Whipped Buttercream Frosting is the best frosting ever! This flour frosting (ermine frosting) is made without powdered sugar. It has the rich creaminess of a buttercream & the light, airy texture of a whipped cream frosting without being too sweet!
This Whipped Buttercream Frosting recipe pretty much blew my mind. I’m not a big frosting person; most buttercream frostings are just ok, and I can take them or leave them.
Well, this buttercream frosting is amazing, and it uses (are you ready for this?) granulated sugar!
Yep! Regular, old granulated sugar. So, if you’ve ever wondered how to make frosting without powdered sugar, this is it!
Don’t worry – it’s not gritty at all. In fact, this ermine frosting has the texture of a light whipped cream with the flavor of a sweet, vanilla buttercream.
It’s honestly the best frosting (buttercream or otherwise) that I’ve ever had. It’s sweet but isn’t overwhelmingly, make-your-teeth-ache sweet.
I’ve put answers to a lot of the questions I’ve received in the recipe notes. Please take a second to read through those notes before making the frosting.
How to make frosting without powdered sugar
Step 1 Whisk the milk and flour together in a small heavy saucepan before beginning to heat.
Step 2 Once combined, heat the mixture over medium-low heat until it has thickened. At this point, it should be the consistency of a thick paste.
Step 3 Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Step 4 Let the mixture cool to room temperature before continuing. This step is key. If the mixture is warm, it will cause the butter to warm up, and you’ll end up with a thin, runny frosting.
Step 5 In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together on medium-high to high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the sides to avoid gritty frosting.
Step 6 Add the completely cooled milk/flour mixture to the beaten butter/sugar mixture, and beat on medium-high to high for 5 minutes. It may look separated at first, but keep whipping the frosting until it is light and fluffy.
FAQs
This recipe has been posted for nearly 10 years. During that time, I’ve made and re-made this frosting countless times to be able to answer the thousands of questions that I’ve received. Here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions.
The recipe will make enough to frost a 2 layer 9-inch round cake or 24 cupcakes.
I recommend chilling any unused or leftover frosting because of the high dairy content.
This recipe uses granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar to make frosting.
I’ve used almond milk to make this frosting, and it worked well.
I’ve tried this recipe with skim milk, 1% milk, 2% milk, whole milk, and nondairy milk. I’ve successfully made the frosting with all of those types of milk. However, using whole milk will give you a richer, creamier frosting than using skim milk.
I’ve tried the recipe with both salted butter and with unsalted butter + salt. I prefer the version with the salted butter because the unsalted butter + salt version tastes flatter.
You can. Clear vanilla doesn’t have as much flavor as pure vanilla extract, so you may find that you need to use more clear vanilla for the frosting to have as much flavor.
You can! Feel free to substitute another type of flavoring or extract for the vanilla.
You can! I’ve used both gel and regular food dye. Both have worked well. If you’re going to use a large quantity of food coloring, I would recommend a gel to avoid making the frosting runny.
I’ve doubled this recipe. It filled my 5 quart stand mixer, so be sure to use a larger mixing bowl.
I use regular granulated sugar. Using a larger grain (natural) sugar can give you gritty frosting. If you’re worried about the frosting ending up gritty, you can give the sugar a couple of zips in a blender or food processor to break it down.
Yes, you can use an equal amount of vanilla bean paste in place of the vanilla extract to make vanilla bean buttercream.
I’ve frozen cupcakes that were frosted with this frosting. They froze and thawed beautifully.
What flavors of cake go well with this frosting?
This frosting has a light, sweet vanilla flavor that works well with a number of cake flavors. Here are a few ideas!
- Red velvet – This type of frosting with the classic frosting for red velvet cake.
- Chocolate cake
- Carrot cake – Cream cheese frosting is the classic carrot cake frosting, but you could get adventurous and try out vanilla for a change.
- Zucchini cake
- Spice cake
- White cake
Can I make this frosting in other flavors?
You can! Here are some of the different flavors of this frosting that I’ve made.
Troubleshooting tips
- First, not cooking the milk mixture long enough. The mixture should be a thick paste. If it’s too wet, the frosting will be too loose.
- Second, the cooked milk mixture needs to cool completely. If it’s too warm, it will melt the butter, and you’ll end up with loose frosting that doesn’t come together.
- Third, using butter that’s too warm. The butter should be at cool room temperature. It should dent if pushed, but it shouldn’t be too warm and certainly not beginning to melt.
- Fourth, using other types of sugars. This frosting needs to be made with granulated sugar, not powdered sugar.
- Fifth, not whipped the frosting long enough. The frosting needs to be whipped to get the right light and airy texture. Cutting the time short could leave you with a grainy frosting or a frosting that separates.
- If your frosting is still a little gritty after beating it for 5 minutes, go ahead and add the cooled milk/flour mixture. That will usually smooth out any remaining sugar.
- A couple people have reported that a film has formed on their milk/flour mixture. I haven’t had this happen, but another person said that she’s had good luck with blending the milk/flour mixture with a blender before cooking it. She said that it removed any lumps and helped prevent a skin from forming.
If you’ve tried this whipped buttercream frosting recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
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Whipped Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups salted butter at cool room temperature1
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk together over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. It will be the consistency of a thick paste2. Make sure that you whisk the flour and milk together well before you begin cooking it to avoid lumps.7 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups milk
- Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. This step is key. If your mixture is warm, it will melt your butter, and you’ll end up with runny frosting.
- Stir in vanilla.1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy on medium high-high3, about 5 minutes4. Make sure that you scrape down the sides and really incorporate the butter and sugar to avoid gritty frosting.1 ½ cups salted butter, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, Pinch of salt
- Then add the completely cooled milk mixture.
- Beat it for about 5 more minutes on medium-high to high until it looks like whipped cream. It may look separated at first, so keep beating it until it comes together and looks like a whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Make sure that your butter isn’t too warm! The butter should be at cool room temperature. You want it to dent if you press it, but you don’t want it to be so warm that it’s near melting.
- When cooking the milk/flour mixture, you don’t want it to look wet. It should be like a thick paste. If it’s wet and runny, your frosting will be too loose.
- If you’re using a hand mixer, beat it on high. This recipe work well with a stand mixer because it has the power to really whip the frosting.
- Please don’t cut the mixing time short! I know it’s tempting, but it’s important to beat the butter and sugar together for the time the recipe calls for to keep it from being gritty. If you cut the mixing times short, you won’t end up with the right texture of frosting.
- To get the best flavor, you’ll want to use real butter and pure vanilla extract.
- Want to try a buttercream made with powdered sugar instead? Here is my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting that’s made with powdered sugar.
- I recommend chilling any leftover frosted cake or cupcakes.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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More frosting recipes that are made without powdered sugar!
This recipe was originally published on 12/22/12. It was updated with new pictures on 7/25/16. Updated again on 2/10/22 with additional information and tips.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Nikki says
How white does this frosting come out?
Kate says
I’m not sure how to describe it any better than by saying that it comes out like the pictures. I used regular (real) vanilla, so you could probably get it just a bit whiter if you used clear vanilla. Hope that helps!
Snackcake says
Do I assume correctly that i could use 1/4 cup less milk and and add 1/4 cup liquer to it for a more exciting flavour than just vanilla?
Kate says
I haven’t tried to reduce the milk and sub in another liquid, so I can’t say how well that would work. You could sub any extract for vanilla if you wanted to change the flavor.
SAMANTHA S says
I made this frosting for my first wedding cake, which was for my mother. It was a hit! Most delicious frosting EVER! I have a bunch left. How long does it keep in the refrigerator? I’ve had it in there since Saturday. So it’s been 3 days. I hope it’s still good! Can I transfer it to the freezer? How do you get it back to room temperature? Just let it sit out? Sorry for all the questions, it’s that amazing I don’t want any to go to waste. Thank you!!!
Kate says
Congrats to your mom and to you on making the wedding cake! That’s no small feat. Thank you! I’m glad it was a hit! It keeps for about 4 days in the fridge. I just let it sit out to come up to temperature. I’ve never tried to freeze it. I’ve gotten a few questions about freezing it lately, and I’ll test out freezing it with the next batch I make. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried freezing it before, and I haven’t heard back from anyone who has tried it.
Nisha says
Am I able to refrigerate the frosting and then decorate the next day. I won’t have time to do it all in one day.
Kate says
I haven’t tried to refrigerate it first, but I can tell you that it does firm up as it sits in the fridge. You’ll probably need to set it out for a little bit to let it soften back up before you use it. Good luck! =)
Emily Nikkel says
I don’t know why, but the milk and flour isn’t thickening. I added all the flour to it already and it’s still the same consistency as the milk was :/
Kate says
Hi! How long did you cook it for after you added the flour? You’ll want to whisk the flour into the milk completely (to avoid lumps), and then cook it until thickened. Depending on your stove, it can take anywhere from 10-20+ minutes. Also, it seems to thicken all of a sudden, and then it can thicken quite a bit pretty quickly. Hope that helps!
Julie says
Hello! I just made this icing for my angel food cake cupcakes. It pairs very well, but I do find the icing to have a strong flour taste. I did substitute plain almond milk. That probably has a lot to do with the flavor as well. Thanks for the recipe!
Kate says
Thanks for the note about using almond milk! I haven’t ever noticed a flour taste; the flour flavor *should* cook out while you’re thickening the milk/flour mixture.
JoJenny says
Could this frosting on a white cake be frozen and thawed later?
Kate says
Unfortunately, I’ve never tried to freeze this frosting, so I’m not sure how it will work.
Tracy says
I’m making a cake and the top layer needs to be very smooth. Does this frosting smooth out nicely?
Kate says
The frosting has always come out smooth for me. It’s comparable to the way that a regular buttercream will smooth out. Hope that helps!
Abby says
Hey I’m about to make this recipe tonight, but I have pure cane sugar rather than graduated, should I still try it or run to the store, or could I try powdered? Thanks!
Kate says
I’ve tried it with a natural sugar that had larger crystals, but the sugar didn’t blend in the way that it normally does. You could try pulsing it in a blender to break it down first. I’m not sure how powdered sugar would work. I’m afraid it might not hold up as well (though I haven’t tried it). Good luck! =)
mia says
Help! Ive made your recipe before with no problems and loved it!
I’m making it again for a party and I’ve been whipping and whipping but I still have a grainy butter and sugar mixture. I have yet to add the flour to it but I’m scared it’ll stay gritty. I’ve tried putting the butter and sugar mixture into the freezer to cool for a bit and then re-whipping but still gritty. Help!!
Kate says
Sometimes adding the flour mixture is all that it takes to get it to come together. I’m guessing that that’s all it will take to get it to work. Good luck!
Kaylee Lovern says
OMG this recipe is so good. I had trouble at first but then as the recipe went on it was amazing to see what happened. Thank you so much for this recipe, it is amazing!!
Kate says
I’m so glad you liked it! Can I ask – which part gave you trouble? Thanks! =)
Jen says
Can I use unsalted butter?
Kate says
You can! I recommend adding a few pinches of salt (to taste) to help balance out the sweetness.
Em says
Hey would it be okay to use magarine instead of butter?
Kate says
I highly recommend using real butter for this recipe. I think margarine can be subbed in some recipes without much difference, but I think that real butter really makes this recipe.
Annie says
Hello! This looks like a great recipe, but I am worried about beating the grittiness out of the sugar/butter mixture as I don’t have a stand mixer. I was wondering if I could possibly melt the sugar in with the milk/flour mixture, or would that mess with the consistency? Thanks in advance!
Kate says
Do you have a hand mixer? I’ve heard from people who have successfully made it with a hand mixer. You would probably need to beat it a little longer. I’m not sure how adding the sugar to the milk/flour mixture would come out.
Anna says
Hello! This looks like a great recipe, but I’m worried about beating the grittiness out of the sugar/butter mixture since I don’t have a stand mixer. I was wondering if I could possibly melt the sugar in with the milk/flour mixture, or if that would mess up the consistency. Thanks in advance!
Yini says
Just wondering will it effect the buttercream if I add in food colouring will it get to runny or anything?
Kate says
It shouldn’t get runny (unless you’re adding a lot). I know that people have had success using gel food coloring with this recipe. Good luck! =)
Sarah says
Hi I made this frosting today and it looks like the butter is separated everywhere, what can I do to fix this? Also it’s really watery.
Kate says
You can try chilling the frosting and then whipping it again. If you’d like me to help you troubleshoot before you try your next batch, let me know!
Nilly says
Hi i want to substitute the granulated sugar with icing sugar. How much should i use?
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried using icing sugar in this recipe, so I can’t say how well that will work or how much you would need.
Sarah says
Any idea how many patches I’d need to frost 24 cupcakes and a 2 layer 11×15” cake? Need some for the middle of the double layered cake too…
Kate says
One batch should frost the 24 cupcakes, and then I’d guess about a batch and a half for the cake. So, to be safe, I’d probably say about 3 batches. Good luck! =)
Joanne Harvey says
Do you have to refrigerate a cake frosted with this? Thanks
Kate says
I’m not sure whether it has to be refrigerated, but I always have. I chill all of my buttercream frostings because I feel a little safer that way.