As I had promised in my post, Basic Baking Tips, here is my post on how to prepare frosting for cakes/ basics of popular frostings for beginners /a guide on basic popular frostings.
Personally, I usually use non dairy whipping cream for frosting, so in this post we will be talking more about this form of frosting.
Initially we hesitate a lot to try something new in our kitchen with lots of doubts in our minds – what if it’s a complete failure, if it doesn’t taste as good as expected or there are too many steps to follow, so just leave it. But if our trial is a success, then we our pumped with confidence and want to go ahead with next experiment!
Baking is also slightly challenging as it is more than preparing regular food and is based on accurate measurements and science. Getting a well baked cake from the oven and the resulting admiration from our family encourages us to take one more step and try our hand at frosting the cake.
Frosting a cake or cupcakes is a wonderful experience. So why not prepare frosting at home instead of buying? Just keep in mind a few basic tips for preparing frosting, and we can create a beautiful birthday cake or cupcakes.
There are different types of frosting, but in India the most popular one is non-dairy whipping cream frosting. Other than this, there are buttercream and chocolate ganache frostings as well that make their presence.
Non-dairy whipping cream is the most popular as it comes ready in a pack and only whipping is required. Even whipping cream powders are available.
But, for buttercream or ganache frosting, we need to prepare them right from scratch. I doubt if in India we get these two frostings packed in the market.
Buttercream has many variations – Swiss Meringue buttercream, Flour buttercream, German buttercream, American buttercream etc…
Among all, American buttercream is popular in India with those who want eggless frosting. It is very easy to prepare, even for beginners. Basically, it contains only powdered sugar or castor sugar, butter, salt and flavoured essence. It is quite stiff, hence it is popular for different patterns on cakes with edible colours.
Beat unsalted butter till it looks creamy..
Add any flavoured essence in the butter and mix.
Add castor sugar/powdered sugar in batches and keep mixing till the whole sugar gets mixed up nicely in creamed butter. As you are doing this, make sure to periodically scrape the bowl from the sides.
Remember, if you are using home grinded powdered sugar, sieve it nicely so that there are no grains of sugar. Otherwise, buttercream will be grainy instead of having a smooth consistency.
Add your choice of food colour and mix it properly. Fill it into piping bag and buttercream frosting is ready to use. Sorry, I don’t have picture of the final buttercream frosting. It was a hot day in the kitchen and I had to use it immediately. If the buttercream is very stiff to pipe, add a few drops of room temperature milk.
While using frosting through piping bag, with the heat of our palms frosting becomes loose and loose cream doesn’t give smooth finish on cakes. If this happens, keep the frosting back in the fridge for some time and later use it again. You can keep a tray of ice cubes close by and use it to keep your palms cool by pressing them on ice cubes time to time.
If you can work in an air conditioned room, this heat issue is largely under control.
Chocolate ganache frosting can be prepared with white, milk and dark chocolate. About dark chocolate ganache frosting I have a separate post in the blog. You can go through there for details (Dark Chocolate Ganache)
White chocolate ganache frosting is mostly popular as a lot different colours can be added here to make cake look beautiful.
Milk chocolate ganache is generally used to create an ombre effect on cake along with dark, and white chocolate ganache.
Milk based whipping cream frosting with the required amount of fat is hardly available in India. Amul brand with red pack has milk based whipping cream, but it doesn’t contain the required amount of fat, so whipping it to get stiff consistency is really difficult.
As previously mentioned, the most popular form of frosting in India is non-dairy whipping cream. It comes in a packed form in many brands. It is sweet cream and there is no need to add more sugar. It has to be kept in the freezer. Keep it in the fridge overnight before using it the next day.
Though non-dairy whipping cream is very popular and easy to use, there are still many ifs and buts before successfully using it. Let’s talk about them…
1) Always keep whipping cream pack in the freezer.
2) If you want to frost a cake, take out the packet of cream from the freezer and keep in the fridge to thaw it overnight or whole day.
3) When you are pouring cream in the container to whip, make sure there are no ice crystals. While whipping the cream, these ice crystals will never let cream reach to stiff consistency. Ice crystals will melt and cream will be runny no matter how much you whip it. So if ice crystals are there, keep it back in the fridge till it thaws completely.
Now you can ask why can’t I keep the cream outside at room temperature to make my work faster? Yes, you can keep the cream outside, but before whipping it needs to be completely chilled. Only then the desired results can be achieved. Warm cream will never reach till stiff consistency.
4) What If we need to use the cream for the next 2-3 days? Cream can be kept in the fridge for three days maximum. But make sure pack is always covered in the fridge. Don’t forget to keep it back in the freezer after three days.
5) After whipping, whipped cream can also be kept to use for the next day. Wrap it in cling film, and keep it in a tightly covered plastic box in the fridge (not freezer) and use it the next day. But, my personal suggestion is to whip fresh cream, whenever you need it. Don’t keep whipped cream in the fridge for more than two days.
6) Though cream pack has one year shelf life, while opening the new pack make sure not to cut off the expiry or manufacturing date from the packet. The best way to store the cream is to transfer it into two or three air tight containers with the label of expiry or manufacturing date.
7) During winter season, whipping the cream is not difficult as kitchen temperature is also cold. But in summer, kitchen is hot, and whipping also makes the cream warm. Result – it is always runny rather than becoming stiff.
Before whipping the cream, follow a few steps and you wouldn’t face any problem:
- Keep whipping bowl and whipping blades in the fridge 2-3 hours before whipping the cream.
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Keep one tray of ice cubes ready in the freezer.
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Fill a bowl with the ice cubes from the tray.
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Take out the whipping blades and whipping bowl and pour cream in the bowl.
4.Keep the whipping cream bowl on top of icing cubes bowl and start whipping the cream.
- In the beginning beat the cream with minimum speed for 2-3 minutes. At this stage, cream gets smooth consistency (soft peaks) and if you want some of the cream to have food colouring, add it now along with essence in a separate bowl.
- Now, whip the cream at the next level of speed on the whipping machine. Within 2-3 minutes the cream will be stiff. It wouldn’t be falling from the whipping blades or spatula any more. The moment cream reaches this consistency, stop whipping and the cream is ready to use on cake, cupcakes etc.
- Be careful, if cream is over- whipped it gets curdled and all of the smooth finish is lost. If this happens, don’t panic. Add a little bit of non-whipped cream ( one tbsp for one cup whipped curdled cream) from the pack, mix it well in the curdled cream and it will be smooth again.
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How to fill frosting into the piping bag neatly?
Take a tall glass and cover it with empty piping bag by folding the edges of the bag over the glass.
Fill in any frosting with the help of spatula or spoon in the piping bag . This way while filling the cream, edges of the piping bag will remain neat. Take out the piping bag from the glass, cut a small hole at the starting point of the piping bag and you are ready to use frosting very neatly on ice-creams, pancakes, pies, cupcakes, tarts or cakes.
Buttercream and Ganache frosting can be kept cling wrapped in an air tight box in the freezer for three months. Thaw them in the fridge before using. As I had mentioned earlier, non-dairy based whipping cream pack should be in the freezer, and after whipping use the whipped cream within two days. If the cream becomes too dry in the fridge, add non-whipped cream from the pack, mix it well and use it.
So, this was a brief introduction about the basics of different frosting creams. I hope you will now be excited to give some beautiful frosting colours to your cakes, cupcakes, tarts, pies etc…
Thank you for your clear and helpful instructions, Deeksha! Cheers.
You are always welcome Lynette☺
This must be really challenging in a warm climate! And your cakes are always so artistic.
I think in Denmark they make butter cream also with butter and sugar only, no eggs.
Thank you very much Stella😊😊
Italian,Swiss and French buttercream has eggs, only American buttercream goes without eggs.
Haha, then the Americans steal the name again; it existed at the time they all went over there … 😉
Is that so!!
Anyways, mostly Indians are happy with non dairy whipping cream as any variety of buttercream makes the cake costly😉😄
Some Americans name pizza as a typical American dish … 😉 🙂
You have so many vegetarians and vegans in India, a thousands of years old tradition, that is a real advantage. Europe is very much still a meat eating region, but it is getting better; in Denmark slower than elsewhere, but it is getting there.
Vegan is a completely new trend in India, otherwise we very much believe in consuming milk, curd, butter and ghee 😄Haryana and Punjab states are particularly known for milk and milk products.
As far veg – non veg is concerned, it was based on which cast you belong. Brahmins were strictly vegetarians. All Kshatriyas were mostly non veg. In Kerala state, which is known as “God’s own country” it is difficult to get vegetarian food. Today eating habits are totally different. New generation lives by their own rules rather than blindly following the set traditions of family.
Interesting, thank you, I did not know that! You know that I worked for the HHLC of India in Hamburg, when I was still young and pretty. The wife of our finance manager was vegan, but then I guess she was an exception. Some visitors also asked if there were egg in the offered biscuits and would not eat them if yes. So I just got the impression that this was nothing special for Indians. Our managers were all from Punjab, one was a Sikh, but none of them ate meat. And then we had two Bengalis working there as well. It was really interesting to watch the interaction between the Punjabis and the Bengalis … 😉
It is good that the new generation lives by their own rules, is it not? <3
Veg Punjabi or Bengalis are rare. Sometimes females in the family stop eating non- veg for some religious reasons. So, they keep separate vessels for non- veg and males of the family cook.
Yes, it is really good that new generation lives by their own rules. But again, rules should be based on proper logic. But, this crop is fed by YouTube, Instagram and all social media platforms. Newspaper reading habit is vanishing. So sometimes their rules are based on their comfort zone, not proper logic.
And by the way, you might not be young in terms of age, but who is counting the numbers!! You are still young and pretty❤ 💞
and good hearted people are always surrounded with good people 😘
You are the sweetest, my dear! <3
Wow! Such a good, detailed tutorial! I’ve tried the non dairy whipping cream , just beat it a little bit and shows it on a trifle. It was very good. Your post inspires me to try frosting on a cake, which I’m always lazy to do.
I am so glad that you found the post useful. Thank you very much😊
I agree, trifle is really good with soft cream.
Fresh baked cake is always far better than the frosted ones. But once in a while to play with food colours, frosting and nozzles is so much fun!
Excellent writeup, Deeksha! Such detailed knowlege is imparted only at catering colleges or at paid professional courses – rarely is it imparted freely. Very nice of you to share your learnings.
Deeply humbled 🙏🙏
So sweet of you, Deeksha😊 Excellent explanation in detail! Very tempting final product!!
Awww… thank you very much dear Indira💕
Great tips to make frosting, loved it!
Thank you very much Bhavna😊
This sounds so involved, Dee (too involved for me, especially since I don’t even like frosting), but your cupcakes look absolutely fabulous. I would make an exception and eat your frosting! 🙂
Tanja, that’s so sweet of you 🥰 and same pinch, personally even I don’t like frosting but for testing new flavours for customers, have to taste once in a while.
It definitely adds an artistic touch to your cupcakes, Dee!
💞💓
Yes, it’s very creative. But when you get to my age, you tend to think more about the clearing up that creativity involves 😊
Ha ha ha… I agree here, that’s one more reason I love plain cakes 😄I am also not so young but just trying to fill the free time with this small entrepreneurship. Let’s see how long I can manage!
Good for you! Good luck!
Thank you 😊
I feel home baked is better without frosting. My personal choice:)
I couldn’t agree more, my personal choice too ☺
. But once in a while occasionally, if someone wants a frosted cake, there is option to avoid the bakery ones!
Absolutely. Are you active on any social media?
Yes, Instagram
How do I find the link to the same?
I guess l am following you already…
I’m not sure. I couldn’t find you with your name or blog name.
No problem, here is the link…
https://instagram.com/deesplatter?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Thank you for your wonderful, clear and helpful instructions, Deeksha. Such a beautiful post. Good luck dear.
You are most welcome dear Kamal💕
Thank you very much ☺😘
Always welcome dear Deeksha. Happy day to you 💖💖💖💖
Frosting is what makes a cake feel like a celebration! 🧁
I completely agree with you. Frosting brings a festive mood.
Thank you very much☺
Your tip for placing the icing bag over a glass to keep it open and steady whilst you are filling it is a very useful tip.
Best Wishes
Kevin 🙂
Kevin, thank you so much. Appreciation from chef means a lot ☺😊
Great tips and wonderful share , will save it and refer back again!
Nisha, thank you so much❤