Old-Fashioned Chocolate Icing and Filling – A Retro Recipe Test - Mid-Century Menu (2024)

FAQs

How do you make frosting taste like bakery? ›

Whip the frosting with half a block of cream cheese and an extra cup of powdered sugar and a few drops of the appropriate flavoring extract. If you're using chocolate, add cocoa powder. If you want a richer buttery flavor add a few tablespoons of butter as well.

For some rough guidelines I recommend 1/4 cup cocoa powder for every 2 cups of frosting and 3 ounces melted chocolate for every cup of frosting. Use a good quality dark chocolate, with a high proportion of cocoa solids, for a strong chocolatey taste.

Raid your pantry for flavor boosters.

Other smooth ingredients that you can add to amp up a canned frosting are peanut butter (or any nut butter of your choosing), fruit preserves or jam, nutella, marshmallow creme, cookie butter, or a citrus curd.

If you are making a chocolate frosting, adding more cocoa powder is a great option for thickening it. The technique is basically the same as if you were thickening with powdered sugar, but you want to use a smaller quantity of cocoa powder than icing sugar. Try adding just 1 to 2 teaspoon at a time.

Empty the canned frosting into a large mixing bowl. Whip the frosting using an electric mixer (either hand mixer or stand mixer) for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy and doubled in size. It's ready! Decorate twice as many cupcakes, cakes, and cookies with ease thanks to this canned frosting hack.

"You can add so many different ingredients to your canned frosting to take it to the next level," says dessert and food blogger Melissa Johnson of Best Friends For Frosting. "Mixing in cream cheese, whipped cream, lemon zest, or even Nutella can make such a difference."

Flavor or color will add some pop

While some methods used to improve store-bought frosting require whipping or heating, an easy way to enhance this product is to just stir in some extra flavor or color. A fork will work, or you can choose to use a hand mixer to evenly incorporate the flavoring more quickly.

Adding Flavor to Store-Bought Frosting

Adding extracts, fruit or peanut butter are some of the easiest ways to take your store-bought frosting up a notch! To give your vanilla icing that homemade taste, try mixing in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Most commercial bakeries are using a buttercream made with shortening rather than butter, because it is more stable, especially if it gets warm.

What type of frosting do professional bakers use? ›

Swiss meringue buttercream is probably the most standard buttercream for pastry professionals. It is incredibly smooth, making it an extremely popular choice for icing cakes.

Swiss meringue buttercream is a favorite among many cake decorators because of its smooth finish on the outside cakes and its ability to hold piping detail.

Icing is a major component of most desserts and baked goods. It is often used within cakes as an added layer of moisture and flavor but is also commonly used atop cakes, cupcakes, and other such goodies to add flavor and an aesthetically pleasing element.