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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Ace says
hi, so I’m actually7 in the middle of making this recipe, (the milk mixture is cooling), but I was wondering, I don’t buy granulated sugar; I buy brown sugar, and that’s a bit more clumpy than granulated sugar is, so I’m afraid it wont turn out good if I use it. can I just use powdered sugar or will it make the frosting turn out too sweet?
Kate says
Hi! I have a version that uses brown sugar. You can find that recipe here. If your brown sugar is clumpy, you may need to microwave it to soften it up before you use it, as the lumps may not mix in well.
Rhuya says
Hi, can I use this for cake pops?
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried that to say for certain.
SM says
Can I use less sugar like just 1/2 a cup or will it impact the texture a lot?
Kate says
It may impact the texture, but it will certainly impact the sweetness. The frosting isn’t super sweet to begin with, so cutting out most of the sugar will definitely leave you with a frosting without much sweetness.
Pauline says
Can I colour this frosting with food colouring?
Kate says
Hi! I’ve never tried to use food coloring with this frosting. However, I have heard from several people who have successfully used both regular and gel food coloring.
Yannie says
Can I use this for fondant cakes?
Kate says
I haven’t tried that to say for certain.
Alison says
Hello, have you used this recipe underneath fondant before? Does it hold well? Thank you
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried that. I’ve had a couple of people ask that over the years, but I haven’t heard back from anyone on it.
Jessica says
Hello, can I use 35% cream instead of milk for this recipe to give it a more rich flavour? Also, do you think it could last 2 hrs outside at 14 degree celsius weather? Thank you!
Kate says
Hi! I’ve heard from a few people who have used heavy whipping cream. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard that it works well. I would guess that it would work fine at that temp., but you could chill the frosted cake or cupcakes to help it last longer.
Celinda Kibria says
Would it matter if we used melted butter? Or should we just stick with softened?
Kate says
I’m afraid that you would end up with runny frosting if you used melted butter.
Alison says
How long does this keep in the fridge? I have extra frosting that I’d like to use next weekend . Thanks
Kate says
It can keep for up to 4 days. I wouldn’t use it past that point.
lourianne says
Hi can this frosting be kept outside/chilled instead of being in the fridge?
Kate says
Hi! I’m not clear on what you’re asking. Are you asking me if the frosting can be kept outside in the cold instead of in a fridge?
Maddison says
this was awesome and I have no other words
Kate says
Thank you!!
Kiko says
Hi, I’ve tried this frosting recipe and it came out really well.
I loved it and everyone loved it too . Thank you
Kate says
Thank you so much!
Christy Steagall says
Hi! Does this frosting pipe well, and can you make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until use?
Kate says
I’ve only used it for basic piping, but it has worked well for me. The frosting will set up quite a bit after it has been in the fridge. I find it easier to work with when right when I make it.
lilla says
It was really good
Kate says
Thank you so much!
Taylor says
I was wondering if I could make the frosting a day before using… once it’s refrigerated does it become hard to spread on a cake?
Kate says
It definitely sets up once it has been in the fridge. If you make it the day before, you’d need to allow time for the frosting to come up in temperature and soften up before you use it.
Sidra says
Hi there, what is I use unsalted butter instead.. would that make any difference?
Kate says
Hi! I’ve used unsalted butter + salt, and I prefer salted butter. However, that’s really more of a matter of taste. You could certainly use unsalted butter and then add salt to taste.
I made this today for Easter in the frosting is absolutely delicious my question is do I need to refrigerate the cake with this frosting says
I made this today for Easter in the frosting is absolutely delicious my question is do I need to refrigerate the cake with this frosting
Kate says
Hi! Yes, you will need to refrigerate the frosted cake.
Kiko says
Hi, I’ve tried this frosting recipe and it came out really well.
I loved it and everyone loved it too . Thank you
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that it worked out well for you!
Jo Ann says
This frosting recipe was just what I was looking for! Not too sweet and the whipped texture is amazing. The whole time I was making it, I kept thinking there is no way this is going to be usable. The sugar really did dissolve! A lot of work, but well worth the effort!
Kate says
I’m glad you liked it!
Irene blackwell says
Could i use cornflour instead if all purpose flour?
Kate says
Hi! I’m not sure how that would work in this recipe.
CAROL Hoover says
Delicious frosting. Hardly anyone better.
Kate says
Thank you very much! I’m glad you liked it!