Ermine Frosting is made by cooking milk, sugar, and flour into a roux. This roux is then added to whipped butter, which creates a rich and creamy, yet light, airy, and fluffy buttercream that is less sweet than traditional buttercreams.
Often referred to as boiled milk frosting or flour frosting, this is no new buttercream. It has been here for many years, but recently has gained some renewed popularity.
So, yes, this is an old-fashion buttercream. I grew up calling this boiled flour frosting until I became a professional cake decorator. My mom would make this for cupcakes. In fact, it was often her default for cupcakes. Because it is light, airy, very fluffy, and best of all, less sweet than American buttercream.
Today, I am frosting my white cake recipe with it. And yet, you can use this on any of my cupcakes or cake recipes. Red velvet is absolutely delicious with this frosting and so is my moist chocolate cake. So, here's another addition to my 50 plus frosting recipes on this blog.
About this ermine frosting
The process may sound weird, but if you've made a roux, pudding, or custard before, then it's very similar. Cooking milk, sugar, and flour becomes a thickening agent that then emulsifies with the butter to create this creamy, velvet-like light and airy frosting.
Unlike meringue buttercream, this one does not have eggs, so it's also an eggless frosting.
What does ermine frosting taste like?
Absolutely delicious. It has the texture of whipped cream. Smooth, creamy, and yet light, airy, and fluffy. The best part is that it is less sweet than traditional frostings. And yet, you certainly can add a little more sugar if you want.
What can you do with this frosting?
There is so much you can do with ermine frosting. And yet, there are limitations to its uses. For example:
- You can use it to fill and frost cakes and cupcakes.
- It works great to pipe borders and patterns on the cake.
- But, you cannot pipe buttercream flowers as the frosting is too soft. For that, you will still have to use my stiff buttercream for making flowers.
- Ermine frosting is perfect on the day it is made. After that, the flour in the frosting thickens and you end up with lumpy frosting.
- This is not the frosting to use under fondant. It's too soft even after you chill it it does not become hard.
Step by step instructions (pin)
Roux
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour, salt, and milk.
- Place over medium-low heat stirring constantly.
- Until you have a thick smooth paste - about 5 to 7 mins.
- Set aside to cool completely.
Frosting
- Place butter in a mixer bowl and whip until smooth.
- Gradually add the boiled milk paste - one tablespoon at a time.
- Once all the milk paste has been added, whip the buttercream for 2 full minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and any other flavoring if desired.
Frosting a cake
- This frosting is best used when just made as it's smooth and creamy.
- If it is too soft, place it in the fridge for a few minutes, then re-whip it again.
- Use an offset spatula for the top and a bench scraper to smooth the sides of the cake.
adapted from - Wilton
Frequently asked questions
Once frosted, the cakes and cupcakes with Ermine frosting will keep in the fridge for three to four days. The frosting will keep in the fridge for up to a week. You will need to bring it to room temperature and re-whip it.
This frosting will keep at room temperature for a day, after that it will need to be kept in the fridge because it does contain milk.
I believe you can freeze this frosting for up to a month in a freezer-safe bags. You will need to thaw it in the fridge overnight then re-whip it before using it.
Yes, you can. But, since the buttercream is not stiff, you want to use thick or powdered flavoring such as fruit powders. If you add liquid fruit, the frosting will be too soft to spread or pipe.
Yes, you can add an additional ½ cup sugar to the roux or you can add a few tablespoons of powdered sugar later if you need it sweeter.
Absolutely, but its best to use food gel colors not liquid colors so it does not affect the consistency of the frosting.
Yes, you can make the milk paste or roux up to 2 days in advance. But, make sure to cover with a cling wrap touching the surface of the roux to prevent a skin from forming.
Troubleshooting
My Ermine frosting is too soft?
If the butter is too soft or the roux is too warm, it will cause the butter to melt and become soft. This often happens in hot and humid conditions. Don't worry, just place it in the fridge for a few minutes - then re-whip again. Depending on how warm the mixture gets you my need to chill it a few times.
Another reason it can be soft, is if you have not cooked the roux until it's thick like this. A very liquid roux can make the buttercream soft. See the consistency of the roux when it is cooled to room temperature. This is what you want.
My buttercream is curdled
This can happen in a few circumstances:
- If you add warm roux to cold butter it will curdle not cream.
- Also, if you add cold roux to cold butter it will result in curdling. Work at a similar temperature.
- And, of course, if the try to re-whip cold frosting it will curdle because this one has flour which kinda sets the buttercream.
My frosting is greasy
Adding warm roux to warm butter will cause the frosting to become greasy. Chill it then re-whip it.
How to flavor Ermine frosting
The frosting is soft, so its best to use fruit powders instead of fruit purees.
- Chocolate - Add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to make a chocolate Ermine frosting. Add at the end of the whipping.
- Add 2 tbsp fruit powder such as strawberry, raspberry, berry at the end of the final whipping.
- Peanut butter - you can use ¼ cup peanut butter but it will make the frosting softer.
- Others - you can add 50 grams of melted chocolate, ¼ cup caramel sauce, dulce de leche, lemon curd. It will make the frosting softer (still delicious).
How much buttercream frosting do I need for my cake?
This is a general guide I use for my cakes. Note I have given you the filling and frosting separately so you can choose to use other filling with your buttercream. If you choose to fill and frost the cake with this - you can use the last column/total. The amount is in cups - 1 kgs frosting makes about 8 cups
| Round | Square | Layers | Filling | Frosting | Total |
| 6-inch | 5-inch | 2 | 1.5 C | 2.5 C | 4.5 C |
| 8-inch | 6-inch | 2 | 2 C | 4 C | 6 C |
| 9-inch | 7-inch | 2 | 2.5 C | 5 C | 7.5 C |
| 10-inch | 8-inch | 2 | 3 C | 6 C | 9 C |
| 12-inch | 10-inch | 2 | 5 C | 8 C | 13 C |
| 14-inch | 12-inch | 2 | 7 C | 10 C | 17 C |
| Sheet | 9x13x2 | 1 | 2 C | 5 C | 12 C |
| Tube | 9-inch | 1 | 4 C | 4 C | |
| Cupcake | 12 | 3 C | 3 C |
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Ermine Frosting - Boiled Milk Frosting
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Ingredients
Enough for 12 cupcakes or 2 x 6-inch layer cake
- 1 cup (200 g) Sugar
- ½ cup (60 g) All-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) Milk full-fat
- 8 oz (227 g) Butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Roux
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour, salt, and milk.
- Place over medium-low heat stirring constantly.
- Until you have a thick smooth paste about 5 to 7 mins.
- Set aside to cool completely.
Frosting
- Place butter in a mixer bowl and whip until smooth.
- Gradually add the boiled milk paste - one tablespoon at a time.
- Once all the milk paste has been added, whip the buttercream for 2 full minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla and any other flavoring if desired.
Recipe Notes
- Cook the milk paste on medium-low heat so the milk does not get burnt. Burt milk frosting does not taste good.
- You want the paste to cook until thick like toothpaste consistency. If it is too liquid the frosting will be soft and not hold up.
- Use room temperature butter but not too soft. You want the butter to whip creamy consistency so the paste will emulsify not break (see troubleshooting)
What you can and cannot do with Ermine frosting.
- You can use it to fill and frost cakes and cupcakes
- It works great to pipe borders and patterns on the cake
- But, you cannot pipe buttercream flowers as the frosting is too soft. For that, you will still have to use my stiff buttercream for making flowers
- Ermine frosting is perfect on the day it is made. After that, the flour in the frosting thickens and you end up with lumpy frosting.
- This is not the frosting to use under fondant. It's too soft even after you chill it it does not become hard.
How to flavor Ermine frosting
The frosting is soft so its best to use fruit powders instead of fruit purees- Chocolate - Add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to make a chocolate Ermine frosting. Add at the end of the whipping
- Add 2 tbsp fruit powder such as strawberry, raspberry, berry at the end of the final whipping
- Peanut butter - you can use ¼ cup peanut butter but it will make the frosting softer.
- Others - you can add 50 grams of melted chocolate, ¼ cup caramel sauce, dulce de leche, lemon curd. It will make the frosting softer (still delicious)
How much buttercream frosting do I need?
This is a general guide I use for my cakes. Note I have given you the filling and frosting separately so you can choose to use other filling with your buttercream. If you choose to fill and frost the cake with this - you can use the last column/total. The amount is in cups - 1 kgs frosting makes about 8 cups| Round | Square | Layers | Filling | Frosting | Total |
| 6-inch | 5-inch | 2 | 1.5 C | 2.5 C | 4.5 C |
| 8-inch | 6-inch | 2 | 2 C | 4 C | 6 C |
| 9-inch | 7-inch | 2 | 2.5 C | 5 C | 7.5 C |
| 10-inch | 8-inch | 2 | 3 C | 6 C | 9 C |
| 12-inch | 10-inch | 2 | 5 C | 8 C | 13 C |
| 14-inch | 12-inch | 2 | 7 C | 10 C | 17 C |
| Sheet | 9x13x2 | 1 | 2 C | 5 C | 12 C |
| Tube | 9-inch | 1 | 4 C | 4 C | |
| Cupcake | 12 | 3 C | 3 C |
Equipment
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Beth
I am decorating a wedding cake in two weeks (in Hungary, where I live). I really want to use this frosting recipe, because my Hungarian friends asked for the frosting not to be too sweet. I have never made this kind of frosting, and I have a few questions:
1) I am planning to make the frosting ahead of time, or at least the pudding part. I will need to decorate the cake on a Friday, take it to the reception location, and leave it there until the Saturday evening. I don't know for sure yet, but I am assuming it will not be possible to refrigerate it. (And maybe not even preferable, if it will make it too stiff?) Will the frosting be okay at room temperature from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon/evening. (It's the first weekend of November, so I am assuming it will not be hot, unless the restaurant starts running their furnace.)
2) Have you ever used sugar lace on ermine frosting? Since this recipe doesn't have egg white or meringue powder, I assume it will not get the dry-ish surface of buttercream made with meringue powder. Will the sugar lace stick to this frosting on it's own? Would the sugar lace dissolve on this type of icing? Should I put the lace on on Friday, or wait until Saturday?
3) How many cups of finished frosting does this recipe make? I need to cover a 2-layer 14" cake, a 2-layer 10" cake, and a 2-layer 7" cake. (I found a website that provided estimates on how much frosting is needed for different sizes, and it added up to 29 cups.) I don't plan to do much extra piping, probably just some kind of small border around the top and bottom edge of each cake, with the sugar lace applied on the sides.
I'm a hobby cake baker/decorator, with many years of experience, but this is only my second actual wedding cake, (besides two other wedding-style cakes for 25th anniversaries), so I'm trying to make sure I get as much info as possible. Also, I have pretty limited time right now, so I can't afford to make mistakes or have to re-do anything. Haha! 🙂 I do plan to make a sample batch of the icing this week, so that I learn what it's like, and can see how it reacts to being left out vs. refrigerated.
Thank you for any help you can give!
Veena Azmanov
Beth.
1. This frosting is made with milk so I would not keep it out of the fridge for hours. It's better to be safe than sorry. This buttercream will stay at room temperature for 6 hours unless it is hot.
2. The recipe is for a 6-inch cake with 12 servings. If you don't use too much frosting you can even use it for an 8-inch round. You are making 134 servings (that's 14" is 78. 10" is 38 and 7" is 18 servings) If you change the serving size in the recipe card it will calculate the recipe for you. (you can check the cake servings chart here )
3. This makes about 4 cups of frosting.
tashi gordon
week 2 day 3
Bonita
Hi there can you use half shortening and half butter ?
Veena Azmanov
Bonita. I have not tried with shortening. But it should work.
Nk
Can I freeze ermine frosted cakes and if so how to defrost them ?
Veena Azmanov
Yes you can freeze this frosting for up to a month. Any frosting must be thawed in the fridge not counter
Elise
I'm planning to make this frosting for the first time this weekend. It sounds delicious! All the descriptions I read compare it to whipped cream, so I'm a little nervous about being able to get the sides of my cake smooth like you have in your picture. Any tips or tricks for how you did that? With ABC I sometimes smooth sides once they are chilled with a clean damp towel, but it looks like that won't work for this.
Thanks!
Veena Azmanov
Elise. I have a video on how to level, torte and frost a cake. I hope you find those tips and tricks
Emilee
This frosting is so delicious! Mine ended up with a few tiny lumps of the milk paste in it. The butter was whipped smooth and the paste was smooth when I added it to the butter. Any ideas why it would've clumped once it was whipped with the butter?
This is a frosting I want to perfect! The flavor is amazing!
Veena Azmanov
Emilee. Here are a few things to consider
Was the milk paste lumpy when you added it to the buttercream?
Or did you perhaps not cover it with plastic on the surface? That can cause tiny lumps. Or
Did you cook the paste too long so it clumped up as it cooled? (this is unlikely but possible)
If you look at the video for this recipe you will see the paste is soft and smooth - no lumps.
Carrie Robinson
I have never heard of this type of frosting before, but it looks perfect! 🙂
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Carrie
Toni
I loved it! So easy to make! Thank you for sharing!
Veena Azmanov
You are very welcome Toni
Kushigalu
What an interesting frosting recipe. I haven't try it this way. Thanks for sharing
Veena Azmanov
You are welcome Kushi. I hope you try this one
Pam
How beautiful is this and easy to work with too! I love that it's less sweet than typical buttercream.
Veena Azmanov
Yes, it is less sweet than traditional buttercreams
Kimberly
Would this work with almond flour as a substitute? I'm always trying to make new desserts for our gluten free loved ones but most of us find buttercream to be too sweet(as you said) so I'm hoping this recipe works. Either way I'm excited to make this for myself as-is, it sounds wonderful! Will share updates later once completed 😁
Veena Azmanov
Hey Kimberly, I have not tried it with almond flour but I think any gluten-free flour like cornstarch or tapioca will work as well. If you do try let me know. Thanks