Surprise and Delight Your Family and Friends by Making Beautiful and Creative Icing for Your Cake - Simple Recipes for Preparing Great Icing Quickly and Important Factors to Keep in Mind. (2020)

Vanilla Icing:

Ingredients:

• Vanilla extract – 1 tbsp
• Whole milk – ¾ cup
• Softened butter – ¾ cup
• Confectioners’ sugar – 12 cups

Method:

• Combine milk, vanilla, butter and sugar. Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture is fluffy and smooth. The icing can be used on cupcakes or cakes.

Buttercream Icing:

Ingredients:

• Confectioners’ sugar – 2 cups
• Vanilla extract – 1½ tsp
• Softened unsalted butter – ½ cup
• Milk – 2 tbsp
• Food colouring – 3 drops (optional)

Method:

• Cream butter using a hand mixer or a wooden spoon until fluffy and smooth. Gradually, incorporate confectioner’s sugar into the mixture and beat well. Add in vanilla extract.
• Add milk and beat for another 3 to 4 minutes. Finally, add food colouring and beat for a few seconds.

Cream Cheese Icing:

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting for Cupcakes:

• Cream cheese – 226 grams (room temperature)
• Salted butter – 86 grams (6 tbsp)
• Powdered sugar – 460 grams (4 cups)
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting for Cakes:

• Cream cheese – 452 grams (16 oz)
• Butter – 172 grams (¾ cup)
• Powdered sugar – 1,150 grams (10 cups)
• Vanilla extract – 2 tsp

Method:

• Add butter and cream cheese in a bowl and beat until both the ingredients combine well.
• Add half the quantity of powdered sugar into the mixture and beat until it is smooth.
• Add in vanilla extract and the remaining powdered sugar. Mix until all the ingredients combine well. You can vary the amount of powdered sugar depending on the required consistency.

Vegan Vanilla Icing:

Vegan Vanilla Icing is creamy, velvety, smooth and deliciously sweet. It is a recipe that uses just 4 ingredients and is perfect for cookies, cupcakes and cakes.

Ingredients:

• Powdered sugar – 450 grams (3¾ cups)
• Vegan butter – 45 grams (3 tbsp)
• Soy milk – 60 ml (4 tbsp)
• Vanilla extract – 2 tsp

Method:

• Mix together vegan butter, half the quantity of soy milk, powdered sugar and vanilla in a bowl.
• Beat the mixture with an electric mixer starting with low speed and then increasing the speed. Add the remaining soy milk and blend slowly until you get a thick and smooth mixture. The consistency should be thick enough to spread easily.

Tips:

• You can use almond milk or any other non-dairy milk instead of soy milk.
• To get the desired consistency, you can vary the amount of soy milk. Also, the water content is high in some of the vegan butters, which can make the icing too runny. So, make sure to use only as required. If you end up with a very thin icing then add powdered sugar to get the desired consistency.

Ingredients:

• Powdered sugar – 1 cup
• Milk – 2 – 3 tbsp
• Vanilla – 1 tsp

Method:

• Combine all the above ingredients in a bowl and whip it until you get smooth and fluffy mixture.

Tips:

• Ensure that your cookie icing doesn’t run, cool the cookies before icing them.
• You can adjust the consistency by varying the amount of milk you add.

Ingredients:

• Egg whites – 160 grams
• Powdered sugar – 690 grams (6 cups)
• Lemon juice – 2 tsp.

Method:

• Use bain-marie and heat treat the eggs for about 2 to 3 minutes. Make sure to whisk constantly. Heat the egg-whites until they are just warm. This method will get rid of any potential bacteria and makes them safe to use.
• Beat the egg-whites using whisking attachment in a large bowl for about two minutes or until foamy.
• Now gradually add in sugar into the egg-whites along with lemon juice.
• Whisk at a high speed to get a thick and smooth icing mixture.
• At this stage, the icing is just right to be used on the cookies. You can add more sugar to make it stiff to get the desired consistency.
• Cling wrap the bowl and make sure there is no air in it to prevent the icing from hardening.
• This icing is adequate to use for one large cake.

Coconut Oil:

Coconut oil solidifies below the room temperature and hence a great choice to replace margarine or butter. However, it gives a nutty coconut flavour to your icing. Also, if it is stored at a warm temperature or not prepared correctly, there is a possibility that it could separate. So, the trick here is to solidify the coconut oil before using it in the recipe. Cool the cake completely before icing on it and once done put the cake back in the fridge until it is time to serve.

Ingredients:

• Coconut oil – ½ cup
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• Confectioner’s sugar – 2 cups

Method:

• Melt the coconut oil in a microwave or a double boiler.
• Beat sugar, vanilla extract and coconut oil in a bowl with an electric mixer and blend them to get the desired consistency.

Tips:

• To get a rich flavour, yet retain the nutty flavour, you can use ¼ cup coconut oil and ¼ cup butter.
• You can use unrefined or refined coconut oil.

Cream Cheese Icing without Butter:

This icing is fluffy, light, delicious and creamy. It is an effortless and simple recipe that you can make in just 10 minutes. It is perfect for cakes and cupcakes.

Ingredients:

• Cream cheese – 450 grams
• Powdered sugar – 500 grams
• Whipping cream – 2 tbsp
• Cornstarch – 2 tbsp
• Lemon juice – ½ tsp
• Vanilla extract – 1 tbsp
• Salt – ½ tsp

Method:

• Bring the cream-cheese to room temperature and mix it with whipping cream, salt and lemon juice in a bowl.
• Beat this mixture on medium speed until it turns fluffy and light.
• Gradually add powdered sugar until you have used two cups of it.
• Finally add vanilla extract.
• Continue mixing on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes. At this stage, check for consistency. If it is stiff add a tbsp of whipping cream and if it is too soft you can add more sugar to it.
• The frosting becomes lighter if you whip more similar to whipped cream frosting.

Tips:
Different Flavors of Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Lemon Flavor – Use 1 tbsp of lemon juice for fresh cream. You can add more if you want a flavour similar to tart buttercream.
• Chocolate – Mix 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and powdered sugar before blending the ingredients together.
• Peppermint – Use 1 tsp of peppermint extract in place of vanilla extract.
• Caramel – Instead of fresh cream add thick caramel sauce about ¼ cup in the final stage. The consistency of this icing will be soft, so piping firm swirls will be difficult. Also, the frosting will be rather sweet.
• Maple – Use Maple syrup in place of cream. The icing is absolutely delicious.

• Cake Pans – The most crucial thing to make pretty cakes. Professional pans have straight sides, which keep the cake straight when they are stacked one on top of the other.
• Parchment Paper – This is the best baking friend, as it helps in perfect release of your baked item every time. Also, it is useful while covering the cake with fondant.
• Turntable – Decorating a cake is not possible without this tool. Though a platter or plate can be used for this purpose, it limits the range of motion while icing. So, this tool is an essential companion that is useful for almost everything from crumb coating, filling to decorating.
• Scrapers and Spatulas – If you want a cake that is precisely decorated then using just any spatula found in your kitchen is not acceptable. To get a smooth covering for your cakes whether it is ganache or buttercream, you need a specially angled icing spatula that is designed specifically to apply icing on a dessert. A multi-purpose metal scraper is another useful tool that you will need for frosting purpose.