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
Is it possible to over-beat it? I’ve made this recipe a couple of times (the taste is absolutely amazing!), but I can’t seem to get the texture right. The batch I made today looks like there’s bits of melted butter that didn’t quite incorporate into the frosting and I had it in the stand mixer for about 9 minutes. Suggestions?
I’ve made this before a few yrs ago for cupcakes and loved it! Would it work ok for frosting a cake? I can’t remember the texture too well and wonder if it would slide. ??? Thanks for your help!
Woah !!! just <3 -ed this frosting ! ma first batch was just perfect ! 🙂 thanX a lot for this lovely recipe Sara ! 🙂
Thought I’d leave my input after making this recipe last weekend- I veganized it and it turned out perfectly, so if you are looking for a delicious vegan buttercream, you can use this recipe, subbing Earth Balance margarine (yes, the brand is important) and a vegan “milk” (I used a mix of soy creamer and almond milk). I also left out a bit of sugar and used raspberry jam to flavor it. My only complaint was the yield – since it said it barely frosted 12 cupcakes and I had 36 to do, I made a 4x batch. And ended up with a quart of extra frosting…
When I did and added everything, my frosting was liquid! 🙁
Just made this unusual recipe because I wanted something less sweet and something that would travel and keep for at least a few hours. I quadrupled the recipe (I needed enough for 2 chiffon cakes, and it came out as you promised! Just delicious!
One thing I did to simplify the process was to use the microwave for the first part (the flour and milk). Cooked it at medium heat and it worked perfectly!
Thanks!
saw so many positive comments and I cant wait to try it out. I’m wondering, will this frosting melt under a hot/humid weather? Well you see, I come from Malaysia and it is scorching hot everyday! I would like to make cupcakes with delicious (yet not sweet) frostings like yours to sell in the local flea markets and most markets are outdoor. I made frosting once for my sister’s birthday, it didnt turn out pretty but I thought the taste would make up for it.
boy, I was soooo wrong! everyone complaint that it was too sweet and even my 5 year old niece say “ewwwww, this is so sweet!” – at that momnent, i really wanted to dig a hole and hide inside it! 🙁
what blade do you use on your stand mixer? I am borrowing a friend’s and I know I have a white plastic one (paddle???) and a whisk attachment.
can the frosting be made ahead of time and refrigerated? Will it need to be whipped again before I use it? It would be kept in refrigerator about a day…
I also had no luck with this frosting. I followed the directions exactly as written. It went straight from grainy to runny. The sugar dissolved and it tasted fine but it was super super runny, dripping right off the spatula. This frosting would never hold up on cupcakes.
I saw the tips about continuing to beat it, after 15 minutes on high I saw no improvement so I resorted to tweaking it by adding powdered sugar hoping to thicken it. It did fluff up, but was still too runny to decorate with. It would be fine if you were just slapping it on cake to eat at home for no occasion, but I am making cupcakes for a birthday party and need a stiffer frosting that won’t melt off. I’m tossing it and sticking with buttercream.
On the plus side, your Easy White Cake recipe made the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. I’d be happy to eat them sans frosting!
Mine turned out perfect. My batch didn’t separate at all. I tried it after a minute and I could still feel sugar granules so I beat for 4 mins on medium. It was so fluffy and decorated my red velvet cupcakes perfectly!
Okay… I read through quite a few comments and was shocked to see how many people liked this frosting. I followed the recipe to a T and it had perfect texture when I was through but tasted disgusting!! I was so disappointed. It literally tasted like very slightly sweetened butter. Gag. After adding 2 cups of powdered sugar it was tolerable, but still not great. I made it to top the Oreo cake and after sitting for a day it was slightly better, but still. I would never make this frosting again. Yuck!
I feel the same-did not like the taste.
Well it tastes AMAZING, however…..it also looked amazing, wasn’t quite whipped enough so i let it go for another minute (in the thermomix) and right there I think was my mistake….I’m not sure if the thermo cut my sugar (didn’t even think to put it on the reverse speed until just now) or it felt as though the thermo bowl warmed slightly, has anyone got any tips to do this in the thermo pretty please
I am making cupcakes and then getting on a bus for two hours. I’ll be in and out of the hot July summer air. My question is, will this frosting melt?
Sorry for double comment- I also wanted to add that I had some leftover frosting that I had stored in the fridge.
I just took it out and whipped it as how I would with the raw ingredients- till light + fluffy. Had same results as the original un-refrigerated batch.
I just had to comment on this recipe. What I love most about this is that this frosting isn’t overwhelmingly sweet like most store-bought are. I thought the frosting would be light but you really should’ve seen my face when I first dipped my finger in and tried it. Basically my eyes just widened: O__O. I was completely blown away at how LIGHT and FLUFFY it is. It. is. amazing.
Also wanted to state that I had put my frosted cupcakes in an airtight container on the dining table and the frosting didn’t change it’s consistency in the slightest for two days (I was just grabbing one and eating it whenever I passed by the table).
Thank you for this recipe!
Love this frosting! I was a little nervous reading the mixed reviews, but it turned out great! Thank you for the recipe! I added it on my blog too, it was to good not to… https://fromkatrinaskitchen.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/fluffy-vanilla-frosting/
Mine came out with tiny lumps in it from the flour mixture. It was smooth going into the fridge but I guess it was too solidified? Mine looked much thicker than the picture, so maybe that’s why. Then I mixed it forever with the butter/sugar, really until it started breaking down… then I gave up. I don’t know what happened, but the little chewy pieces were off-putting. And it tasted really… too buttery. I’ll have to try again -_-
I just tried this recipe, it tastes good, but way too sweet for me… is it any chance to reduce the sugar? And the granulated sugar isn’t mixed completely, it still rough, I don’t know if I don’t mix it long enough, but I did it more than 8 mins I guess….what if I whisk it along with the flour and milk so the sugar can be melted on the heat, is that possible?
it doesn’t come out fluffy 🙁
I tried this last night. Let me tell you, it was AMAZING!! I had it on a chocalate cake that is my favorite recipe, and omigod. It was like heaven. I tripled it because i thought I’d need more for a 13×9 cake, and i had a ton left over. I put mine in the freezer so it would cool faster. The frosting is PERFECT. LOVE IT.
I had a request for a frosting that was not as sweet as what I normally make so I wanted to try this recipe. I read the entire website over, (twice)and every comment before I started. While holding my breath, I started and it turned out WONDERFUL!! I couldn`t believe it. The other thing I really liked about this recipe is for once the rose swirl I did on the cupcakes truly looked like a rose. I used a no name butter because that`s all I had, and was willing to throw it all out if it failed. I love this frosting and will make this as my “go to” frosting all the time now. I am now going to try the chocolate version.
I made this yesterday and I loved it as I normally use buttercream frosting under my marshmallow fondant and I am finding it to sweet but I am doing another batch today as I am slowly add more icing sugar to make it a bit more harder as I have to put fondant on it so I will see how it goes but this is the best Icing I have ever had it is so smooth and fluffy 🙂 thank you so much I have been hunting every were to find something just like this
Sara & Kate you are both awesome, but you already know this by now. God bless you both. You are life savers!
I just made this.. with.. wait for it…. HONEY. 😀 No other sugar. I was trying to see if I could make a frosting without any refined sugar in it, and the method of this one with the white sauce seemed like a good starting point. I followed the recipe with the exception of switching 1/3 cup of honey for the sugar, and added 2 Tbps cornstarch to the creamed honey/butter mixture before adding the white sauce. I only whipped it for a couple of minutes with a hand mixer, and stopped there since I was happy with where it was and didn’t want to risk it changing if I whipped longer. I don’t think it’s as light and fluffy as it would normally be but it had a decent frosting texture (and honey flavor! although adding vanilla helped reduce that).
Can I sub 1/3 of the butter for shortening?
I’m so excited to do this recipe, but I have anchor butter. Is it a real butter??? This would be my furst time making a frosting. 🙂
Made this but instead of the vanilla i used melted chocolate. My family loves it 🙂 so delicious
So I just did the flour & milk on stove bit. Is it supposed to look like a dough or should I start over on a lower temp?
I LOVE this. Just made a cake with it and posted on my blog-
http://crazygirl93.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/birthday-cake/
Hi, I’m new to the frosting/icing world, so it gets confusing and daunting for me at times. I had a HUGE failure with a different frosting recipe (it turned into a drizzle and I just dont know what to do with it >.>) but my question is while heating on the stove, should I worry about adjusting the heat to a different temperature?
I know gas stoves and electric stoves tend to heat differently, even if you have it set at the same area. I have an electric stove, so I’m not sure if medium heat is still ok or if I should lower it (or vice versa). Ive been dying to make cupcakes so when I had that huge backfire with my first attempt I was so heart broken (I spent a half hour trying to make it into icing/frosting).