Hi, does anyone out there know of a recipe for buttercream frosting that isn't too sweet? I add salt to my Wilton recipe, but my family still thinks it is too sweet. I found a recipe online for a frosting that uses flour, milk, shortening, butter, and regular white sugar, but the instructions aren't very clear. The first step says to blend flour and milk in saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles. Has anyone ever tried something like this? Does the mixture have to thicken, or just bubble? And would my frosting taste like flour?

Last question--if anyone has tried a flour-based frosting, does it hold up to decorating. I mean, can I pipe borders/make roses with it?

I'm also interested in the answer to this one.

That recipe sounds interesting. I make bechemel sauces all the time (you cook butter and flour and then add milk) and I see no reason why you couldn't sweeten that and turn it into a frosting. Do you mind sharing the recipe?

After hearing on here that some people add flour I've actually tried it. I just add a little into my regular buttercream when I need it to be a little thicker, but it's already very sweet. The first time I did it I only added maybe a tablespoon for a batch of buttercream and it did help stiffen the the icing and I couldn't taste it at all. The next time I tried it I added a little more flour and when the icing was fresh I couldn't taste it and the icing was nice, not too sweet. After sitting out for a couple of hours though the icing was kind of gritty. It didn't taste like flour just had a little too much texture in the mouth. So, less is more!

The recipe with flour is a cooked icing. the recipes that I have tried have been delicious. there was a recipe in the recipe forum for "decorators buttercream".

the recipe on here for the faux fondant has cake flour in it and it say's that it acts as a stabilizer like the merinque powder. Just thought I'd throw that in, don't know if it helps any or not

Here's the recipe for those who are interested:
1/3 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

In small saucepan combine flour and milk. Cook stirring constantly until mixture bubbles. Cool.
In large bowl, cream shortening, margarine, and sugar with a mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla and salt, blending well. On medium speed beat in cooled flour mixture in small portions (teaspoonful at a time), beating well after each addition. Continue beating until light and fluffy.

The link is: http://www.recipezaar.com/42282

I think this recipe is close to what people normally use to frost a red velvet cake, but to me the amount of flour seems high. Guess I'll have to try it this weekend to see.

Well I made it last night... and I think I'm going to have to just trash it. It's been in the fridge all night *Hopefully* firming up. The whole thing has the consistency of a thick cake batter, and it's really nice and fluffy but slides off my spoon after a while. I'd use it to top a 9x13 still in its pan, but I fear it will slide off the sides of my layer cake. Oh well, guess I had to try to find out. At least I still have tonight to make a batch of buttercream.

I have been using a buttercream for about 2 months now that has flour in it, and it's not cooked. My family actually likes it better than any other buttercream! It is Dragonwarlord's recipe - I'll try to find it for you.

Marilyn

Ok, found it:

fuzzykoala22, you probably need to whip/beat the icing more to get it to fluff up. The flour addition or béchamel (I like that, lol) is more for stability than making the icing less sweet, I believe, more of a stabilizer like you would put in whipped cream frostings.

If you want an icing that is less sweet and smooth, then I would suggest switching to the Italian or Swiss meringue buttercream. These are the true buttercreams and the taste is wonderful, light, and smooth. The powdered sugar frostings, like the recipe you spoke of, are just fast, quick frostings with unfortunately more sugar and sweetness to them. I would assume they were invented or took off when the mixes started becoming available and everyone was trying to save time, much like today, lol.

Another alternative is to use way less powdered sugar. I have a recipe that calls for 3 cups (under 1 lb) in it, so you don't always need 2lbs of powdered sugar.

I've used cake flour in IMBC to help stabelize it. That has worked out fine for me no one has ever said anything like its gritty it's actuallly pretty smooth. I have put as much as 3/4 cup in a batch of frosting.

Jackie

Antonia74

Salt will actually make your icing more sweet, salt is often used in baking to bring out sweetness.

Try using a little less 10x and a little more Crisco to make it less sweet. My daughter was helping me bake one day and we accidentally doubled the Crisco. You may want to play around with it to see what you think, but it turned out fine for the frosting part. Only trouble was that it was too soft for floral decorations.

Try using a little less 10x and a little more Crisco to make it less sweet. My daughter was helping me bake one day and we accidentally doubled the Crisco. You may want to play around with it to see what you think, but it turned out fine for the frosting part. Only trouble was that it was too soft for floral decorations.

BTW, what is Dreamwhip?

AshleyLogan, I disagree, have you tried it? It really does work.

I_love_icing wrote:

The directions weren't real clear on that, so I actually did try just dumping everything in the bowl and adding the boiling water last, and then turned on the KA, and it worked perfectly!

OK, thanks!

antonia, i think she was trying to quote you...haha at least that's how i interpreted it