The mixer giveaway is still going on through noon today and winners will be announced Friday. Meanwhile, I wanted to re-post this recipe again for a slightly controversial frosting that I love so much I just made it again this week. And I realize it’s strange to call frosting controversial, but the comments on the original post did show mixed reactions and results. I happen to love it. Let me know if you’ve tried it yet!
From the TK Blog archives – March 2010
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.
Thank you, MissyDew, for submitting!
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!
332 Comments
Comments are closed for this recipe.
rhianna on 12.2.2010
your recipe is so easy to follow thanks to your wonderful pictures, an excellent recipe and my girls enjoyed following the recipe according to the pictures!!
Bobbie on 11.22.2010
Does anyone else have trouble with the frosting feeling grainy? I’ve tried different brands of sugar, but still get that grainy feeling.
Karen on 11.4.2010
I’ve made several variations of this frosting recipe, including a sugar-free version with Splenda substituted for the sugar (it works very well!) and a St. Patty’s Day version where I substituted Bailey’s for half of the milk. Yummo!
By the way, this frosting makes an awesome filling inside of chocolate cupcakes… or ANY kind of cupcake, for that matter.
lizziek on 11.3.2010
Made this tonight and the fam LOVED it!
MrsBailey on 11.1.2010
I made it this weekend as the filling for chocolate sandwich cookies with my niece and nephew. We portioned it three ways and tinted it orange, green and purple for Halloween! Everyone loved it.
Rae on 10.30.2010
So I was having a blue day and made this frosting (yes, just the frosting) about a week ago and rented Valentine’s Day on my TV and ate the whole bowl. Best idea ever! LOL.
Ummmmm…it was sooooooo good. I think the heat on my flour concoction was a little too high because it was so thick my forearm was soar by the end of mixing it. I also only had salted butter in the house BUT it still turned out incredible.
I mixed it for a long time in my stand mixer and just watched it get lighter and fluffier as the time ticked by. My brother even taste tested it and loved it! And he only likes the stuff on sheet cakes from the supermarket.
I think it’s a great frosting for those who are afraid of making frosting at home. It’s like you could do everything wrong (like I did) and still it comes out the best frosting ever!
Betsy on 10.26.2010
This is almost identical to a frosting recipe I discovered the other day at “Our Best Bites”. A slight difference is the Our Best Bites uses has 1 more T of flour. But a much larger difference is they have you whip the frosting on high for 7-9 minutes. It gets so smooth and light and tastes fantastic (I assume it tastes similar to this recipe here, but the consistency may be different.) I’ve used the Our Best Bites recipe twice in the last week and plan on using it this weekend again. Try whipping it for awhile and see what you think!!
on 10.23.2010
I have the same recipe and it is called Lamb Frosting – so good!
Nicole on 10.19.2010
I love this frosting! My Mom used to make it for every cake growing up. She always put the leftovers on graham crackers for us. So GOOD!!!!!
Caroline in Tennessee on 10.15.2010
HELP!!!!!!
I made this icing today and leave it to me to screw it up! I am pretty darn good cook but a baker…not so much. It ended up runny! I could literlly drink it and true to all of the comments the flavor is yummy! I let my butter soften. Is that where I messed up?
Please someone comment and let me know! I have a batch of unfrosted cupcakes just waiting to be slathered with some of the ‘best frosting’!!
Nancy on 10.15.2010
that is the frosting used on , Red Velvet Cake
Elspeth on 10.15.2010
Does this frosting hold up? Could I use it for wedding cupcakes in June? Or is that heading for disaster…?
forheartandsoul on 10.15.2010
Ree – this reminds me of a ‘frosting’ (we call it icing here in Australia) that a chef-ing friend used to make. He called it Mock Cream, and it is oh SOOOOOOOOOOO good!
Ann E on 10.14.2010
Have used this recipe for years for red velvet cake.
joey on 10.14.2010
sounds very rich & very decadent!
Pam on 10.14.2010
This is the frosting that I’ve always used for red velvet cake instead of cream cheese icing. I’ve never had it any other way and it is delicious.
Carolyn on 10.14.2010
The first time I made it I loved it. The second time I’m not sure what I did wrong but I could never get it to set up right and it ended up sliding off the cake by the end of the day. I haven’t tried it a 3rd time – I just make a cake yesterday and went back to the standby buttercream.
pirutt on 10.14.2010
I can’t figure out how to comment on the brainstorm ?s, which means no contest entry I suppose, which is somewhat devastating.
But anyways, here’s my thought on TK 2.0…
I love that you have step by step pictures. Sometimes the verbiage on recipes is my downfall and I used to write recipes for a living!
I like everything about it TK now, but a collapsable catalogue would be an easier way to click dinner>sides>creamy grits. It’s frustrating when each click needs to load its own page. Or maybe a drop down.
Also, since so many of us like cooking & photography, could you have a gallery attachment of the recipes where we simpletons could post our own pick of our plated successes or failures with that particular recipe. It could maybe be an icon that opens it at the bottom of each recipe post. Sometimes I think I can’t make a recipe because I haven’t had as much experience, haven’t written any cookbooks. But, seeing hundreds of ladies did it too would be quite encouraging, and then you could segway onto “how to photograph food” too.
Those are my suggestions. Maybe someday I’ll win a mixer, but I’m just happy to help.
Erica on 10.14.2010
I tried out this recipe, but it doesn’t whip as well with soy milk and soy margarine (I am allergic to milk). It turns out more soupy, but if you lessen the amount of soy milk, up the sugar and put in the flour, it’s wonderful. I always hated the super-sugary taste of frosting since I can’t eat store-bought I always have to make my own. Now, knowing I can use flour to tame down the sugar and bulk up the frosting…let’s just say: yay!
swantine on 10.14.2010
It delicious! For the naysayers: When cooking with flour, you really have to let the heat cook it up a bit. Even when making gravy or bechamel sauce, you must allow the heat to cook that flour just a bit (usually before adding more liquid). Some of you are saying it tasted “pasty” and “like flour” so I believe that is the problem. The little bit of heat from the saucepan at the beginning is very important when you are making something creamy with a flour base. Give it a couple of extra seconds on the heat. That is my suggestion. Hope you try it again ’cause I love this stuff!
Nona on 10.14.2010
Looks yummy!
Becky on 10.13.2010
I like this but I make it as filling for whoopie pies.
Yahaira L. on 10.13.2010
I’ve made this frosting twice already. My family and I love it, but mostly when it’s cold. My kids don’t like the buttery taste when it’s room temperature, but when it’s cold they devour it. They say it tastes like vanilla ice cream.
I’ve seen the chocolate version online somewhere, which I will try as soon as possible.
SassyLassy on 10.13.2010
My mom’s been using this recipe for over 20 years! She can’t go to any church function or family reunion without it. It doesn’t get any easier than this for homemade!
Jenny on 10.13.2010
GENIUS! this is amazing, I’ll be trying soon!
Charlene Thompson on 10.12.2010
Like others here, I have made this icing for years to put on my red velvet cake. My original recipe called for shortening like some of the others. I will be trying it with butter instead. I really liked it before, so I’m sure I will love it with butter. Thanks for the post.
culinarycapers on 10.12.2010
I made this yesterday for a carrot cake. It was wonderful! like buttercream only fluffier and less sweet.
I had no trouble with seperating, pasty taste or funny texture etc…it came out really smooth and evenly white.
I cooked the flour and milk over medium heat whisking constantly for about 5 minutes… undercooked and it would have tasted like flour.
then I creamed soft butter with the sugar for a good 5 to 8 minutes on high speed in the Kitchenaid, until it was fluffy and I couldn’t taste any suger grains, then I added the flour mixture and beat that another 2 minutes on high.
This is my new go to frosting recipe…I can’t wait to use it again!
and it refrigerated just fine on the frosted cake.
Betsy B. on 10.12.2010
YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!
Erin in Austin,TX on 10.11.2010
I love this frosting! I love the way it makes the roof of my mouth smooth and I love that it is not ” sick sweet”. Super yum:)
Erin on 10.11.2010
This frosting looks great! I have never tried one like this before so I am really interested on how it is going to come out. If I wanted chocolate frosting would I just add some bitter sweet chocolate to it?
Ashley on 10.11.2010
I’ve been making this frosting for years now, with a few changes, after finding it on allrecipes.com. I’m not a fan of overly sweet, powdered sugar butter creams. In fact, I despise them. They are so sweet they make my teeth feel like they are going to fall out. This butter cream is SO much better and I’ve been trying to convince people of that ever since I started making it! I’m sure you’ll be able to get the word out more than I can.
If people don’t like this, they must not be following the directions carefully enough! hehe
Merideth on 10.11.2010
nevermind
Merideth on 10.11.2010
Did she ever post the winner of the mixer???
Rebecca on 10.11.2010
Where did all the sprinkles go??
maryanne on 10.11.2010
I am definitely going to try this frosting! I am wondering if the posters who said it tasted like flour or pasty didn’t cook it enough or used too much flour. This process reeads much like making a roux with milk instead of butter.If when making roux the flour isn’t cooked enough or incorporated properly, the sauce tastes like four. I’ll know when I make it, but just a thought.
Dana Dane on 10.11.2010
I tried this recipe this weekend and couldn’t get past the grittiness of the cane sugar. I even double checked this morning to make sure it didn’t say confectioners sugar.
Barbi Murdock on 10.11.2010
This is the recipe we have loved for forever! From my aunt I believe. Don’t worry about overbeating…. we beat it as long as it takes to take the suger granular texture out of it. Smooth, yummy and oh so perfect for a light frosting.
Cathy on 10.11.2010
This is very similar to the frosting I use on Red Velvet Cake — absolutely delicious!
Jenny on 10.11.2010
I made this last night, to go on the Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. I’m sorry to say this, but…
Yuck! It was light and fluffy, but tasted just like whipped sugared butter. I was left with a horrible coating in my mouth. I had to scrape the frosting off my piece of cake.
I’m glad I did not frost the entire cake or I would have tossed it all. We ended up eating the cake plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Michelle on 10.11.2010
I grew up with this frosting – my mother frosted her red velvet cake with it and it is pretty much the only frosting I like. I just made it yesterday for birthday cupcakes and will be making it again tomorrow morning to frost cupcakes for a church youth meeting. Delicious!!
Lexi on 10.11.2010
I made this over the weekend for my sister’s birthday cake and it was DIVINE!!! The best I’ve ever had.. and everyone raved about it! This will definitely be my go-to frosting recipe from now on.
For those commenters who didn’t like it–try again, you must have done something wrong, because this is THE BEST!
Jodie on 10.11.2010
Delicious!! Just made this and I love it!!
Kim Aguilar on 10.11.2010
I made this a few days after your original posting, and have to say that I didn’t love it…on cupcakes. But it was dreamy on cornbread muffins as a honeybutter substitute!
neuharthl on 10.10.2010
I tried it, it is phenomenal! My sister also agrees
shbee on 10.10.2010
Shelley, I was watching a video about this recipe on youtube from Magnolia bakery, and they said if you need to make the frosting first, then you should not refrigerate it, but you should leave it on the counter with some plastic wrap on top to preserve at room temperature, and try to use it that same day.
hope this helps!!
Kelly B on 10.10.2010
Made these cupcakes for a picnic today and they were L-O-V-E-D. I was paraniod about the frosting not turning out but it came out great. Both the cake and frosting are keepers!
April Coleman on 10.10.2010
I normally love your recipes but I’d like to weigh in on the controversy and say that this one was a major failure. I made it for cupcakes for a dinner party and it was almost inedible. I had to send my husband to the store to buy a can of regular vanilla frosting. I was so bummed because it looked so good and raved about it so much. If anyone tries it, I would recommend having a plan B.
ComfortablyDomestic on 10.10.2010
This is almost identical to a recipe I have for “Sander’s Buttercream” that a legendary ice cream franchise in our area used to make. I made this version & it’s just as good. Light, fluffy and melts in your mouth.
Micleah Cherry on 10.10.2010
Made these today and they are delish!!! Hubby LOVED the icing!! The whole process was a little strange but it turned out awesome!
Kay Shirey on 10.10.2010
Just made this for the trial run of my daughter’s first birthday cake… I am IMPRESSED!!!! Yummo. A tradition begins.