The Best Buttercream Frosting That No One Making
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My sweet tooth is my downfall. That, and my lack of self control. With their powers combined, I am unstoppable when it comes to dessert.
I also love baking. All kinds of baking - breads, cakes, pies, tarts, heck even box mixes! With all that in mind, you can imagine that I have needed quite a bit of frosting in my life.
I will gladly go on the record as saying that there is no buttercream like the Publix buttercream. There is a reason that they sell it in a tub at the bakery. It is perfect - silky, sweet but not too sweet, and it will hold up for decorating.
I could never figure out why my powdered sugar based buttercream frostings weren’t turning out like Publix’s version until I discovered Ermine Buttercream. Rather than having cups upon cups of powdered sugar as the base, this recipe relies on a delicate concoction of flour and milk.
When it comes to taste and silkiness this recipe comes the closest to Publix that I have ever tasted. However it does not hold up as well when it comes to intricate decorating unless you plan on leaving your cake (or whatever you’re frosting) in the fridge to firm up.
So let’s get to it!
Ingredients
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups unsalted butter - softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Recipe
Whisk flour, salt, and sugar together in a medium saucepan. Add milk and cook over low-medium heat whisking constantly. Scrape the bottom of the pan with the whisk to avoid buildup as the flour cooks.
Continue whisking constantly until you notice that the mixture is thickening. Stop whisking long enough to see if the mixture bubbles at all. You want just a few bubbles - nowhere near a full boil.
Once you see the bubbles and the milk mixture is closer to the consistency of pudding, remove from heat and pour it into a bowl (scraping the bottom of the saucepan fully) with a large base that allows the mixture to spread. This will decrease the amount of time that you have to wait for the mixture to fully cool.
Press plastic wrap directly on top of the mixture and up the sides of the bowl some to seal it. This prevents a skin from forming.
Wait for the mixture to cool to room temperature. Get your butter out to soften.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy - a few minutes.
Slowly add in the milk mixture one heaping spoonful at a time. Mixing to combine between additions.
Beat in vanilla. Mix on high to fully incorporate.
For best results use immediately. I keep whatever I’m icing in the fridge once I’m done and remove it an hour or two before we are ready to eat to allow the frosting to soften a bit.
If you choose to refrigerate the icing immediately, you will need to mix it on high again once you are ready to frost with it to achieve the same silkiness that it has when used fresh.
Enjoy!