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!
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Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
Description
This light, creamy, dreamy frosting is THE 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 have made this a few times, and every time it was great! I have a few comments, though. First, every time except one I used the flat paddle attachment on my mixer rather then the whisk. The other time I used the whisk. I noticed that the flat paddle is easier to use and faster and produces the same result. Also, instead of cooling my flour/milk mix in the fridge, I put the pot into a bigger pot of ice. It works great and only take about 10-15 minutes to cool.
I have been looking for this recipe, because I lost mine a couple of years ago. I first found it 45 years ago with a “Waldorf’s Red Devil’s Food Cake”recipe. It is great with that. Our family likes it with just the slightest touch of granules still in the icing after it has been beaten until fluffy and almost completely smooth. Obviously, I have to make a much larger batch. Thanks for sharing this and all the other good ideas for flavors and use of it. Also thanks for the warning about cheap butter.
I lost mine also, I had it bookmarked but just couldnt find it. Fortunetly I printed it out and found it that way. What a relief, my family loved it and I’m making cupcakes for Easter.
I made this today with chocolate cupcakes and added a half cup of peanut butter….it was delicious!!! Thanks for this wonderful frosting! Best ever!!!!
This frosting is soooooo good!!! My 8 year old hates frosting but LOVED this frosting!! Thanks Sara!
Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve tried soooo many buttercream recipes and found them too sickly/heavy for the light sponges they sit on. This is perfect! I actually had no whole milk so I used half skimmed milk (all I had) and half whipping cream (wasn’t hopeful) and it turned out incredibly! First time round! Absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Just wondering if this can be used to frost a cake that you are not going to use a piping bag for. I want to make a layer cake, and just frost with a spatula. Then make some additional cupcakes to go along with it, that I will frost with the tip. I didnt want to have to do 2 separate frostings. What do you think?
Yep, works great!
Sara I made this for my niece’s 2nd birthday cupcake cake and it is THE BEST frosting I have ever had in my life! I will never use another frosting recipe again! Question though….can I add chocolate powder and it still come out yummy?
Glad you liked it! Chocolate is a little tricky- it tastes amazing, but sometimes it does funky things to it. You can experiment though! Or check out the other chocolate frostings on this site- they’re both amazing, and similar.
Everyone loved the birthday cupcakes! Frosting was a HUGE hit!!!
I made this frosting it comes out perfect but when I frost it then it becomes loose and almost like it seperates. I love the taste and I’ve tried it several times unless…it’s the fat free milk I use.
Yep- I would try it with whole milk; that might help!
I have had a lot of success making this (and the chocolate version) dairy and soy free! Just use rice milk and palm shortening!
Yay! This is exactly what I was looking for 🙂
What is palm shortening?
This is so, so good. I added a dash of cinnamon and put it on top of apple cupcakes. YUM!
Yum! Stumbled across this post as I googled how to frost a cupcake. Just made this frosting for Valentine’s Day and it was PERFECT! I love the fact that this buttercream recipe doesn’t call for shortening. The consistency was perfect. Thank you!
How good is this recipe?! Finally, a cupcake icing that tastes as fab as it looks. Thanks so much for sharing it
Tried this recipe today. How do you make the frosting more thick? It tastes okay, but it’s really runny! I don’t think I will be able to pipe it onto my cupcakes.. 🙁
I know this is a pretty old post but I have never been so proud of an icing (frosting) recipe in my life! It’s fluffy, it’s creamy, it’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s PIPE-ABLE!!!!! <3
Yummy, it tastes awesome its sweet and creamy
Super delicious!! The best vanilla buttercream frosting! Thanks so much for sharing! xx
I decided to make this frosting for some cupcakes for Super Bowl today. I was a little nervous about using flour as I had never heard of using flour for frosting; however, this frosting is perfect! This has gone into my favorite recipes and not many make it in there! Thank you for sharing this recipe. 🙂
Will have to take a look at all of your other recipes!
I was more than a little skeptical about a frosting with flour in it….i mean, flour goes in the CAKE, not the frosting…..right??? What a pleasant surprise, this was wonderful! Not too sweet like a lot of buttercreams. This may be one of the best vanilla buttercreams i have found, and boy, have i been looking for what seems like forever! Give it a whirl, you wont be disappointed!
I’ve tried this recipe and sometimes it works out other times it doesn’t. what am I doing wrong if it starts to look curdled (looks like buttercream when the butter and water content in the butter separate). I’m sure it isn’t undermixing because I do mix for 8-10 minutes. I also put it through a sieve to make sure no lumps. this is not lumpy, just looks separated. Almost like there are minute droplets of water in it. Can’t figure it out.
Thanks.
Holy moley! just made this to frost cupcakes for a party at my son’s school and man is it yummy! I doubled the recipe and my kids (and hubby) ate the leftover frosting with a spoon. Also, I used green food coloring (and a significant amount as I was aiming for a dark green) and it held up just fine. Def the only frosting I will be making for cupcakes from now on…love the texture and just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you!!!
By the way, I made sure to dissolve the flour completely in the (COLD) milk before heating it and didn’t get a single lump 🙂
I tried a gluten-free version and it came out tasting delicious but no matter how long I whisked for it remained a bit separated. I really liked the taste and it was even nicer with cacao. I could pipe simple swirls but leaves and flowers didn’t really keep their shape, I suspect that can be due to the gluten-free flour.
I wish I could find a frosting tasting like this but better for piping.
Hii jusy wanted to leave a quick comment saying thankyou so much for the recipe made it for the first time and it came out brilliantly and tastes soooooo good
Hi Sara,
Can I use this icing for tres leches cake? I generally use whip creme but I have to worry about freezing or refrigerating and when transporting have to keep it in ice box. I am looking for something similar to whip creme icing that will taste good and set well on tres leches.
Thank you
It’s AWESOME!!!! I mess up the consistency every time cause i get lumps in the batter mixture and/or get the flour + milk in a big lump, but the taste is still divine! My whole family loves it and it finishes all too soon.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but from what I’ve read it seems like it will be a winner. I am wondering of this icing works well under fondant. My family loves cream cheese frosting but it doesnt hold up well under fondant so I’m looking for a replacement.
Has anyone tried this under fondant?
Read through the comments Ashley (I know there’s lots!) Many people have commented about this, so you’ll probably find some answers.
Seems great! I have a great chocolate cupcakes recipe and I think this frosting goes perfect with it. Thanks for sharing this with us, really 🙂
This frosting tastes amazing! This is my new secret recipe! I love it!!!!
Thank you for this recipe. I frosted my red velvet cupcakes with the frosting. They taste just like Drakes Devil Dogs. To good,ate one,and then had to have another one.