The Best Whipped Frosting

If you were to ask my son what his favorite part of a cake or cupcake is, he would instantly and without hesitation proclaim frosting.  Frosting is, by far, his favorite part.  I honestly think I could give him a bowl of frosting and he would be more happy with that than with a cake topped with it.  He will take a cupcake, lick all the frosting off and then give it to me without ever touching the cake part.  I think that probably at least half of you would agree with Tucker on this.  The boy knows the good stuff!

While I enjoy buttercream and cream cheese frosting, I think one of my all-time favorite frostings has to be whipped frosting.  It’s light and airy, sweet without being overly sweet or heavy.  It’s just perfect, in my opinion.  I think frosting should definitely compliment the flavor of the cake without overpowering the cake’s flavor.  The whipped frosting helps achieve just that.

I’ve long been on the hunt for the perfect whipped frosting, and I believe I finally found it!  This frosting truly is “the best whipping frosting” I’ve ever had.  It provides a light, whipped texture and a great  sublty, sweet flavor but is a little more substantial than a regular whipped cream.  It’s smooth, fluffy and the perfect amount of flavor.  It’s the perfect frosting to help balance those rich, dense cakes. 

This frosting is simple and takes little to no time to assemble.  It consists of a few basic ingredients that are pantry staples, meaning no special trip to the store to get this or that.  It starts by making a roux out of milk and flour.  The butter and sugar are beat until light and fluffy, as usual, and then everything is combined and mixed.  Voila, that’s it.  I promise it’s just as easy as it sounds and as delicious as you imagined.       

The Best Whipped Frosting

Ingredients:

1 Cup milk
5 Tbsp flour
2 Tsps vanilla extract
1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

Directions:

Place milk and flour in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk continuously until the mixture begins to bubble lightly.  Keep mixture over heat, continuing to whisk until mixture thickens.  After about 7 minutes the mixture should be finished cooking, it should be the consistency of thick cake batter.  Add vanilla, stir and set aside to coool completely.

Place butter  and sugar in a large bowl, using an electric or stand mixer, beat on high until light and fluffy and almost white in color, about 3 minutes.  The shugar should be completely incorporated into the butter.

Once the milk mixture has completely cooled, combine it with the butter mixture and beat on high until all ingredients are incorporated, about 1 minute.  The texture should resemble whipped cream.

*Makes enough frosting to generously frost a 9 inch layer cake or one dozen cupcakes.

Recipe source: Can You Stay For Dinner originally from Missy Dew on TastyKitchen