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 made this frosting for a fourth of July cake I was making and the frosting turned out too sweet. I don’t like vanilla frosting too sweet..and that’s just what this was…I’ve had better vanilla frostings.
I know this is an old post, but this turned out so nice I had to say!!
I used lactose free skimmed milk and lactose free margarine. It turned out great. I think the trick is to mix everything really really well till you get no lumps (as you said). Mine kept in the fridge for a day (I think it could have a kept a little more but it was all used up!!)…. =) Totally recommend this!
This is probably the worst recipe I’ve ever went for. I did exact proportions and it tasted too buttery and no taste of sugar or sweetness. I do not recommend this to anyone. This is a fail. This is only something Paula deen would eat cuz it’s basically whipped butter
I want to make cupcakes for my birthday get together coming up, but I have a lactose-intolerant friend and I want her to feel included. I’m making angel food cupcakes (which are dairy-free naturally), and I have a dairy-free chocolate icing recipe to use, but I wanted to do the dual colored icing to be more fun. So…this white icing is great because you can make it any color with food coloring, but…Lots of dairy in it!
Do you think that unsweetened almond/soy/coconut milk would work as a substitute? Also, for the other icing, I’m using soy margarine instead of butter… Do you think that will work for this recipe too?
Additionally, I live in a teeny apartment in NYC… my toaster and microwave are already competing for the counter space, so I have an electric hand mixer, not a standing one. Do you have any tips for making this mix correctly with a hand mixer? I
Hm… maybe I will just try it and report back! It’s only 5 ingredients and I already have 3 of them 🙂 If it works, I’ll let you know and then you can offer Best Icing Option Ever – Vegan Style recipe for people living in teeny tiny apartments 🙂
PERFECT! thank you so much for sharing…check out my cupcakes! https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1011776_10201193072897970_951796129_n.jpg
I know I’m a few years late seeing this post….but I am just DYING to make this frosting!! After reading most of the reviews (sorry – I just couldn’t do all 200!), and after all I’ve already heard about this frosting, I just can’t WAIT to try it out! However, I am willing to hold off until I can get out and buy brand butter. I’m willing to make a little sacrifices because I want to experience what everyone else gets to.
Now, I just have a few random questions:
1. You say use brand butter because it does not contain anything weird or funky like generic, cheap butter. So you think this would work from homemade butter whipped straight from cream??
2. I know someone else asked this but I never saw an answer…why granulated and not confectioners?
3. About how long would you say it takes to cool the milk/flour paste in the fridge?
Thanks so much and again, can’t wait to try this!
I had no problems with this recipe at all. I live in Europe and have never quite figured out how to measure the butter accurately without filling up the measuring cup, and I am too lazy for that.
I doubled the recipe. The first thing I did was add the flour and milk together in a jar and shook the dickens out of it, then cooked it into a paste. I think I did not cook it long enough as it thickened up so quickly, just a minute or two. I did not have any lumps. Because it looked quite horrifying, I panicked and beat it while it was hot, just for good measure. I had read the comments and decided to soldier on with the recipe.
I cooled the mix completely then finished the recipe. I measured the sugar and eyeballed the butter. I only have a hand mixer, and my company was arriving soon, so I didn’t beat it long enough, or so I think. The color, consistency, and flavor were just fine. It piped onto the cupcakes smoothly with no lumps. I added some rainbow sprinkles to the top to match the rainbow papers.
I was quite pleased with the frosting and how the cupcakes looked. I used a cupcake recipe from a different site, and it needs some work, next time, I will try one from here.
Thanks for the new family recipe!
Now, I’m not a frosting person so I used this recipe (to slightly different proportions) as it claimed not be be as sweet as other frosting recipes, and the results- WOW! This must be one of the best frosting recipes ever, because I got it SO right despite making it in a last minute rush, as I had guests over for dinner, and I cooked the flour mixture on high to speed it up, put the pan in the freezer to cool it, didn’t measure the butter as accurately as I should have and it STILL turned out AMAZING. My first attempt at a frosting, piped beautifully! All the guests were so impressed (will post pics on my blog soon!) and my husband, who doesn’t like sweet things much, LOVED it! If you’re looking for something really light, not overly sweet and that pipes well, try this!
Hi there,
Just wondering what the butter’s consistency should be before whipping it with the sugar? Should it be room temp? softer or harder? Thanks
I’m one of those people who just doesn’t like frosting……I have now found the exception. This frosting is gorgeous, creamy and not so sweet. THANKYOU, this recipe is a keeper!
I just made this frosting with coffee-vanilla two layered cupcakes and let me tell you how gorgeous they were! The frosting’s the first frosting I can stomach that has a large quantity of butter in, which is a huge thing for me. Please, please try this!
Can.i ask? the 3t of flour u need to use what kind of flour?because there are so many kinds of flour!
Hi
My frosting turned out great except it tasted kind of “chalky” or “floury” to me. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
I just wanted to take the time to tell you that I actually made this icing for my mini cupcakes a few weeks ago. It was FABULOUS. Perfect light texture that was not overbearing. I’m not much of an icing fan as it is usually too heavy and sweet. Anyone having issues with this recipe is clearly not following directions! lol Also, I think a good electric stand mixer makes ALL the difference! I made 150 mini cupcakes that were perfectly fine being stored at room temperature in a container up to a week. No cupcake went uneaten. lol I was told to open a cupcake shop! YUM. Great icing. thanks 😉
So I realize that this recipe was posted a long time ago and so I’m not sure if I will get a response to this or not, but it’s worth a try. I would like to make this recipe for my husband’s birthday but I would like to use a gel food coloring in the recipe. Has anyone tried dying this icing recipe?
…My husband’s birthday is in three days…
I made this and it was totally YUMMY. Thank’s for sharing this recipe. I am wondering, can we use this butterceam for cakes to be covered with fondant. You mentioned that it was better eaten on the same day. As for cake, we will need to frost the cake and crumb coat then place in the fridge, do you think this buttercream will be suitable for it. Thank you 🙂
Is it just me or does the sauce pan in the picture look more like a frying pan? Not entirely sure which to use.
I’m not a fan of buttercream (too buttery for me!) and so I’ve been looking for a good frosting recipe. I also don’t have confectioner’s sugar right now so it was great I found this. This was very good and easy to make! Mine turned out fine even though I used (& risked) margarine as a substitute since I also had no butter on hand. Will try this again next time using real butter.
Is it ok to reduce the amount of butter and sugar? Or will it have an effect on the final product asides from the taste?
Wow…I have to admit I was a non-believer! How could a flour based icing taste good?? I followed the recipe exactly as written and to my amazement I have beautiful white frosting in my mixing bowl! This really is simple to make and wonderful tasting THANK YOU SARA!!!!
I’m a baking FIEND (aside from a glitter addict, makeup hoarder, and shoe fiend) and food is important coming from an Italian family. This is THE BEST icing recipe I’ve ever come across, and I’m only using this when I can from now on!!
My only change is to try and use a different type of flour that isn’t wheat for a gluten-intolerant friend of mine and hope it comes out just as scrumptious! I’ve also found that if you let the cuppies/cake sit out overnight, the frosting stiffens up considerably well and holds up great! Mine didn’t separate at all.
During the cooking process, I used a sifter (one of those old fashioned double screened one that looks like it’s made from a coffee can, painted, and has a handle and “whirlies” inside… Though I’m sure a plain sifter that’s rather fine will work well also) to slowly add the flower to the milk in my pan, so I had no clumps at all- so I hope that helps some of you who have had trouble with clumps! And because I was super-impatient to make this frosting, I used an ice bath to cool down the milk-flour mixture quickly…. That worked great well too! I just used an offset spatula to mix it up ever 30 seconds or so.
**I didn’t refrigerate my cupcakes or the frosting, they were kept room temp. Still moist and delicious!
Oh yeah, I added gel food coloring with no problems whatsoever… I made lemon cake, and lemon frosting to compliment it… They were absolutely divine!
The extra is currently in a bowl that I stuck it in, with a spoon that I’m taking a few nibbles from… It’s JUST SO GOOD!!!
A friend gave me this recipe about 35 years ago and called it “Ice Cream Frosting”. I lost it a few years later and also lost touch with my friend as life happens. I cannot believe I stumbled onto this recipe by accident. I actually clicked on the wrong link and this page pop up!! I cold not believe it. Now I am so excited to try it once again. How ever one question! I want to make it and frost cupcakes the night before a luncheon. According to the directions if you keep it in the fridge overnight, you need to fluff it back up before using. If I keep the cupcake frosted in the fridge over night.will the frosting start to breakdown or will they be ok? I would hate to brag about this frosting and then have it all lumpy and dripping all over the place. Looking foward to trying this again!!!!!
I can’t make any promises- I would do a test batch to see!
I made this and the chocolate frosting today. The chocolate is divine, but while the white frosting has a great taste, the butter would not emulsify as some of the other posters have mentioned. I didn’t use weird butter. It strikes me that my most likely mistake was that I didn’t cook the flour for long enough? Too much water would keep the butter from emulsifying, wouldn’t it? I cooked the flour/millk mixture until thick, but it was still pourable.
Cook it until it looks like can gather together almost like a ball…it should cling to the spoon or spatula
Has anyone subbed cornstarch for flour? I have several requests for gluten free cakes/cupcakes and wondered if this sub would work.
Thank you! I made this frosting today to go on cupcakes (your old fashioned chocolate cake recipe!) and was surprised how good it really was! Thanks, you guys are the best!!! I’m not a fan of chocolate cake, or frosting really, but happily gobbled down 2!
I followed this receipe to the T. It came out to be the best ever. Light, fluffy and delicious.
This is the perfect frosting for the 200+ mini cupcakes I’m making next week! I’ll add rose, orange blossom water, green matcha tea & lemon verbena to mix it up. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Can I use some food coloring in this to make it green? Wondered if anyone has dome that…