Based on no scientific evidence whatsoever, I am happy to report that most people, when confronted with a lusciously cream-laden cake, will happily take a lick of the icing before anything else. I often hear many people say ‘Ooh, I am not an icing person. It is too sweet!’ And then I promptly watch them polish an entire slice of a cream cake.
Now I am an icing girl. Slice of icing with cake for me, thank you.
The trick is find the right frosting for your tastes. When the cake, like Life in general, is matched harmoniously with the right frosting, then you will literally have a match made in heaven.
I also do understand what the closet-icing people mean when say that they don’t want that teeth-numbing sweetness. And there is a wonderful remedy for that. There are so many options to choose from. And the list gets bigger and bigger everyday. Vegans can now have wonderfully decorated birthday cakes using coconut cream or yogurt, icing using avocados, cashew icing…..
Essentially what I am saying is that no-one needs to be left out.
At one go, it is impossible for me to go through all the frostings out there. I thought I would speak about the commonly used ones which are easy to make and good to decorate with.
Some people may not have fancy beaters and mixers at home, and still want to create a lush cake. I can help you.
Let’s get beating, shall we…………….
American Buttercream
This is the most popular buttercream used on this planet. It is simple, creamy, easy to decorate with and pipes beautifully. Some simple tips to remember:
- always sift your icing sugar
- use room temperature butter or margarine – you end up with lumps in your icing if you don’t.
- stop beating only when your buttercream is smooth and fluffy.
- in a warmer climate, you may not need any or much milk to loosen your buttercream, while colder weather requires more liquid in the buttercream to make it light and fluffy.
INGREDIENTS
- 125g of butter/margarine
- 1.5 c of sifted icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1-5 TB milk/cream
METHOD
Beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer/standmixer until white as possible. Scrape sides and bottom of mixing bowl. Beat in icing sugar in 2 batches. Add milk if the icing is too stiff, a tablespoon at a time. If you live in a very hot climate, you may find that you need very little to no additional milk.
VARIATIONS
- chocolate – Sift 3 TB of cocoa with the icing sugar.
- coffee – Dissolve 3 teaspoons of instant coffee in 2 TB of hot water. Substitute for milk
- lemon/ Orange – Add lemon/orange rind and the 1TB of lemon/ orange juice. Or you can add 2-3 TB of lemon curd and beat into buttercream.
- cinnamon – sift 2 tsps of ground cinnamon with the icing sugar.
- berry buttercream – in a small saucepan, add a handful of chopped berries. (this portion should be enough for 2 batches of icing) This filling works great as a fruit layer in between cakes or use with whipped cream as a dessert. Add a TB of lemon juice and 2-5 TBS of sugar and cook till soft and breaking apart, on medium heat. If your berries are very sweet, cut down on the sugar and if they are too tart, you may need to add more sugar. Once berries have broken down, take off the heat. Blend in a food processor and add 2-3 TB of the mixture to your buttercream.
You can also add 2-3 TB of strawberry or raspberry or any berry jam to your buttercream instead of fresh fruit.
Cream Cheese Frosting
This frosting is best known as a delicious blanket to a carrot or red velvet cake. It is a slightly softer icing compared to an American buttercream because of the cream cheese. If you want to pipe a sturdier decoration, then you will have to add more icing sugar. Great to add the zest of 1 lemon to this frosting as the lemon gives a freshness to the taste and also cuts back the sweetness.
Tips to remember when making this frosting:
- sift icing sugar
- use room temperature, full-fat cream cheese. Fridge-cold cream cheese creates lumps in the frosting and nobody wants a lumpy frosting.
- for a firmer icing, keep adding more icing sugar.
INGREDIENTS
- 100g full-fat cream cheese
- 150g butter
- 1.5 – 2 cups sifted icing sugar, more if icing is too soft.
METHOD
Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until white as possible. Add icing sugar in 2 batches. Beat well until fluffy and creamy.
VARIATIONS
- Chocolate- add 3 TB’s of cocoa to icing sugar.
- vanilla – add a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- lemon – add the rind of one lemon. can also add vanilla to this.
- choc-hazelnut -add 2 TB’s of hazelnut spread. (Nutella)
- golden -Beat in 2 TB’s of golden syrup.
- honey – beat in 2TB’s of honey.
- passionfruit – stir in the pulp of one passionfruit.
Whipped Cream Frosting
A soft, light, less-sweet frosting that is easy to whip up. You can make this with a hand-held whisk. Not always easy to pipe with, and does require refrigeration but preferred by many because of the minimal sugar added compared to an American buttercream or cream cheese frosting.
tip: make sure mixing bowl, beaters and cream are as cold as possible as the coldness causes the cream to whip up easily.
- 250 ml double-thick or whipping cream
- 1 TB castor sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Place all ingredients into a metal bowl and mix until soft peaks form. Do not over-mix as you will get a mixture that looks like butter.
- VARIATIONS
chocolate- dissolve 2 teaspoons of cocoa in 1 teaspoon of water and add to mixing bowl with the sugar and beat. - coffee – dissolve 2 teaspoons of coffee with one teaspoon of water and add to mixing bowl with sugar and beat.
- Oreo whipped cream – crush a few Oreos as fine as possible and add to the whipped cream.
- fruit flavoured cream – add a strawberry, raspberry or blueberry puree to the whipped cream.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
A ganache frosting is soft and mousse-like. The better the quality of the chocolate, the better the frosting.
INGREDIENTS
- 375g dark, milk or white chocolate chopped – add to a glass heat-proof bowl.
- 250ml (1c) cream
METHOD
On a stove – heat cream on medium to high heat until small bubbles start to form but not to a boiling roll. Add to chopped chocolate and leave for a minute. Use a whisk and mix together until smooth. Should you still have lumps, a quick 20-30 seconds in the microwave (20% power or defrost setting) should break down lumps. Do not overheat in the microwave. You will destroy the chocolate.
Once melted, refrigerate mixture until very cold, preferably overnight. Beat mixture with hand-held mixture, for about 3 -5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Use to sandwich cake layers and to decorate the cake.
If you are using a microwave – add cream to glass bowl of chocolate. Use the defrost setting or 20% power – stir at 2 minute intervals until the mixture is smooth and melted.
Cover mixture and refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Beat mixture with hand-held beater for about 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Use on cake.
VARIATIONS
- orange/lemon ganache – add 10ml (2 tsps) of grated orange or lemon rind to melted chocolate and cream mixture.
- coffee ganache – mix 10ml of instant coffee granules with 10ml of water to chocolate and cream before melting,
Chocolate Buttercream
no beaters required.
- 125g unsalted butter
- 125g dark chocolate chopped
Melt butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over hot water. Cool to room temperature. Beat with wooden spoon until thick and spreadable.
Milk Chocolate Icing
- 125g dark chocolate chopped
- 60g butter
- 2 TB sweetened condensed milk.
Combine chocolate, butter and milk in a small heatproof bowl, stir over hot water until smooth. Beat mixture with an electric beater until icing thickens and changes slightly in colour.
Rich Chocolate Glace Icing
no beaters required.
- 90g dark chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1/4c water
- 2c of sifted icing sugar (approx)
Combine chocolate, oil and water in medium saucepan, stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Gradually beat in icing sugar to give a smooth spreadable consistency.
Glace Icing
no beaters required.
- 1.5c of sifted icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon soft butter
- 2 TB of milk, approx
Sift icing sugar into small heatproof bowl, stir in butter and enough milk to give a smooth paste. Stir over hot water until icing is spreadable. Do not over-heat. Spread icing over cold cake immediately.
VARIATIONS
- chocolate – add 3 TB cocoa to icing sugar, sift both.
- coffee – add 3 teaspoons of instant coffee to icing sugar, sift both.
- lemon/orange – substitute lemon/orange juice for milk, add 1 tsp grated rind of a lemon/orange.
- maple syrup – substitute maple syrup for milk.
Caramel Icing
No beaters required.
- 60g butter
- 1/2c firmly packed brown sugar
- 2TB of milk
- 3/4c icing sugar
Melt butter in small saucepan. Add brown sugar and milk. Bring to boil, then simmer, stirring 2 minutes. cool. Stir in enough icing sugar to give a spreadable consistency.
Citrus Frosting
Can be easily mixed by hand – no beaters required.
- 1.5c of sifted icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated orange or lemon rind.
- 30g soft butter
- 1.5 TB orange or lemon juice.
Combine sifted icing sugar, rind and butter in bowl. Stir in enough juice to give a spreadable consistency.
(I have lightly beaten this icing with an electric beater and and it gives a lovely sherbet-tasting icing.)
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
no beaters required.
- 45g unsalted butter
- 2TB water
- 1/4c castor sugar
- 3/4c sifted icing sugar
- 2TB cocoa
Combine butter, water, castor sugar in small saucepan, stir over heat without boiling, until sugar is dissolved. Sift icing sugar and cocoa in small heatproof bowl, gradually stir in hot mixture and mix until combined. Refrigerate until thick. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth and spreadable.
Sour Cream Frosting
- 80g milk chocolate
- 80 dark chocolate
- 75g unsalted butter
- 125ml sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract/1 TB vanilla essence
- 1 TB golden syrup
300g sifted icing sugar (more if the icing is too runny) - 1/2 tsp hot water.
Chop chocolate into small pieces and add to a heat-proof glass bowl. Add butter and melt in the microwave – 50 -60 seconds at a time at 20% power or defrost. You can place glass bowl over some shallow, shimmering water over the stove on low to medium heat until butter and chocolate is melted. Do not let the glass bowl touch water. Cool this mixture, then add the sour cream, vanilla and golden syrup. Add the sifted icing sugar and a little hot water until everything is thick and smooth. If the mixture is too runny, add more icing sugar. The frosting must be thick and spreadable. This is a very soft and silky icing and best decorate the cake simply or use a palette knife and do a rustic decoration. This can be incredibly charming and chic. Simple, sophistication……..as the story goes.
