I bought cake mix today (2 boxes actually: one “Funfetti” and one devil’s food, as I wasn’t sure which she’d prefer).
But either one, of course, requires frosting. Having come to the realization that canned frosting really is Satan’s Spooje, I want to make frosting from scratch. *
I’ve made frosting that accompanies specific cake recipes (e.g. the chocolate glaze on the “better than sex” cake, a cream cheese frosting that covers a carrot cake) but I don’t have a good basic buttercream recipe.
I bought some confectioner’s sugar and I have butter, as well as cocoa and also unsweetened baking chocolate. I can pop out to the grocery store for anything I’ve forgotten.
Yeah, I know, I could make the cake from scratch also. But mix cakes ARE easier, and the results are pretty decent, and the kidlet’ll be thrilled. Maybe I’ll trot out the Bake ‘n’ Fill pan.
I usually do 1/2 cup butter (very soft, but not melted), 1/2 cup veg. shortening, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 4 cups (1 lb.) confectioner’s sugar, and anywhere from about 2-5 Tbsp of water (or milk), depending on what I’m trying to frost. Typically I cream together the butter, shortening, vanilla, and a little of the water, then add the sugar in bathcehs, beating in between. Then I add more of the water and mix if it’s too thick.
If you want chocoloate, I don’t personally like the way cocoa works, it feels sort of gritty because of the powder. If you do the unsweetened chocolate, just melt it some and cream it with the butter. You can still add the vanilla or leave it out. I usually add it.
Either of the above recipes sound good, or there’s probably a buttercream recipe on the box of powdered sugar. They’re all basically sugar+butter+vanilla+milk. I’ve found that the keys to a good buttercream are: a) sift the sugar before adding, and b) beat on high until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes or so).
The difference between boxed cake and homemade cake is a lot less than the difference between canned frosting and homemade frosting.
I like the buttercream recipe on the powdered sugar bags, but make sure you use all butter instead of shortening. Shortening makes it a bit more stable but sacrifices flavor.
I use the following recipe when I ice cakes for work, or decorate for special occasions. It gets good reviews but hey, it’s all subjective.
You can increase or decrease to get the amount of frosting you need. I do it more by proportions than set amounts. The amounts I’m giving here will make a lot of frosting, but extra can be used for decorating or for graham cracker sandwiches.
With a paddle in a large mixing bowl gently mix the sugar and fats until the sugar is absorbed. Add the extract, then beat at high speed until mixture is creamy. You may
add some half and half if the icing isn’t as soft as you want it to be. Add small amounts and beat again, until the lightness you desire is achieved.
To color the icing use paste colorings, not the liquid kind. Add to frosting and blend in, making it just a little lighter than you think it should be, as the color will deepen with sitting.
To make chocolate frosting I prefer using cocoa powder beat in, rather than melted unsweetened chocolate, but either will do. When using cocoa powder you will probably need to add some more of the half and half, as mentioned earlier.
If you have any questions, PM me or ask in this thread. I think it’s using the almond extract, rather than vanilla, that makes it distinct from other recipes.
Anybody that would substitute shortening or margarine for butter in butter cream frosting desires the flavor they get. There’s nothing like a coating of shortening in the mouth after you’ve finished swallowing the cake.
Good point! Re the “funfetti”… it’s not something I’d especially love, but it’s basically just a white cake with sprinkles that you dump in at the end of the mix. Cake-mix cake is actually pretty tolerable stuff. Maybe not something they’d serve at a fancy restaurant, but edible.
We don’t bake cakes at home all that often (maybe twice a year). And I’ve always nabbed the canned crap (which truly IS scary. I mean, have you ever looked at the ingredients??) because it was easy when making a mix cake. But the flavor is always sort of nasty. Time to raise the bar a bit, I think.
(Mom always used frosting mix, which at least called for real butter. That doesn’t seem to be available any more).
For those of you who mention shortening: what does that do, vs. an all-butter one? Does it hold together better at room temperature or something? I was probably in my 20s when I heard of people using shortening at all - someone at work mentioned that was how she made frosting (I think instead of butter, not as well as. Blech!).
Oh, and with pure butter (especially for those recipes that call for milk / cream): do you keep that at room temp afterward or does the cake need to be refrigerated?
Soften a stick of butter (do not melt). Beat on high. Start sifting in powdered sugar, continuously if you have a stand mixer, or in batches if you’re using a hand mixer. When it starts getting stiff, add a good-sized splash of milk or cream, and a capful of vanilla. Keep beating in powdered sugar until you like the consistency - I think it’s best a little on the stiff side. You can add some salt early on if your butter is not salted.
I have had a professional chef compliment me on my buttercream made this way. It’s not the best for decorating, because it doesn’t spread supersmooth, but boy does it taste good.
I haven’t made it in awhile but my recipe is simply:
8 oz Philly
half stick butter
[leave out to soften]
1 Tb vanilla*
at least 1 cup of powdered sugar *
Mix well with electric mixer.
Fini!
*You can add more, depending on your taste. I like more vanilla (3-4 Tb, but I lurv vanilla) but if it’s hard to mix and you don’t want more vanilla, use a little water. And the original recipe said “up to a box” of powdered sugar so if you like it sweeter, go for it.
Don’t have a recipe for you, I’m afraid; but just wanted to pass along a “Happy Birthday” to Moon Unit from a total stranger.
“Valley Girl” is one of the funniest songs I’ve ever heard, and her appearance as the past life guru on “Roseanne” was hysterical (although her brother, too, was funny as hell…I just don’t generally flirt with guys through their parents…)
Wish her all the best for me, if you like. Sorry that I don’t know jack about frosting.
Shortening is cheaper than butter, and tends to hold better at room temperature than butter. But it tastes like crap.
I do keep real buttercream cakes in the fridge after serving. They are OK for a few hours at room temperature - like on the day you’re serving them, it’s OK to leave them out, assuming you’re not in the deep south with no air conditioning and it’s 95 in the shade.
Cook until thick:
5 tbsp. flour
3⁄4 cup milk
Cool thoroughly.
Cream:
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1⁄2 cup shortening
1⁄2 cup margarine
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat both mixtures together with mixer. Spread liberally between two
cookie parts. Wrap each gob in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Store in
the refrigerator or a cool place.
We call it “gob icing”, because it’s used for the filling of a sort of cake/cookie hybrid everyone loves called gobs.
Thanks (on behalf of Moon Unit) for the birthday wishes! Seems like it was just yesterday I was sending this email:
I wound up using the recipe here: http://www.dominosugar.com/Recipe.aspx?id=267 - thanks for the folks who suggested looking at the sugar box - honestly that hadn’t occurred to me! Moon Unit wanted the chocolate vs the Funfetti one, I gathered, when she grabbed the box out of my hand and moaned My Preeeecioussssssss.
The results aren’t pretty.
Literally. The stuff in the photo looks nice and creamy, what I made is more grainy. Maybe because I used skim milk (all we had) vs. 2% or whole or cream. And every time I tried spreading it, it stuck to everything BUT the cake surface (or when it did stick there, it tore up the surface). And it refused to stick to the edge of the top. I wound up patting blobs of it in place with my fingers at times. Although I beat it for a fairly long time, I suspect I did something wrong. Maybe next time I’ll try one of the cream-cheese versions.
Tastes VERY nice though. I’ll see if I can upload a photo later on.
Sometimes when I make frostings I add just a bit of light corn syrup to make it easier to spread. Maybe you needed a bit more milk, or the icing needed to come to room temperature more? Was the butter room temperature?
The butter may not have been perfectly at room temp when I first started, but I had it beating in the beater (Kitchenaid stand mixer) for a few minutes before I added anything else, which gave it plenty of time to come to temp; it was definitely soft enough. Quite possibly it needed more milk (or corn syrup as you suggest). I did also give it plenty of time in the mixer once I’d added all the ingredients - at least 5 minutes, to make sure it was thorougly mixed, and had plenty of air mixed in to hopefully soften things up.
The one thing I really did NOT like - I did keep the cake in the fridge, and when I went to slice it the next day, the frosting came off in chunks.
Next time around, I’ll definitely try some of the other proportions / recipes. I’ve made FUDGE, doggonit, I can master homemade frosting!!
