10 Scratch Made Frostings for Beginner Bakers

Making frostings from scratch is encouraging for any beginner baker. These frosting recipes are so simple anyone can make them.

Frostings are rich and decadent while elevating the overall cake. It’s always good to know different frosting recipes when you start cake decorating. These frostings are perfect for piping and making cool designs.

There are many different types of frostings, like buttercreams, whipped cream, swiss meringue buttercream, and many more. However, today, we will be focusing on these three types of frostings.

American buttercream is richer and sweeter, it’s made with butter and powdered sugar. Next is whipped cream is light and airy and I’ll show you how to make it so it can sit out longer. Finally, we’ll talk about Swiss Meringue Buttercreams which is light and fluffy and almost tastes like ice cream. The swiss meringue refers to the style of meringue versus other meringue like Italian or French. Swiss is the easiest for beginners to learn and be successful at.

Tips before we begin:

• Make sure to use room temperature butter. Remove the butter from the fridge and place it onto the counter about 30 minutes before using it. The butter should be semi-cold, not warm or melted. Then let the mixer work the butter to room temperature.
• Always sift your powdered sugar. Take the couple minutes to eliminate any clumps in the powdered sugar. This creates smoother and creamier buttercreams. Also, sift your cocoa powder as well. No one wants to bite on a clump of sugar or cocoa powder.
• Don’t forget the salt. It’s crucial when making frostings to add salt. The salt balances out the sweetness while making the frostings flavorful.

With these simple tips, you’re ready to start making homemade frostings. Here are 10 delicious frosting recipes that will help you create amazing and delicious cakes!

Let’s Make Some Frosting!

1. Vanilla Buttercream

Vanilla Buttercream is one of those frosting recipes that every baker should know, so it deserves a post of its own. Since it can be the base for other flavored buttercreams, I feel it’s essential to get it right from the beginning. But don’t worry there’s nothing fancy or even complicated about this recipe. Get the recipe at Vanilla Buttercream for Cake Decorating

2. Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese frosting is creamy and velvety smooth with the perfect balance of tangy and sweet. This cream cheese frosting is a tried and true frosting that is pretty straightforward with only five ingredients required so anyone can make it. Since it’s so easy to spread and pipe it’s a great frosting to use for cake decorating. Get the recipe at How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

3. Chocolate Buttercream

Chocolate buttercream is another popular frosting that everyone loves. You can use milk or dark chocolate cocoa powder in this recipe. This chocolate buttercream can be used on cakes, cupcakes, brownies or cookies. It has the perfect balance between sweet and chocolatey! Get the recipe at Campfire S’ mores Cake

4. Lemon Thyme Buttercream

Lemon thyme buttercream is incredibly delicious with a lemon blueberry cake. This buttercream is made with thyme infused butter and a homemade lemon gel that packs a punch of lemon juice and zest without watering down the buttercream. The earthy thyme and tangy lemon are the perfect compliment for a not so sweet frosting. Get the recipe at Lemon Blueberry Thyme Cake

5. Red Hot Cinnamon Buttercream

The best way to describe this buttercream is that it tastes just like the Big Red chewing gum that you use to eat when you were a kid. This buttercream is the best compliment to the spicy cayenne pepper cake. It has cream cheese folded into the sweet cinnamon buttercream. The fattiness of the buttercream cuts through any spiciness of the cake. Get the recipe at Red Hot Red Velvet Cake

6. Dark Chocolate Stout Buttercream

Guinness is a dark rich beer that lends itself to pair perfectly with chocolate. The sweetness of the chocolate compliments the bitter notes of the Guinness beer. Guinness is used in the cake and the frosting so you know it’ll taste delicious! Get the recipe at Chocolate Guinness Stout Cake

7. Tequila Lime Buttercream

The tequila lime buttercream is unique in creating a lime gel that holds the concentrated flavor of lime juice without diluting the buttercream. Fresh lime zest and juice is critical in the buttercream as it balances out the sweetness. Finally, the hint of coarse sea salt on top of the buttercream makes you feel like you are enjoying a real margarita! Get the recipe at Margarita Cake

You May Also Enjoy:

• How to Cut & Serve Cake (free guide)
• Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free ebook)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)

8. Stabilized Whipped Cream

The stabilized whipped cream is made with heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and gelatin. The addition of gelatin keeps the whipped cream fresh without falling or deflating in between the cake layers. It’s perfect with a light cake like this Berries & Cream Champagne Cake. Get the recipe at Berries & Cream Champagne Cake

9. Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This silky smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream that you will want to eat out of the bowl. Many of my clients swear they hate buttercream (and prefer whipped cream) because they think it’s so sickly sweet and everyone just scrapes it off their cake… until they try this buttercream. It has definitely changed their minds. It’s made with egg whites, a little bit of sugar and butter. It starts by making a meringue and folding in the butter until it’s light and fluffy and basically tastes like ice cream. Get the recipe at Swiss Meringue Buttercream

10. Irish Cream Buttercream

This Irish cream buttercream is the swiss meringue buttercream base with Bailey’s Irish Cream added into it. The Bailey’s in the buttercream filling makes it light and airy looking like fresh whipped cream. Although this recipe is for macarons, it’s the same procedure for cakes and cupcakes, just double or triple the recipe to make enough of it for decorating cakes and cupcakes! Get the recipe at Bailey’s Irish Cream Macarons

You May Also Enjoy:

• How to Cut & Serve Cake (free guide)
• Common Baking Mistakes & How to Avoid Them (free ebook)
• How to Decorate Your First Cake (free course)
• Cake Decorating for Beginners (online course)

With these frosting recipes, you’ll easily create amazing and delicious cakes! In the comments below, tell me what’s the #1 thing you’re struggling with baking and cake decorating?

For real, though. I’m a real human being and read every comment I get. Don’t be surprised if I reply to a few of you! 🙂

Happy Decorating!

Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out, Cake Decorating Creator Program, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s important to learn from the ground up to build a foundation, so you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/creator-program. I will see you there!

Watch How-to Make Vanilla Buttercream Video Below:

 

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