Love to make cakes? If so, there's nothing wrong with learning how to make your own vanilla frosting instead of buying it all the time at the grocery store. Not only is the process easy, homemade vanilla frosting also has a flavor that's guaranteed to be much more to your taste! To learn how to make a simple butter cream frosting and how to make vanilla frosting with ingredients you're sure to have in your kitchen. After that, your homemade vanilla frosting can immediately be used as a complement to cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and various other snacks!
Ingredients
Making Butter Cream Frosting
- 80 grams of butter, soften at room temperature
- 200-300 grams of powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. milk or heavy cream
- 1/2-1 tsp. vanilla extract
Will make about 240 ml of frosting
Cooking Vanilla Frosting
- 30 grams of all-purpose flour
- 500 ml high fat milk
- 500 grams butter, soften at room temperature
- 400 grams of granulated sugar or powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Will make about 1,200 ml of frosting
Step
Method 1 of 2: Making a Simple Butter Cream Frosting
Step 1. Soften the butter at room temperature
Let stand 80 grams of butter on the kitchen table until the texture is soft when pressed with your thumb and index finger. Generally, it takes about 30 minutes or an hour to soften the butter completely.
- If you want to speed up the process, try cutting the butter into small cubes, flattening it with a rolling pin, or softening it by double-boiling in a saucepan of warm water.
- Soft butter is much easier to stir and mix with other ingredients than butter that has just been removed from the refrigerator.
Step 2. Combine the softened butter with sugar in a bowl
Transfer the butter to a bowl, then pour 200-300 grams of powdered sugar into the same bowl. Stir the butter and sugar with a spatula until the texture is more pliable.
- For sweet taste buds, use 300 grams of sugar. If you don't like sweetness, use 200 grams of sugar or less.
- It doesn't take too long to process the sugar and butter at this stage, especially since the two ingredients will be mixed with the other ingredients later.
Step 3. Add milk or heavy cream and vanilla extract
Pour 2 tbsp. milk or cream and 1/2-1 tsp. vanilla extract, then stir the mixture again until well blended. The actual amount of vanilla extract can be reduced or increased to suit your taste.
- Heavy cream will result in a frosting that is thicker and denser than milk.
- Do not add more than 1.5 tsp. vanilla extract so that the vanilla flavor is not too pronounced.
Step 4. Process all ingredients with a hand mixer until the texture is smooth and creamy
Move the mixer in all directions to make sure there are no unprocessed ingredients. Process the frosting for 1-2 minutes or until the texture is light and fluffy.
Turn on the mixer on low or medium speed to prevent the dough from splashing in all directions while processing
Alternative:
If you're afraid the frosting will be too runny, add 1 tbsp. milk or cream at the start of the process, then add another 1 tbsp. milk or heavy cream gradually as the frosting is processed.
Step 5. Cover and store the frosting until it's time to use
First, cover the bowl of frosting with a sheet of plastic wrap and place it on the kitchen counter. Alternatively, the frosting can also be transferred to a tightly closed container to avoid direct exposure to air. The quality of the frosting will remain good at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Alternatively, the frosting can also be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 weeks so that the quality does not change.
- The amount of sugar that is quite a lot in the frosting will serve as a stabilizer for milk or cream, aka a natural preservative. As a result, frosting can be stored at room temperature for the recommended time safely.
Method 2 of 2: Cooking Light and Creamy Vanilla Frosting
Step 1. Combine flour and milk in a small saucepan
Put 30 grams of all-purpose flour and 500 ml of high-fat milk in a saucepan. Then, stir the two ingredients until they are well mixed and there are no lumps.
For best results, use a whisk instead of a spatula or spoon to mix the milk and flour. In particular, the wide, hollow end of the beater will work best to break up lumps
Step 2. Heat the milk and flour solution over medium heat until the texture thickens
Generally, the process takes about 10-15 minutes. Don't forget to keep stirring the solution so that it doesn't burn or clump. Remember, the resulting frosting should be as soft and smooth as possible.
Ideally, the milk and flour solution should have a pudding-like texture when fully thickened
Step 3. Allow the milk solution to cool completely
Turn off the stove and place the saucepan on the counter to cool the milk and flour solution. After letting it sit for 15 minutes, place the milk solution in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to complete the cooling process.
- Cover the milk solution with a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap to keep the surface from crusting.
- The milk solution must first be allowed to stand at room temperature before being put into the refrigerator so that drastic changes in temperature don't make it "surprise". If this process is not carried out, the texture of the solution will be lumpy and sticky like mush.
Step 4. Gradually process butter, sugar and vanilla using a hand mixer
Place 500 grams of softened butter in a mixer bowl and process on high speed for about 3 minutes. Without turning off the mixer, add 400 grams of sugar, then add 2 tsp. vanilla extract, and process the three ingredients for 2-3 minutes.
- To practice this recipe, you can use granulated or powdered sugar. Both will produce a dough with a similar texture and taste.
- To save time, start processing all the other ingredients while waiting for the milk solution to cool completely.
Tip:
The key to a soft, smooth frosting is to gradually add each ingredient little by little.
Step 5. Add the cold milk solution and continue processing the frosting for 1 minute
Remove the milk solution from the refrigerator and pour it into the bowl containing the frosting mixture. Then, turn on the mixer on medium speed, then reprocess the dough for another 30 seconds or until the frosting is smooth, creamy, and easy to spread on a variety of snack surfaces!
Don't leave any frosting in the mixer so you don't waste the delicious dough
Step 6. Immediately apply the frosting
Basically, the frosting that has to be cooked is easiest to spread onto the surface of the cake when it's fresh. That's why it's a good idea to use vanilla frosting immediately to garnish cakes, cookies, or other treats as soon as they're cooked. The longer the frosting sits, the denser the texture will be.
- If the situation makes it difficult for you to use the frosting immediately, don't forget to cover the bowl containing the frosting with a sheet of plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Supposedly, the quality of the frosting will not change for a maximum of one week.
- If you're going to use frosting, don't forget to let it sit at room temperature first to soften the texture, then process it with a mixer for 1-2 minutes on low speed.
Tips
- In the final kneading process, add a few drops of food coloring to the frosting mixture to give it a soft pastel color that can enhance the appearance of your snack.
- In the culinary world, vanilla frosting that must be cooked is also known as ermine frosting, boiled milk frosting, roux frosting, and “cloudburst” frosting. Whatever the name, the taste is equally able to shake the tongue!
