Does anyone hate cakes? I don’t think so. I have never met a fellow anywhere who hates cakes. This magical serving is the perfect way of saying, you are special. Birthdays and weddings are never exclusive until everyone gets a share of the ‘cake.’ Here are 3 simple ways on how to make store-bought frostings better.
- Improving The Consistency
- Improving The Color
- Improving On The Texture
What is Frosting?
Frosting (the sugary coating on cakes, but you know that already, right?) is the perfect way of cranking up the taste of cakes. Frosting can either be bought in stores or homemade. Homemade frosting is preferred by most of us due to its superior taste. Sometimes it is not strange to find yourself in a tight situation where buying frosting from the store is the only option that you have got. This does not mean that it should not taste any different from the one you would make yourself at home.Best Store-Bought Frostings
Well, this is pretty obvious. They are normally bought in tubes of various weights and sizes. In any method that you use, you should always have the frosting of the flavor you want. These flavors range from chocolate frosting, mango, orange, vanilla, strawberry and lots of others you may need.
Some of the best and most popular vanilla frostings you can get are Duncan Hines Creamy Vanilla Frosting or Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Sugar Free Vanilla Frosting
For store-bought chocolate frosting, what we recommend is Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Sugar Free Chocolate Fudge Frosting which is sugar-free.
What You Need
A Mixing Bowl
You will eventually need to mix all the ingredients you will be having together. You, therefore, need a large mixing bowl, preferably one made of glass. Glass bowls have the advantage of the ease of cleaning after being used. They also give you the ability to monitor the progress of the different procedures. This is critical when the consistency of color changes have to be tracked or the color is too dark and you have to add more plain white frosting.Measuring Devices
To get the desired final taste, it is important that you add accurate amounts of the ingredients at every stage. You can use measuring spoons and cups at your own convenience. The calibrations should be accurate and easy to read. Imagine adding 5 ml of water when it should be 10 ml. That would end up in a disastrous outcome.Spatula For Mixing
Mixing some ingredients such as sugar into the thick paste requires a stiff spatula to get the job done. A flexible component would be annoying when stirring, ending up in a paste with patches of the ingredients, and that would be bad for baking.A Mixer
This is useful when you now want to mix everything up. Achieving a consistent mixture is mandatory. There are two choices of mixtures, an electric mixer (stand mixer) or a manual one (a hand mixer). Choose the mixer that suits your need and style.
The stand mixer is best suited for large baking where mixing the paste by hand is very tedious. It has higher efficiency, power, and convenient speeds. It is quite expensive though, the hand mixer one is cheaper but does not do the job adequately.
Powdered Sugar/Vanilla extract
For taste, nothing quite does it like sugar. It can turn a less tasty food into a brilliant delicacy. Besides the taste, sugar also helps to thicken the frosting you have just bought in case it is too soft. There are numerous brands of sugar out there that you can use. Powdered sugar is most preferred for this kind of baking. You can also add 1 tsp of vanilla extract or unsweetened cocoa powder prior to adding powdered sugar.Food Coloring
No one likes plain frosting on their cake. You need to color things up to provide more flare. Food coloring that is noncarcinogenic provides a simple solution. You can use distinct colors or mix a couple together to result in a different color. Only your imagination is the limit here. It is advisable to use natural colors for the frosting.Water
If the frosting is thick, use some water to make it thinner. Use clean, drinking water. Apart from water, milk can work perfectly well as a substitute.Fruits
Fruiting up a frosting adds to the ultimate feel-good factor. These can be extracts from the fruits or fruit jam. Orange, vanilla or strawberry are some of the fruits you can use.Cream Cheese
Cheese to the frosting gives it some spiciness. The cheese will also suppress some of the sugary taste of the frosting. Before using any cheese, check the expiry date. You would not want to spoil the taste of the frosting and risk your health by using an expired cheese. [Related Article: How Long Can Cream Cheese Sit Out]Methods Of Making Store Bought Frosting Better
Now that you have everything you might need to improve on your cake frosting, let us get started on some of the ways of doing it. You are going to need your wits too for the best results.Method 1: Improving The Consistency
Consistency refers to how thick or thin the frosting is. Too thin or too thick frost is not ideal for a frosting.Step By Step Instructions:
- Transfer the quantity of frosting you need into the clean glass mixing bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon of confectioner sugar by sprinkling it on to the frosting.
- Stir the mixture for about a minute (you can use the mixer you had chosen earlier on). Adding sugar thickens the mixture.
- Constantly dip the spatula into the mixture to check for the desired uniformity. Stop when you are satisfied.
- If it isn’t, then add ½ teaspoon of sugar at a time and mix until the desired consistency is reached.
- If it becomes too thick, you can add ½ teaspoonful of water or milk to thin it
Method 2: Improving The Color
Do you want to make the frosting “prettier�Well, you can achieve this by adding some food color to it. You would use various colors to correspond to the occasion for which the cake is for. If it is for your daily cake needs, then experimenting with different colors can be fun too.Step By Step Instructions:
- Scoop the store-bought frosting into the clean glass bowl. There is no restriction on the amount of frosting to use. If it is enough for you or can serve the purpose, then use it. Ensure it is consistent by manually mixing it with the spatula.
- Add 2-3 drops of the food colorings to the frosting in the bowl. You can use a few drops of other food colors with a different color to result in a secondary color that you can think of. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s specifications on how to mix different food colors. Some may not be compatible with others.
- Mix the color and the paste using the spatula until the coloration is uniform.
Method 3: Improving On The Texture
A real frosting must have a good texture or richer flavor to go with it. The store-bought frostings could be too sugary or with a little sugar. Too much sugar is unhealthy for you. Too little of it isn’t great either. It is the purpose of cream cheese and fruit extracts to better the taste.Step By Step Instructions:
- If the cream has hardened, place it on the counter so that it softens.
- Cut out about 8 Oz of the cheese and transfer it to the bowl. Thoroughly mix it with the frosting
- For more flavor, add 2-3 drops of the fruit extracts to the paste and mix thoroughly.
There are additional flavours that you can give your frosting. To make it more spreadable and fluffy, you can also add room temperature butter to your frosting and mix it well.
You can use strawberry fruits and even crushed chocolate biscuits. Here is where your instincts come in. As you experiment once in a while, try out different flavors.
Piping techniques
You have now improved the taste and consistency. It is now time to apply it to the cake. There are various techniques that you can use. This also creates a pattern on the cake if you so wish to. When properly done, the cake may look like it has been made by a professional.
- Star piping techniques: The piping has a star tip from where the frosting exists.
- Swirling techniques: This serves to decorate the cake as you so wish.
- Sprinkling techniques: This is used to add more flare to the cakes. Colourful sprinkles on the frosting add more beauty to the cakes and cupcakes.
Extra Frosting Tip
If you want your store-bought frosting to double in size, whip it in the electric mixer. As the air gets into the mixture, the frosting expands. As soon as it doubles in size, stop the whipping. Lumps would otherwise form in the frosting.Is icing and frost the same
In general terms, frosting will be fluffy and thick which we will normally used it to coat the outside and also inner layers of a cake. Icing however will be thinner and glossier frequently used for detailed decorating.Â
Some of the more popular brand of store-bought icing would be Wilton Creamy White Decorator Icing