Monday, December 28, 2009

Buttercream Frosting

I've been searching for the perfect frosting for awhile now. Easy Buttercream is great but it's rich, you can't pile loads of it onto cakes. It also gets hard when you put it in the fridge just like my favorite Swiss Buttercream frosting. I love Swiss Meringue on cakes (Andre's Chocolate Torte is the kind of cake people die over) but it's not that fluffy subtly sweet frosting I've had a hankering for. So one day I was blog surfing and came across this Why Pudding post where a professional baker goes on and on about how using instant pudding in her frosting has rocked her world, so I gave it a try... WOW. It's fluffy but not whipped cream fluffy, more silky and rich. It needs to be refrigerated (due to the cream) but the frosting stays soft even when refrigerated! This is my new favorite frosting! I've never tasted anything like it before but it is fabulous!! You have to give it a try!

My mom gave me a new frosting tip for Christmas it's an Ateco 849, and it's humongous! It's actually called a "pastry tube". I used it to frost these cupcakes using my favorite periwinkle color... thanks mom! Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1 box (3.4 oz) white chocolate instant pudding mix (you could sub a different flavor if you want)
1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream (depending on how thick you want your frosting)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (or more to suit your tastes) powdered sugar

Directions
In mixer set on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth and silky. Turn the speed to low and add the pudding mix, when it is all incorporated, slowly add the cream, a little at a time. When fully incorporated bring speed up to high and beat for 5-7 minutes (the long mixing time is to beat the grit from the pudding out). Turn speed back down to low and add powdered sugar tasting along the way. When it is sweet to your taste, beat again at high speed for a good 5 minutes to really break down any graininess that you might get from the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and bring back down to low speed and beat for a while that way to get rid of air bubbles.

44 comments:

Katy ~ said...

Oooh, Carrie, that does look fluffy, just like bakery frosting! Will save this. Looks so good on your cupcakes. Who could resist?! Love the big, generous swirls of your new pastry tip. Now I want one, too.

Donna-FFW said...

I love the swirls it produced. Looks gorgeous!

Mom said...

You are most welcome Care! I love watching you cook! (I love to eat what you cook too!)

Tia said...

that looks amazing! soooo professional. it also looks like the recipe makes a lot... how many cups does it make?

Carrie said...

Thanks Tia! I always use Pillsbury cake mix (it's my favorite) and I get 16 cupcakes out of one box. This frosting recipe iced all 16 of my cupcakes with enough frosting leftover for probably 2 more cupcakes... so the icing would frost around 18 cupcakes.

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Anonymous said...

I want to try this frosting but am a little worried that the cream will seperate when I beat it for the 5-7mins?

Carrie said...

Anonymous, you don't have to beat it that long if you don't want to. I just beat it until the pudding dissolves ,-)

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this recipe.
My mom in law Edith had a buttercream recipe using pudding. It was to die for. like many great cooks of her generation she did not write the recipe down and we thought it was lost for ever because she now has Alzheimer. Thank so much!

sildenafil said...

My girlfriend birthday is coming soon, I think Im going to surprise her with some of these cupcakes.77sv

pharmacy said...

these cupckaes are perfect for my wedding anniversary. my wife loves all kind of desserts, but cupcakes are her favorites, and this recipe is gonna help me a lot to please her.

Anonymous said...

i actually thought of this recipe by myself (without seeing this post) and i am so happy someone else finally thought of it too! HOW YUMMY AND PERFECT!!?! just a genius frosting.. who could go back to regular buttercream after this?!

Dana said...

Just wondering what size package of pudding you used...was it the 3 oz or the larger box? Thanks so much for posting this...I have been looking for a pudding frosting recipe that DOESN'T use Cool Whip. So hard to find!!

Anonymous said...

Just Curious does this icing need to be refrigerated once on the cupcakes??? Im going to try it tonight.

Carrie said...

Hi Anonymous
I think it needs to be refrigerated because of the cream but I'm not sure... sorry I'm not much help!

multitaskingmom said...

I'd love to try these for my daughter's birthday party. What color did you use? She's having a Dora the Explorer party and the color of your frosting reminds me of the color of "backpack" from the show.

Anonymous said...

I made this it was good but very buttery...

Carrie said...

Hi Multitasking mom! I used Wilton's Violet food coloring :-)

Donna said...

What size pudding?

NK said...

Can I make this frosting ahead of time? If so, is it better to refrigerate or freeze it?

Melissa said...

This was SO good! I have been looking for ages for a buttercream that doesn't get crusty. And it didn't! Not even in the refrigerator! I do wish, however, that I would have brought my cupcakes out for a bit to defrost, because the frosting did harden because it was chilled. Once it hit room temperature though, it was fluffy and creamy just like you promised! I'm trying it with chocolate pudding next time :)

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Can I use condensed milk in place of the heavy cream+ powdered sugar?
Can this buttercream be frozen?

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

What size pudding?

Anonymous said...

It was asked several times or more ... What size pudding?

Carrie said...

The box of instant pudding is 3.4 oz

Anonymous said...

Thx fr recipe.you said frosting stay soft n fridge.is it bcoz of pudding or cream

Unknown said...

Im guessing that based on this particular recipe, that you would be using the larger size box of pudding mix? It looks very tasty, and i am definitely giving this a try.

Carrie said...

The box of instant pudding is 3.4 oz

KyMama09 said...

Made this and it tasted awsome! Ia there a way to prevent it feom looking kind of melted at the end though? Im wanting to use this for my sons 1st birthday, but it will be n outdoors

KyMama09 said...

Made this and it tasted awsome! Ia there a way to prevent it feom looking kind of melted at the end though? Im wanting to use this for my sons 1st birthday, but it will be n outdoors

Anonymous said...

I used this as a base for some test cupcakes because several family members have diabetes, so I didn't want to use a traditional buttercream frosting with 3+ cups of powdered sugar (and all the splenda/sugar free alternative frosting recipes looked too gritty), and this was a hit! not overly sweet, very smooth, and mixed well with the other flavorings I used (Earl Grey infusion and a blueberry reduction for 2 different recipes). The frosting held up well in the freezer for a few hours - I set them out to defrost and after 20 minutes or so they were ready.

Anonymous said...

Can I use chocolate pudding? And maybe a touch of cocoa?

Chillmonster said...

OK thank you I was stressing bc I don't have any koolwhip and live 30 mins from any store. I'm a single mom with a 7 month old tht is going threw a phase where he don't want to sleep anymore. This use to be my time at night night w no. Another question is pudding already made

Chillmonster said...

A good recipe is anything involving condensed milk,my fav eagle bean, I'm from the south so we pour it on everything especially ice cream!!

Carrie said...

Miranda, no the pudding isn't prepared. You'll put the dry pudding mix in the frosting.

Laura said...

Does the grittiness go away after it sits for a while? I mixed it for about 10 minutes and it was still really gritty.

Anonymous said...

I couldnt get the grittiness from the pudding out even though I beat it for a long time.

Anonymous said...

How much butter is in a stick. Sorry I am from Canada and we have blocks of butter each 1/2 cup but that seems like alot.

Anonymous said...

Superbe. I have been looking for a frostin just like this for years!!! Tried it, absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing!
P.s. Anonymous, yes it's actually 3/4 cup of butter and its fantastic!

Unknown said...

This sounds delicious and I'm anxious to try it, however I was just a bit concerned with the amount if butter!! 3 sticks!! That sounds like A LOT?! Does this recipe taste very buttery? Anyone who has made it cut I back at all? I need to icing a 3 layer high 9" cakes, how much of this recipe will I need?

Anonymous said...

Carrie, how does this stand up in heat? Does a frosted cake have to be refrigerated? I want to use this for my Aunt’s 70th in a few days but in the past, light frosting usually settle if I make a day ahead. Is it sturdy? Thanks

Bwsweets said...

Can this be used for piping as well?

LUSIFAR said...

IY IS VERY WONDERFULL SITE.

Caye said...

Will this hold up under fondant?