but on purpose.
1 batch will not look like much, but it can spread on (just with a knife, a normal amount) 24 cupcakes. If you want to pipe it thick, definitely double it.
Looking for Chocolate? This isn’t exactly the same, but very similar!
Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk whole milk is best, but I've used non-fat when it's all I have and it's actually fine
- 1/2 cup real butter slightly softened (I prefer salted, but you can use also unsalted and add salt to taste)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavor if you wish
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
- Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring with a rubber spatula, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding or paste.
- Put mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely; it's fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don't want it warm at all. As it's cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top. You can also do this quickly in the freezer, just keep an eye on it so it doesn't freeze.
- Using the whisk attachment on an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. While beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the flavor extracts. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Mixture will separate and look messy, keep beating! Continue beating until mixture comes together and is light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes, but time varies. Take a sample of frosting between your fingers; frosting is done when light and fluffy and sugar granules are dissolved.
Related Recipes:
Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
Chocolate Glazed Cupcakes with Vanilla Creme Filling
Colorburst Cupcakes
Questions & Reviews
I’ve made this multiple times (vanilla and chocolate), always successful and a big hit!
But I had to tell you…today I made egg nog cupcakes (Thanksgiving has passed in Canada so I am onto holiday baking!). I gave this a shot using egg nog instead of milk, and oh. my. goodness. Amazing. I didn’t have to whip it as long, and it actually seemed to hold together a bit more than the regular.
I had to try this recipe because it was so weird looking! lol. It was really good! I put it on an 8″ strawberry cake and wished I had about a cup more frosting at least. This is such a light frosting it needs to be loaded on. Anyhow, I thought it was quite tasty. I felt like it was a little grainy at times from the granulated sugar. I’m not sure if there is a way to prevent that or is it possible to sub powdered sugar? I’m still happy though. I personally love the richness of buttercream frosting, but this will have it’s time and place for sure! Thanks for sharing!
If you can still feel grains of sugar then it just needs to beat longer. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this frosting several times and have had hit or miss results. Recently I tried to make it and it was very separated looking, and would not set up. I’m so glad I came back and read the comments. I definitely think it is my walmart brand butter that’s giving me trouble. I just asked my husband to pick up some real butter on his way home!
what do you think about adding shortening?
I think that sounds like an abomination. Haha! No, really I’ve never added shortening to this so I’m not sure how it would affect it, but in terms of general frosting making, I’m a firm believer that taste-wise, butter is always better!
Perfect. No other words to describe it. Thanks for posting this!
Love it!!! Its so light and fluffy!!!
Hey, can you use a hand mixer as well? I don’t have a stand mixer.
You can, but just don’t get mad at us if it burns out the motor 😉
Hi, Sara for the icing can I use just regular milk or (whipping cream, half and half or evaporated milk) if I dont have the milk suggested in recipe. Also is it ok to leave the iced cupcakes in the fridge overnight.
You can use any regular milk, from non-fat to whole. I’ve never tried cream or evaporated so I’m not sure how that would work. You can leave in the fridge and rewhip the next day, but I think it’s definitely better fresh.
Can I quadruple this recipe? Will there be any changes I need to make or will it still turn out the same consistency? The last time I made it I absolutely LOVED it, but I didn’t have enough to frost all of my cupcakes. 🙁
Yep, you can make whatever fits in your mixer 🙂
ok i know this might be a very stupid question but the T after vanilla is that tablespoon or tea spoon i am preaty sure its tablespoon but im not soo sure
Big T is Tablespoon and little t is teaspoon 🙂
could you tell me what the weight of the ingrediants is. We have a different conversion in England – gram and oz.
if you could offer me a alternative, I would appreciate it.
thanks,
Caroline
You’ll have to look up a conversion chart Caroline, there’s lots on Google!
This frosting is DELICIOUS! A great alternative to my usual buttercream… sometimes it just gets too sweet, and this is a great balance! Thanks!
I made the frosting/filling yesterday for the 1st time and although I didn’t like it as a frosting (I like a denser frosting) it is now my go-to cupcake filling for sure.
My flour & milk thickened & is not watery. Did the recipe say 3 tablespoons flour & 1/2 cup milk. Am I reading it right?
Yep, you’re good–that’s what’s supposed to happen! 🙂
Yes thats right—cook it until thick!
Im excited to try this because this is just what i’ve been looking for, a frosting that is all nice, light and fluffy unlike the kind in the cake isle. Is there any “rookie” mistakes that I should look out for? And do you have a favorite cupcake recipe? Like one out of the box or even from scratch? I make them all the time and I really want to perfect them! Thanks!!
Hi, Drew! There are looooooooots of tips because we’ve done a lot of troubleshooting over the years! If you have time, I recommend reading through the comments because there’s a lot of discussion about fails and successes. In a nutshell, though, we recommend:
-Use a name-brand butter, or, at the very least, not using Walmart or Sam’s Club butter.
-It is better to slightly overcook the flour mixture than to undercook it.
-Don’t try adding anything like chocolate, extra sugar, cream cheese, etc.
-Keep your kitchen on the cool side; if the ingredients get too warm, the frosting won’t fluff up.
As far as a favorite cupcake recipe goes, we’ve used it a few times on the blog, but here it is:
1 Duncan Hines white or yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
Combine ingredients and beat for 3 minutes. Transfer to lined muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 24 cupcakes.
Good luck and have fun!
i made the frosting and followed the description to a tee and no matter how long i beat it it stayed split.
thanks Ii have found the courage I’m going to replace this for a classic buttercream…. I hope it makes good hairy creatures
My Mom”s good friend has made this for years and always gets rave reviews. When she doubles it she uses one “stick of crisco” in place of 1 stick of butter – it keeps the frosting very white and doesn’t change the flavor much at all. I have done it when I NEEDED white 🙂
I’m trying to make a hairy monster cake and I came across your recipe … It sounds to me that this recipe is for eating-at-home (not sharing) kind of stuff so I will definitely try it for us at home, I’m just nervous about transporting it and the cake sitting out at the park. Could you please guide me to a good tasting frosting, stiff enough to make hairy creatures, that would taste good like this one? … I might be asking too much sorry! But I’m tired of looking! HELP!
This is definitely a “sharing” kind of recipe! Unless it’s going to be very warm outside, it will be just fine. And if it’s going to be really warm out, then there’s really no good frosting for sitting out!
I think this recipe was a good start for what I was looking for! I thought it was too sweet when I was done with the recipe as written, so I made another batch of the flour thickened milk and stirred it in. Also, some melted unsweetened chocolate, since I am filling a 4-layer cake and wanted to be sure it was thick and sturdy enough to not ooze out, and I was sort of wanting it chocolate anyway.
Next time I think I will just cut the sugar in half.
Oh, btw, I don’t have an electric mixer, and made this with a whisk and a rubber scraper/spatula. I had no trouble getting the right consistency. I just beat the butter til it was totally smooth, beat in the sugar til it was totally smooth, then beat in the white sauce.
I used local organic butter from Trickling Springs Creamery.
Thanks for the recipe!
My brother asked for a lemon frosting and I was out of powdered sugar, so a butter cream was out. However I had a jar of lemon curd and remembered this wonderful frosting so at the end, I beat in about half a cup of my fav lemon curd and it was perfect!
So maybe if the fruit was already in sauce form it wouldn’t mess with the consistency? anyway, thanks for this super awesome frosting, Sara!
I’m wondering how many batches of this to make if I’m making 4 dozen cupcakes with the swirl frosting technique that you used and also a “rose” technique? Would it be ok to make the first part of the frosting (flour/milk mixture) the night before and then beat it the next morning? Also, I don’t have a stand mixer just a regular mixer, will any attachment create the same results? Sorry to be asking so many questions!
I made this frosting today to frost on top of a very rich and chocolatey devils food cupcakes. The frosting was so easy and so delicious. Its texture and taste is very similar to a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I’m definitely going to make this frosting instead of the SMB, since no raw eggs are needed. I cooked the flour and milk over med-low heat, constantly whisking, until just thicken (gravy consistency) then continued to whisk off the heat.
I don’t know what to say but,,THIS IS THE MOST WONDERFUL FROSTING/FILLING IN THE UNIVERSE!
I’ve looked under every rock looking for a frosting/filling recipe like this..
The frosting known as Buttercream or Bettercream is good,,which is used to frost cakes,but it falls under a whip cream type frosting..
This one falls under an icing..it’s delightful..
I had no trouble adding food coloring and I think you could play with the amount of sugar…The whipping breaks down the sugar so it doesn’t taste like sand/grit,,
I was able to make this beautiful frosting with a hand mixer…
In closing,,if your first batch fails,,try again and again,,it’s worth it…
This is going to be my new icing of choice from here on out! So easy to make and it is so creamy and just the right sweetness!!! So thankful I came across this website!! Thank You!!!
I just tried this and it is the best not too sweet or buttery. Its my daughter’s birthday and she had fun decorating and I am sure she will have fun sharing them out. I want to try it with chocolate. Thanks for posting.
Holy YUMMY frosting! Would it be a bad thing if I just forgot the cupcakes altogether, and ate the whole bowl of frosting???
Making the blue and white cupcakes for the BYU Utah game Go Cougs!
I love this frosting. When I first made it, it didn’t taste like anything special, but when I ate it with a cupcake, I was in love. 🙂
I just have one question: If I’m doubling the frosting, should I double the time to beat it?
Frosting came out perfect! Silky, not too sweet, YUM!
Can you try adding food coloring to the frosting? or will that mess it up. I’ve made this frosting once before and it was SPECTACULAR!!!
Thanks
Yep, coloring works great.