This Heritage Frosting recipe is creamy and not overly sweet. It starts with a cooked flour and milk mixture giving it a unique flavor and texture. Such a great alternative to traditional buttercream!
Here we are again! Another Frosting Friday in the books! I am loving this series and hope you are as well. I can already tell it’s going to be a great resource for my site moving forward, mixing and matching cakes to different frostings! Yay for butter and sugar!
SO so many of you have asked about this frosting…requesting something a little less sweet than traditional buttercream.
My mom used to make this frosting whenever she made her Red Velvet cake…which I will be sharing with you guys soon! It happens to be the absolute BEST red velvet cake recipe in all the land and I am just sorry I haven’t shared it with you before!
Anyhow, part of what makes that cake the best is the FROSTING! I have heard this type of frosting called a lot of different things…Cooked Flour Frosting, Boiled Frosting, Magic Frosting, Ermine Frosting…
Anyhow, my mom called it Heritage Frosting, so that’s what I will call it too. The difference in the recipe is that you boil milk and flour together, almost like a gravy, until it’s very thick. This serves as the base of the frosting.
How to Make This Heritage Frosting Recipe
You let it cool completely. You can even do this step ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it!
While you’re cooking the milk and flour, you have to whisk it CONSTANTLY. You do NOT want any lumps, because once they’re there, there’s no turning back…trust me I’ve tried.
Basically you’ll end up with lumpy frosting and that’s just gross. Once the flour mixture is cooled, you mix together butter and sugar.
Here’s where I went a little off-script. My mom’s recipe (and most of the ones I have found online) call for granulated sugar. I have made it that way and it’s good. That’s the way my mom made it, and it’s probably the traditional way to make this frosting. HOWEVER.
This is my website and I get to make the rules. Please feel free to try it with granulated sugar, if you wish… but since I think you come to me for MY favorites, I actually like making this with powdered sugar.
Sorry, it’s just what I prefer.
I feel like the powdered sugar gives it a silkier texture…and actually it’s a little less sweet, in my opinion. I will include the granulated sugar adaptation in the recipe, so you can make your own choice.
Mix the cooled flour mixture in with the butter and sugar until it’s fluffy and silky!
Seriously how gorgeous is that?!
Now, another tip I will give you…
When I was testing this recipe, I made a few batches. One batch I used immediately on a cake and it was amazing. The other batch I saved and refrigerated to use on a cake later that week.
When I was ready to use the frosting, I pulled it out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature. I re-whipped it, so it would be fluffy and creamy. But it just didn’t work. The frosting became thin and curdled-looking…and just kid of goopy.
Anyhow, I tried it again the following week, with the same results. So I don’t recommend making this in advance. I would make it and frost your cake or cupcake the same day. Once it’s on the cake, I had no trouble with the texture, although it does soften up the longer it sits, but it is still completely tasty.
You can absolutely pipe this frosting, but I would not use it for piping flowers or anything you would like to hold a clean shape. I like this best spread on, but that’s just my opinion!
Stay tuned for my Red Velvet Cake recipe!
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Heritage Frosting
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Heritage Frosting recipe is creamy and not overly sweet. It starts with a cooked flour and milk mixture giving it a unique flavor and texture. Such a great alternative to traditional buttercream!
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- In a small saucepan whisk the milk, flour and salt together constantly on medium-low heat until the mixture thickens. You will want it to be the consistently of a very thick gravy.
- Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool completely, stirring occasionally.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter and sugar for 1 minute, or until creamy. Add in the cooled flour mixture and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Frosting will become thick and smooth.
- Use immediately.
Notes
I have never had luck refrigerating this frosting for later use. It tends to separate and get runny when re-whipping. I recommend using immediately.
If you prefer to make this the traditional way, sub out the powdered sugar for 1 cup of granulated sugar. Follow all the instructions the same way.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Scoop
- Calories: 197
- Sugar: 25.9 g
- Sodium: 349.1 mg
- Fat: 8.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.1 g
- Protein: 2.6 g
- Cholesterol: 3.1 mg
Want To Save This Recipe?
I would love to make this. I have a question. Is it possible to reduce the amount of sugar. I do not want my frosting to be too sweet.
I made the icing and it separated almost instantly. The flour / milk mixture was cool and thick. It looked great for 30 seconds and then started to look curdled- I wonder what happened?
Hi there, having made this today and having a lot of experience with buttercream: this probably means your ingredients were too cold! Good news is if you just keep beating the buttercream (for up to 10-15 minutes sometimes!) it will almost certainly come together. On the other hand, sometimes it could mean it’s too warm, in which case just stick it in the fridge for 10 minutes and try again 🙂
try it without the vanilla.
Your recipe notes say that you recommend “using immediately”.
What about leftover cake? Can/should the cake then be stored in the fridge or room temp??
Ahh yes, use immediately, meaning spread on your cake or cupcakes immediately. It will be fine once it’s on your cake… but I ran into problems when I was testing this, when I saved it for later and tried to rewhip it, it became a little soupy. But it will last for days on your cake. It’s strange, but I tested this so many times and that’s what I found!
Love using this frosting…it is so good … I usually use the granulated sugar but tried it with your powdered sugar suggestion and it is yummy! Love it on chocolate cake!! Thanks for the great suggestion!
As always you never fail to deliver. I will be trying this recipe soon…and I LOVE your cupcake liners!
This is new to me! I must try it.
I have a recipe similar to that but I never used salt or all butter. It has a 1/2 cup of butter and a 1/2 cup Crisco. I never have used powdered sugar in it either.
I have tried it with shortening as well! It always turns out great, but I just prefer the butter 🙂
When I make a similar frosting, I add the granulated sugar to the cooked mixture, and pass it through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. This is my go-to frosting when I am out of confectioner’s sugar. It is really good.
Great idea!
I’ve made this frosting for years—to use as a filling for cream puffs! It looks like whipped cream but is so much more stable! 🙂 I can’t wait to try your version with powdered sugar–using the granulated sugar takes forever to get that smooth silky texture. Thank you.
agreed! My mom never whipped it long enough so there were always sugar crystals…which I actually like haha! But for a silky smooth texture, the powdered sugar is my favorite!
Oh my! Your website is such a treat. Just discovered
SO glad you found me!!