If you give me frosting, I'll give you cake

June 21, 2008 8:22 AM

What is your best frosting recipe that doesn't use confectioners' sugar but does use a liqueur?

I need to make some frosting for a yellow cake, but don't have confectioners' sugar, evaporated milk or condensed milk. I do have white and brown sugar and 1% milk and have found recipes using those, but not any that also incorporate a liqueur (I have some amaretto that I really want to use). So what's your favorite frosting/icing recipe that uses any type of liqueur and doesn't use confectioners' sugar?

posted by Polychrome to food & drink (8 comments total)

Just use the recipes you found and add a little liqueur instead of the milk. It won't take much, probably just a teaspoon or so. Also, consider using butter.
posted by rhizome at 10:02 AM on June 21, 2008

Regular sugar can be turned into a more finely powdered sugar in many blenders, electric spice grinders, etc. Bonus: no cornstarch added.
posted by gimonca at 10:21 AM on June 21, 2008

I don't care for that butter and confectioners' sugar icing myself either. I do like real, classic buttercreams like this or this or the marshmallow-y 7-minute frosting like this one. I'm sure you could add a bit of liqueur to either frosting once it was finished, provided you didn't overdo and make it too wet. That said, real buttercream isn't particularly fast, and even the 7-minute requires more care and attention than butter and confectioners in a mixer. Also, it's worth noting that some people who are used to the confectioners' sugar kind don't like "real" frosting because they think it's slimy.
posted by mostlymartha at 10:22 AM on June 21, 2008

Just a note of caution: make sure you tell people there's alcohol in the frosting before they eat it.
posted by essexjan at 10:43 AM on June 21, 2008

From the front page question, I thought ganache -- cream and chocolate -- to which you can add liqueur of any description. It's wonderful stuff. Dead easy and you can just pour it over the cake and it's beautiful. Might be a no-go if you're trying to come up with something just based on what you have on hand (as I'm getting from the more detailed question).
posted by madmethods at 1:49 PM on June 21, 2008

Seven Minutes White Icing (it requires a double boiler)

2 unbeaten egg whites
5 tablespoons of cold water (split as you like between water and liqueur)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
Bring the water in the bottom part of a double-boiler to a boil. Add all the ingredients in the top part. Beat continuously for seven minutes with a portable electric mixer. It will look shiny with soft peaks.

It will stay soft for few hours, but turn meringue-like later.
posted by francesca too at 2:14 PM on June 21, 2008

Seven minutes white icing is part of my religion. I think if you have a humid climate, it's gets gooey, almost candy linke, instead of meringue-like. Or else using a hand whisk makes that much difference.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:44 PM on June 21, 2008

Swiss Buttercream

(You can add a couple of tablespoons of your liqueur in place of the lemon juice.)

1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.
Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.

On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.

You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream.
posted by idest at 5:03 AM on June 22, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]