I make this also, and yes, it is very delicious!!!!

would that be powdered sugar or granulated sugar??

I believe its granulated sugar.

Yes, it's granulated sugar. Be aware that the frosting will seem very very gritty at first but whip it for the full 10 minutes and it becomes smooth as silk. I just put my KA on 4 or 5 and set the timer.

This is a traditional frosting for red velvet cake. Love it!

I grew up with this recipe, remember it from 50 years ago, perfect for any occasion, and not very sweet either.

Can you decorate with this? How long can it sit at room temp?

it has a consistency that lends itself to decorating but I haven't used it (I'm not skilled in pastry tips). I've left it at room temp. for 48 hr with no problem (I'm still alive after eating it)...but the room is AC cooled. given that the milk is cooked with the flour, I suspect it doesn't need refrigeration immediately

can i use fat free milk? or does it have to be whole?

Can this be used to frost and entire cake or is it best as a filling? How much does it make up?

OMG...yes, I have used this recipe for many years...my grandmother used it...it is so delicious and fluffy.....and not sweet...one thing...it does not crust....you can use it to frost an entire cake....I usually make 2 recipes for a normal sized cake...9 x 13 ....I have used both fat free and whole and cream...all are good.

I tried this, but it seemed sort of "slick" to me, not fluffy. I'm going to try it again, but want to make sure I'm doing it right. How thick do you let the flour and milk get? Do you skim off the top after it's cooled? When you say to mix the other ingredients until they are light and fluffy, approximately how long is that? My goodness, it sounds like I've never boiled water before!! Thanks for your help!

please could someone convert into uk measures for me thank you.

for my UK sisters 27.5 g flour 236.5 ml milk 85 g Crisco 112.5 g butter 200 g granulated sugar 9.8 ml vanilla extract

This is the recipe my family has always used for red velvet cake. We love it!

You guys have just convinced me to try this recipe. Glad to know it's not too sweet. Thanks a bunch!!

Sound yummy going to try it. Mumm

Thanks for the UK measurements as we use the same here in South Africa. What is shortening or the equivalent of it? Can't wait to try this recipe.

where is the sugar in this recipe or am I just missing it? Thanks!

sorry, found the sugar

Shortening is a like a veggie oil based lard (although I wouldn't use lard in icing). It is interchanable with butter, so just double the butter. It is used primarily to make a white-white icing.

This frosting is really good on homemade sweet rolls also.

I love this icing but have a terrible time makeing it. Mine looks like someone through melted butter all over cake. It tastes good but looks horrible. What am I doing wrong?? Thanks Laverne

I use a similar recipe. After cooking the flour and milk to a very thick paste, I always cover directly with saran or wax paper to prevent it form crusting. I also make sure my butter and shortening are very well mixed and fluffy before adding the sugar & vanilla, once that is all fluffy, i add the cold paste and mix away. I have used it for filling and to frost and decorate, but it does not crust, but does hold it's shape.

To LynnsCakes128- Contrary to andie125 response about butter being used interchangeably with shortening, you'll find that butter is much softer at room temperature & you'll get the butter flavor that doesn't exist with shortening (which is bland & pretty yucky to taste by itself). The additional butter flavor from substituting butter for shortening (Crisco being just one of many brands available) may not matter in this recipe, which already has some butter. However, the difference in consistency could make considerable difference. If they were truly interchangeable, why call for both in the same recipe?

Southerncross- Just curious. Since all the measurements of the original are by volume, why did you convert some to weight when giving the UK version?

Can not wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing!

Question for anyone who has made this frosting & who is also familiar with the fluffy white icing that Kroger Supermarket uses for their cakes. How would you compare them in taste & texture. I really like the Kroger icing, as it's not as sweet as most of the icing recipes that I've used.

I have read all of the your comments about this and I can't wait to try it I have a birthday cake come up. And this sounds like the right frosting to use. Thank u.

This is the traditional "White Velvet" frosting for red velvet cake. A Classic : )

Good Morning LynnsCakes128; I'm in Durban, and use these recipes quite a lot. A South African substitute for shortening would be Holsum (yk, the initial though), but I have used it many, many times, it is OK. I have also just recently beem advised that Wood Spoon is better than Holsum, I have tried, and it seems OK, but if you try, then you could make your own decision. I have used both in cakes, biscuits, and icing, and have been more than happy with the results. Wood Spoon is particularly good if you want a pure white butter/cheese icing/frosting. Let me know if you try this recipe with either of these prodects, and what you think. In many USA recipes parchement paper is needed - South Africa substitute for this is Baking Paper in a red box.

Hi there, the very first time I tried this recipe, it came out fantastic, and I was blown away by the mouse like feel and not so sweet taste, however, the 2nd time it came out as if I poured lemon juice into the milk, the whole mixture kept seperating, then I got the magic trick, always make sure the milk and flour mixture is ice cold, leave in the fridge if you can!

Sounds good to me, will try it, since I love baking. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made this last night with 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 brown sugar to go on top of some white chocolate creme brulee cupcakes. It was amazing! Very light and rich. I was going for a caramel frosting and may try using all brown sugar next time. It wasn't quite as sweet as I usually like and, because my cupcakes were not super sweet, I added several tablespoons of PS to the recipe. The frosting did even better the next day once the flavors had melded. I doubled the recipe and it covered 24 cupcakes generously with some left over.

I have used this frosting for years, and it's Excellent. I usually use this recipe for filling for cream horns when I make them. Delicious!

I've used this recipe for years, only I use powdered sugar instead of granulated. I like the texture better and the taste is great.. I use it to fill gobs, cupcakes and anything that calls for a creme filling. Love it!!! It is very fluffy and I wouldn't recommend this recipe to decorate a cake.

1-2Few, I converted the US cup measurements to metric weight because most of the world uses metric measurement by weight, while the the US uses volume measurements.

Different ingredients are measured in different ways. In most of the world, liquid ingredients are generally measured by volume, but dry ingredients, such as sugar and flour, are measured by weight. Of course in the US dry is still by volume. To add to the confusion, the UK cup is 1.2 times bigger than the US cup.

I'm originally from Glasgow, Scotland and although I've been in the States for over 50 years, I still use my Be-Ro recipe book (even though it was from Geordie land!) and so I'm used to using g and ml and I like to give a nod to the old home now and again.

I've been using this icing for more than 40 years. I recently decided to try my hand at cake decorating and have been making many different kinds of frosting, can't imagine why I moved away from this one. It was always a big hit. When I got the recipe from ,my mother it only called for shortening, probably because at that time our family couldn't afford butter but I have made it with butter, margarine and shortening and any combination of these and have never been disappointed.

I made this today and wow i tastes great, but at some point it seemed that the butter broke or something, it was watery too or maybe buttery, not in taste but in texture? Where did i go wring? Also can i use this to decorate? Will it hold well on the cake? Thanks for the great recipe!

I love this recipe ! i use heavy whipping cream instead of milk. I have tried to use this to frost a cake but it did not work. The cake ended up melting on the car ride.(yes i cired) I3 days worth of work just melted in front of my eyes. I thought I could use it to layer the cake , I was wrong.

I want to know how much of butter I'll use if I dont want to use shortning?

If you are using butter in this recipe, be careful of the outside temperature as butter starts to melt at 85 degrees F. I made this recipe this wekeend for a cake and failed to notice the yield, so I didn't get enough to decorate my cake, just fill and crumbcoat it. Since I didn't have enough butter on hand to make two more batches, I used a similar recipe that calls for shortening only. (It's actually a recipe for the cream filling for cupcakes - like the Hostess cupcakes.) I doubled the recipe and had enough to make 1M rose swirls over the entire 8" round cake, plus about 4 cups left over.

As a previous poster mentioned, beat the shortening and sugar a long time (I did 30 minutes for my recipe), then add the flavorings, milk/flour mixture, and beat for another 30 minutes on speed 6 on my KA stand mixer. It came out light and fluffy and very tasty.

I did refrigerate the cake as I wasn't sure about the refrigeration requirement and thought I'd rather not take the chance.

how much is 1/4 teaspoon

Does anyone know if you can use this with cream cheese in place of the shortening or butter???

I too have used this recipe for years. I put the flour mixture in the freezer to cool. I use only Crisco in the recipe. I can't remember 1 time that it didn't turn out wonderful!

Has anyone used this underneath fondant?

@southerncross, you just made me laugh. I had the be-ro cook book as a kid. No one down south knew what the heck a be-ro puff was, and living here in the states for the past 20+yrs no one here has ever heard of them either.

I'm off to give this icing a whirl tomorrow, got lots of cuppies to ice :-)

OMG this is awesome. So creamy and light and not all sweet, I omitted the vanilla for lorann lemon and it is delicious. Definately a keeper :-)

Let me start by saying that I really love my buttercream. BUT- there have been so many occasions or cake flavors that were simply overpowered by the strong sweetness, and so I began a quest for something lighter. I'm not a fan of whip frosting. Then I came across this recipe and gave it a try. W-O-W!!! I like to make my milk/flour combination the night before and let it hang out in the frig overnight, but this has quickly won a place in my heart. Easy to make, easy to ice with (though not so hot for decorating), and yummy! Thanks for sharing! :)

Can this be made and stored in the fridge and if so for how long? Thanks

I have my own take on this frosting. I found it in a neighborhood paper years ago. It was called Mock Whipped Cream. Add together 1 stick butter, 1cup granulated sugar , 1/2 cup Crisco and 1 tsp. vanilla, beat well. Meanwhile heat 2/3 cup milk until hot. Pour the milk in steady stream into the bowl with the butter mixture while it is mixing on low speed. Mix on high for about 3 min. If mixture is too liquid, not to worry or if it is separated, just keep beating. I have used this for 30 plus years and everyone loves it!

This is already on CC and is called "Best Simple Fluffy Frosting Ever"!

No, it is not the same, mine does not have flour!

Made this today. I like the taste of it but I ended up with small lumps of the milk mixture that wouldn't incorporate. I assume it's because I didn't cover the milk mixture with plastic wrap and a slight crust formed?

After reading all these rave reviews, i thought i had to try it. I followed the recipe to a t, but i found it to be insanely boring. The texture is nice, but it feels kind of like eating pure shortening, so i've been spending the past ~3 hours trying to salvage it with icing sugar. it took me about 3/4 of a kilogram to do it, but i think im almost there. i also had to add more vanilla, im not quite sure about the quantity, but it was substantial. I'm not quite sure what happened, but this recipe was not good for me.

I use a recipe very similar to this as a filling for my Devil Dogs and cupcakes; not too sweet and not too bland, it's perfect!