Finding a good, simple frosting recipe can be quite the challenge. Sure, intricate recipes for all sorts of unique and fabulous frosting are all over the place. But finding a simple recipe for chocolate frosting or cream cheese frosting can sure be hard!!! And everyone knows that frosting makes or breaks our favorite homemade cake recipes!
THE Chocolate FROSTING RECIPE
Ingredients
- 2 sticks softened butter
- ½ cup cocoa
- 1.5 cup powdered sugar
- bit of milk if you find this stiff.
Instructions
- beat ingredients until smooth.
Video
Cream Cheese frosting is great for spice cakes, our fabulous carrot cake, and gingerbread cookies. Basically, anything with a bit of spice would benefit from this one!
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 packages of soft cream cheese
- ½ cup soft butter
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
- Beat the cream cheese & butter well.
- Add powdered sugar and beat again.
- Add vanilla and beat until fluffy.
Notes
Add more milk if your frosting is too thick.
Looking to make something a bit more natural? This cream cheese frosting recipe is fabulous! It works in all the same places as a traditional cream cheese frosting, but with less guilt. We always use this one when we make our Butternut Squash Cake.
Cream Cheese Frosting naturally sweetened)
Ingredients
- 1 soft 8 ounce package of cream cheese
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Beat the ingredients together until smooth and fluffy.
This Buttercream frosting recipe is really simple, and pairs perfectly with butter cake. Yes, we know it sounds like WAY too much butter in one dessert...but trust us, it's perfect! This buttercream is also fabulous on cookies. Seriously yummy.
Browned-butter buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 cup browned butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Brown 1 cup of butter. Put the browned butter in the fridge and let chill just until softened.
- Beat softened brown butter and 2 ½ cups of the powdered sugar together.
- Add additional powdered sugar until your frosting is the consistency you prefer.
- Yum!
A great chocolate ganache can do wonders for your desserts! We love using ganache to frost our bundt cakes, like our gluten-free chocolate pistachio cake. We also love adding it as a secondary topping to already decadent cakes, like our tuxedo cake.
easy dark Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 4 oz dark chocolate chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Put the chocolate in medium heat-safe bowl.
- In heavy saucepan warm cream over low heat until hot.
- Pour hot cream over the chocolate and stir quickly until chocolate is melted and well-blended.
- Let cool about 3 minutes or until a good thick and still pourable consistency. Use immediately.
Be sure to puree enough strawberries when you start your strawberry cake to use some of them in this frosting recipe. Honestly, your life will never be the same after you've tried this fresh strawberry frosting recipe!
easy strawberry cake frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 to 4 cups of confectioners sugar start with 3 and see if more is needed
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon milk or heavy cream
- 1 cup medium strawberries pureed (makes about ½ cup)
Instructions
- Puree your strawberries, transfer to a small saucepan and boil gently until reduced by half (about 20 minutes). Cool completely. You want to end up with about ½ cup pureed strawberries
- Beat butter and sugar together well (at least a couple of minutes)
- Add salt, extract, and cream and beat again until light and fluffy.
- Stir in the cooled strawberry puree.
Notes
Coffee donuts, coffee cake, or just a spoon is what you'll need for this frosting! That whiskey comes through so..adults only!
Whiskey Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup whiskey
Instructions
- Combine ingredients together and whisk well.
- Use right away before the icing sets.
Notes
This frosting has a wonderful cherry that pairs well with chocolate or white cakes. Or, like in this case, our old-fashioned cherry sheet cake!
Cherry Cake with Cherry Frosting
Ingredients
Cherry Cake
- 2 and ⅛ cups flour
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, room temp
- ½ cup maraschino cherry juice
- ⅓ cup maraschino cherries, cut small
- ¼ cup milk room temperature
- 4 egg whites room temperature
Cherry Frosting
- 1 cup butter, room temp 2 sticks
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅓-1/2 cup maraschino cherries, cut small based on how much cherry flavor you'd like
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Cake Recipe
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 13 inch cake pan or ¼ sheet pan.
- Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Beat the butter to creamy first, then SLOWLY add milk, then cherries and juice.
- Add them to dry ingredients. Beat mixture for 2 minutes.
- Beat the egg whites separately. Gently fold into the batter.
- Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. (check at the 25 minute mark)
Frosting Recipe
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Be sure to add the powdered sugar slowly to minimize mess. Mix until well blended, then increase mixer speed and allow to mix for 3 minutes or until fluffy.
- Add cherries and salt and mix until incorporated. Spread on cooled cake.
Use lime frosting for all the coconut cakes! Fresh lime juice and coconut milk bring a fabulous fresh and bright flavor to this. recipe.
Lime Frosting
Ingredients
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 ½ stick of soft butter
- 4 tablespoon lime zest
- 4 tablespoon of lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy.
- Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
- Add additional sugar until desired consistency is reached.
Our go-to white frosting. The one we use for our white cakes and cakes we are decorating.
simple White frosting
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter unsalted
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Beat the butter until creamy.
- Slowly add in the powdered sugar, while beating.
- Add vanilla.
- Add the milk until desired consistency (you may want to add additional milk)
Notes
Nutrition
Top chocolate cupcakes with this fluffy frosting and you'll have cupcake nirvana. Rather than butter, like in our popular chocolate buttercream recipe, this recipes uses whipping cream for a fluffy and light frosting.
Fluffy Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 pint of heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup cocoa
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Beat until blended.
- Add more powdered sugar as necessary to achieve the right consistency.
That cinnamon frosting, though. So good, so fun, and so easy...you'll love it!
Red Hot Firecracker Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup red hot candies
- pop rocks
Firecracker frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cream or milk
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 2 drops hot sauce
Instructions
For cupcakes
- Prepare a package of white cake mix (or homemade!) according to the directions for cupcakes.
- Add 1 cup of crushed red hot candies to the batter before baking (I use my food processor to crush them.)Tip: spray the cupcake liners to help them come off the cake better. These are gooey!
- Bake according to package directions.
For frosting
- Mix the butter and powdered sugar.
- Add the rest of the frosting ingredients to the sugar and butter. Beat together an additional 2 minutes.
If desired, more cinnamon and hot sauce can be added to increase heat.
To assemble:
- Scoop out the center of the cooled cupcakes...set the cake aside.
- Pour Pop Rocks into the center of the cupcake and top with the cupcake you set aside (avoid having the frosting touch the Pop Rocks directly to keep them fresh)
- Frost the cooled cupcakes.
- Dip the frosted tops in Pop Rocks (or simply sprinkle the Pop Rocks on top)
Nutrition
Looking for cakes to go with your frosting? Take a look at our favorites here.
