I’ve been intrigued with this frosting recipe for months, not just because of its alluring title, but also because if its ingredients. Five tablespoons of flour? In frosting? Let’s just say my interest was piqued.
I finally got around to making it yesterday evening; Marlboro Man’s grandmother has some old friends staying at The Lodge and I wanted to take them a treat. So I whipped up this frosting, slapped it on some chocolate cupcakes…and wound up considering not sharing them with the guests because it was so delicious.
You owe it to yourself to make this frosting sometime in your life.
You’ll just have to trust me on this.
Here’s how you make it:
First things first: I made chocolate sheet cake cupcakes. They’re the best cupcakes around.
Here’s the recipe:
The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake (or Cupcakes!) Ever
Let your cupcakes (or cake) cool completely.
Begin by pouring 5 tablespoons of flour into 1 cup of milk. I used whole milk because I can if I want.
After adding the flour, whisk it together until combined, then place the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk it as it heats up and thickens, and stop when the mixture is very thick.
Cool the mixture completely.
The mixture will be very, very thick.
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the cooled flour/milk mixture.
Stir it around to combine.
Pour one cup of sugar into a bowl with one cup of butter.
Whip it around until it’s light and fluffy, scraping the bowl once or twice to make sure it’s all mixed well.
Add the cooled flour/milk/vanilla mixture. Make sure it’s not the least bit warm!
I’m bossy. Sorry.
Next, just whip it on medium-high until the mixture resembled whipped cream.
This was slightly tricky for me, as I was afraid of overbeating the mixture and causing everything to start breaking down and falling apart. I’d say this is about 45 seconds of pretty hard beating.
And then it was time for the rubber to meet the road.
This was spread with a big spatula…
This was spread with a dinner knife. The frosting definitely has a whipped cream consistency; it’s not thick like a decorator icing.
Before I allowed myself to taste it, I made some sprinkled ones for my punks.
This makes for a crunchy cupcake!
And now…for the moment of truth.
THE VERDICT: Okay. Let me just explain something to you. After I took this bite, I looked around for the hidden camera. I was certain someone was playing a trick on me. This frosting is so UNBELIEVABLY divine, I almost couldn’t believe what was happening to me. The consistency is light, the flavor indescribably delicious, and a perfect complement to the rich chocolate cake. And don’t just take my word for it—after my daughter took her first bite, she looked at me and said “WHAT is this FROSTING?”
Even she knew she was in the presence of greatness.
Here’s the frosting recipe:
That’s the Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had
Note: I would probably recommend making the frosting on the same day you intend to serve it.
Thank you to MissyDew for sharing such a great recipe!
538 Comments
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Katie H on 3.18.2010
My family calls this “white sauce frosting” and uses it to fill Whoopie Pies. So good!
RachelP on 3.18.2010
I just made this and clearly did something wrong! It turned out awful, OH well! I’ll try again another time.
Jenny on 3.18.2010
I grew up on this too, in Jackson, Michigan. Mom ALWAYS made it for my birthday. Red velvet cake with just a drop of that red food coloring to make it pink. Beautiful!
Ruthie on 3.18.2010
This is a traditional frosting in the south for the Red Velvet Cake. I was born and raised in Atlanta…a GRITS, as it were,(Girls Raised In The South) and I’ve never used this frosting with my Red Velvet Cake in the past. However, after reading your “step by step,” and seeing the photos (I’m visual), I’m a believer.
You have a knack for making people love what they thought they would never like!
Thanks!
Haley Sue on 3.18.2010
I first had this frosting recipe when my mother in law paired it with her divine red velvet cake. This was when I first knew that I needed to learn everything I could from that woman in the kitchen. Incredible!
I’ll be making cupcakes tonight now.
Carol Ashbaugh on 3.18.2010
To jolove2bake,
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. Sounds as if I’ve been cooking it way too long. I’m going to follow your suggestions and try it again. Everyone seems to have great success with this recipe, and now, maybe I will, too. Thanks again.
Carol Ashbaugh
Spooky28 on 3.18.2010
This is also my favorite frosting – it’s been around for a million years and my terribly old and wonderfully yummy Red Velvet Cake recipes uses this recipe.
In our family it’s practically sacrilege to use anything other than this recipe!
(I’ve had MANY a friendly argument over the wisdom of cream cheese frosting v this frosting for Red Velvet! Crazy…)
Christy Wright on 3.18.2010
This recipe is almost identical to the filling recipe for Paula Deen’s chocolate gobs. One trick I’ve been doing since a kid: put this creamy frosting in a piping bag, stick on a star tip, and use it to fill cupcakes prior to frosting with fudge frosting!
Kitty Conner on 3.18.2010
Like others have commented, this is actually the traditional frosting for Red Velvet Cake. Not cream cheese frosting, as is often thought.
It is super-de-duper important that your roux is cooled, or you will have lumpy, floury frosting. Also, it’s not recommended to try to speed the cooling in the fridge or freezer.
suzanne on 3.18.2010
I agree with some other people….I made this and the consistency was weird – like ricotta cheese. And the flavor was off. It wasn’t grainy due to the sugar, but it tasted like butter with vanilla – yuck. What could I have done wrong? I really wanted to like this. FYI, I used superfine sugar, and sifter flour. The flour/milk mixture was pudding thick and cold when I mixed it with the dry ingredients. Sorry, won’t be making this again.
Renee Reynolds on 3.18.2010
All I could say when I tried them…”Oh My!” Made these for my husbands birthday to take to work… Loved them! People who didn’t get one at his work were upset cause they had heard how good they were! Definately one to make again.
Hillary on 3.18.2010
I made this frosting for chocolate cupcakes for my husband’s coworker. It tastes delicious but has an odd consistency. I beat mine for about 90 seconds. I was thinking that I possibly overbeat it since PW said it may break down. We just put sprinkles on top and crossed our fingers that the amazing flavor would distract from the slight graininess. I will definitely try this one again though!
LindaO on 3.18.2010
I grew up in the country, too and this is one of the recipes my mom used when there was no powdered sugar . . . or egg whites to cook and turn into frosting! So nice to see it make an encore appearance!
PrincessKessie on 3.18.2010
This recipe is almost identical to my (British) grandmother’s Mock Cream recipe, that she got from her (British) grandmother’s recipe book…and which is also very similar to the Mock Cream used in most bakeries and cake shops I knew as a child/pre-teen in Australia.
I still prefer my mother’s Chocolate Fudge Butter Icing/Frosting, though.
kim on 3.18.2010
This does sound delicious! By the way, I adore your little jadite bowl that used for your sprinkles. I collect jadite myself, I just love the green color.
myphotographedlife.blogspot.com
Mary Jo on 3.17.2010
We use to call this poor man whipped cream.
another use is for filling between cookies- gobs is what they are called, I think.
And yes it is wonderful on red velvet cake.
Monki on 3.17.2010
Made it with my children today and it is a winner in our family! Not too sweet, just enough sweetness to make everyone want more!
Melanie on 3.17.2010
This is actually a very old recipe, but you’re right, it’s divine! I’m not sure where it originated from but where I grew up (Maritime region of Canada) it’s known as Million Dollar Icing.
joluv2bake on 3.17.2010
To Carol Ashbaugh
Here are some tips I give with my recipe & I hope they will help:
Use cake or all purpose flour & sift. I usually put the sifted flour in a heavy saucepan, have my whisk ready, turn on medium heat and slowly pour in whole milk and whisk constantly to keep mixture smooth and when the mixture starts to thicken (not runny or dripping off whisk but sticking to whisk), I stop whisking for 10-15 seconds and it will begin to thicken quickly, turn off heat and continue whisking until the consistency of pudding, oatmeal or grits. It should be very smooth and THICK at this stage. I put plastic wrap down into the pan to cover top of mixture and let come up the sides of the pan and fold over to keep air out and keep mixture from getting a skim on top and put hot mixture into the refrigerator to chill completely. I use real butter and let cool but do not let it get too soft. Also use super fine sugar and can even run it through the processor to make it even finer. If better too soft and kitchen area temperature is hot, it will not cream well. Cream butter and sugar until smooth/creamy and very light in color and fluffy; this takes time depending on your mixer. You can test to see if it is still grainy by placing a small amount in palm and rubbing with fingers. Once smooth, I add the vanilla and mix well. I then get the flour/milk mixture out of the refrigerator and add to the butter/sugar mixture and cream the heck out of the mixture until it is all very light and fluffy. It will look just like the old fashioned whipped cream from years ago but will have a thicker consistency. I keep my iced cake in the refrigerator no matter what season as the icing is delicate and warm temperature is an enemy. I hope this helps as I have been making this since the late 50’s and it is worth all the effort and I use it on so many different cake flavors but the most requested is my strawberry pound cake. Let me know if I can be of anymore help. Jo
Tia on 3.17.2010
I knew as soon as I saw the word flour that this icing was the very same one my dad’s mother put on her red velvet cake. It’s the ONLY icing for red velvet cake. She got her recipe from the Texas State Fair in the 60’s…it was the winner that year. It’s been a family favorite for 3 generations now.
mishqueen on 3.17.2010
Boy, when you say don’t overbeat, you mean don’t overbeat.
Carol Ashbaugh on 3.17.2010
I have tried this recipe many times over the years. My favorite aunt made it all the time. I wish someone could tell me what I’m doing wrong. When I let the flour/milk mixture completely cool, it is not the pudding consistency shown here in the photos – it is the consistency of congealed jello. When I try to mix it up, it’s just a bunch of lumps and makes the icing lumpy and I end up pushing it through a strainer. This is quite a job because it is so thick.
Also, if I make it with granulated sugar, it’s always grainy, so I use a similar recipe using powdered sugar, and I’m sure the taste is different. What are all of you doing that I’m not doing.? The directions I have are the same as the ones given here. I just don’t get it. Can someone help?
Angie McGowan on 3.17.2010
sounds very different, but I will definitely try it, thanks for the tip!
Barbara on 3.17.2010
Hi,
You are the only person on the net that I found that answered my question to this frosting! I used to make this all the time, but it always fell apart. I was so sick of it, I started to look for new recipes. I found the cream cheese frosting to be good, but it had scary amount of fat and sugar in it. Now I know that 45 seconds of combining the flour mixture with butter is enough! THANKS. also you added vanilla to the flour mixture. I used to add it to butter and that is when my problems started. cool, will add all flavours to flour next time. Thanks again.
Elaine Mast on 3.17.2010
I use this frosting and it is WONDERFUL!! But I actually put the flour & milk mixture in the fridge for several hours to make it cold, then I add the remaining ingrediants. It comes out great every time.
Robin L. on 3.17.2010
I made Ree’s chocolate sheet cake with this frosting last night – tinted it green for St. Patrick’s Day. I brought it to work this morning, and it was more than half gone before lunch! (We only have 5 people at the office, so there were definitely some double or even triple servings by some!) It is delicious!
fourtrans on 3.17.2010
Well, I figured I had nothing to lose so I went and decided I’d give it another 5 minutes of beating, and I moved it up to high. It actually started to resemble whipped cream so I gave it another 5 minutes. This was a total of almost 30 minutes! It still looks kinda separated, like after I added the green paste color and it sat a minute it looked like it had green sprinkles on it or something. I’ll probably try this once more on a dry day and actually let the flour/milk mixture just come to room temp on its own and see what happens. It’s good, but not quite what I was expecting. I think deep down I was hoping it would taste like Publix frosting.
fourtrans on 3.17.2010
Y’all, I need help! I just tried to make this and flubbed it up royally. I’m not sure where I went wrong. It never did resemble whipped cream. Everything is sort of separated. It kinda looks more like fluffy ricotta cheese. It is rainy here so maybe the weather has something to do with it. Maybe it’s because I put the pan on ice to cool the milk/flour mixture quickly and it was actually to the point of being really cold when I added it to the butter/sugar. Maybe I didn’t whip the butter and sugar long enough?
dawnalee on 3.17.2010
To Mom of 4…
I use it to make chocolate frosting for brownies, too. Just start with a tablespoon of cocoa when you’re into the whipping process. Add more cocoa a bit at a time til you get the level of “chocolaty-ness” that you prefer. I sometimes make it very dark.
Christy on 3.17.2010
this is the frosting we’ve always used on red velvet cake. I grew up with it as the family birthday cake and wouldn’t even consider cream cheese frosting for my red velvet.
Amber on 3.17.2010
This is the frosting my mom always used on chocolate cake growing up and we still use it today! It is my favorite. We always called it Butter Icing!
Jessica McMahon on 3.17.2010
We always add coconut to this frosting–and we’ve always called it “Leona’s frosting.” I don’t know who Leona is, but am glad her frosting is in my life.
Angela Beedle on 3.17.2010
I found that exact frosting with a recipe for a brown sugar cake, and I was just as skeptical at first.
But I was just as converted after tasting. YES, it is the most wonderful frosting ever. It’s a little extra work, what with the heating and cooling and all. But seriously fabulous.
bttrflywmn on 3.17.2010
Looks so yummy, have you ever tried fondant? Making it and decorating with it? I have never tried it and I’m going to attempt it for a baby shower I’m planning. I hope it goes well.
monica on 3.17.2010
This is so freaky! I just made this frosting yesterday! My granny always made it to go on top of red velvet cake. I made a green velvet cake and this frosting to rock out some of Bakerella’s cake pops. Some people claim cream cheese frosting is the only way to go with red velvet cake. They are wrong.
Dennise on 3.17.2010
This is my gramma’s frosting!!!! It is the best in the world. I have found it on line and it is sometimes called “bakery frosting”. I adore it…just ask my jeans…they’re telling me I ate too much of this stuff while at home this winter ’cause the weather was so nasty!
Madonna Elliott on 3.17.2010
My mother use to make this and put red food coloring in it and use it on Red Velvet Cake. It is the best.
Julie on 3.17.2010
I added two heaping tablespoons of Ghirardelli mocha cocoa and stirred it in with the flour. I also used powdered sugar instead of granulated. Turned out wonderfully!!!
Leslie Davis on 3.17.2010
This is similar to how my grandmother frosted her red velvet. She used shortening though, which I have strong aversions to these days. I’ll have to give this a try.
Jane Chernikovich on 3.17.2010
I agree with you this is fantastic. it is the same recipe my Aunt Anna made for our wedding cake. She is long gone now but I can still taste it.
reekiebug on 3.17.2010
I’m so excited about this! I WILL be making this for dessert tonight. I’m reading a lot of people say they use this recipe all the time, to quicken the cooling time of the flour/milk mixture could I put it in the fridge or is it best to just let it sit?
Andrea on 3.17.2010
Oh yes… reading everyone else’s comments – I think mine is half butter half shortening and that would be why it doesn’t break down.
Andrea on 3.17.2010
I’ve been making this frosting for years on my whoopie pies – YUM-MY!!! I heat the flour and milk mixture in the microwave 1 minute at a time stirring in between. Then let it cool in the fridge overnight. And it does not break down like whipped cream – you can whip it for a loooooong time. I put mine in the Kitchen Aid and literally let it go for 15 mins. It gets even better!!!!
kp on 3.17.2010
This is our family recipe frosting that is traditionally served on Crazy chocolate cake for every birthday, and yes, it IS the best frosting ever! The history of it says that it was created during the Great Depression when people didn’t have a lot of sugar to use.
Melina on 3.17.2010
This recipe has been used by my family for over 60 years…it is fantastic on red velvet cake…a tried and true favorite!
Tiffany on 3.17.2010
U know we trust u Ree! Making homemade toaster strudels tonight for my Punks and u just figured out the frosting. Did I mention you’ve helped make me the best Momma & Wife, EVER!?
Heather in TN on 3.17.2010
Just agreeing with everyone else…this is the ONLY icing recipe to use with Red Velvet Cake!
Meg on 3.17.2010
I love this frosting. My mom has made this frosting for years – she calls it whipped cream frosting. I have messed up once making it – the flour/milk mixture was too cool when I added it to the other ingredients, so the frosting was a bit lumpy.
Cindy on 3.17.2010
This is very similar to the icing recipe that I use on Red Velvet Cake – soooo much better than cream cheese icing on Red Velvet!
AGinTO on 3.17.2010
I’m definitely going to try this frosting! The one complaint I usually hear about standard buttercream is that it’s too dang sweet – well what do you expect after FOUR CUPS OF ICING SUGAR?!? LOL! This sounds…. perfect!