How do you improve canned frosting?
This is a question I never thought I would ask!
I tend to be a purest and for years I considered canned frosting to be the devil. But over time the recipes have improved and my time has grown a bit short so I’ve learned a few tips and techniques to help improve canned frosting.
Although it is always rewarding to make cakes and frosting from scratch, there are times when life gets in the way and our available time is constrained. Don’t despair! You can use frosting that was purchased from the store, and with just a little work, you can make it taste almost as good as homemade frosting.
With the help of these frosting hacks, you’ll be able to give the frosting that you bought from the store a more unique look. The following tips and pointers will be of assistance to you in enhancing the quality of frosting that you have purchased from a store in a variety of ways, including the flavor, the texture, the color, and the consistency of the frosting.
Recipes for store-bought frosting can be made more texturally interesting by including fruit, nuts, chocolate, and candies.
You can give icing that you bought from the store an additional texture and flavor by mixing in some of your favorite fruit preserves, nuts, or candies. This is a great way to customize the icing to your tastes. You can use store-bought icing, which works wonderfully with these additions, if you want to add a layer of frosting in between the layers of cake. You can do this by following the instructions on the icing package.
If you plan to pipe the icing, you need to make sure that the texture additions you use are of a size that will allow them to fit through the piping tip. Otherwise, you won’t be able to achieve the desired effect.
Use Sprinkles and Jimmies To Improve Canned Frosting
You can create the appearance of confetti by adding jimmies to your frosting; alternatively, you can create the appearance of confetti cake by adding jimmies to your cake batter.
The jimmies, nonpareils, and sanding sugar that you are working with have the potential to inadvertently color the icing that you are preparing. Make this less likely to occur by gently folding in the sprinkles with a spatula and stopping as soon as they are completely incorporated into the mixture. This can be done to reduce the risk of the occurrence.
Changing the Consistency of Canned Frosting
The frosting that is available for purchase in stores typically has a consistency that is best described as runny. You’ll need to adjust the consistency of your frosting to medium if you want to be able to pipe vertical decorations like roses or flowers, pipe swirls on cupcakes, or ice a cake with it. If you want to use your icing to pipe roses or flowers, you’ll need to change the consistency of your frosting to medium. This is fine for piping borders and other flat decorations, but if you want to use your icing to pipe roses or flowers, you’ll need to change the consistency to medium.
If you want to be able to pipe flowers and make other decorations that stand up straight with your store-bought frosting, you will need to stiffen it first. When making the frosting, gradually incorporate powdered sugar into the mixture using a hand mixer, adding one tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
To use your icing to fill in the spaces between cake layers, to decorate cupcakes, or to crumb coat and ice your cake, the consistency of your icing will need to be adjusted. Other applications include using it as a crumb coating or for icing cakes. While continuing to mix with a hand mixer, add milk a teaspoon at a time, and continue doing so until the frosting can be easily spread.
Putting Your Own Spicy Spin on Store-Bought Frosting – Sure to Improve Canned Frosting
There are a number of straightforward approaches that can be taken in order to elevate the quality of frosting that has been purchased from a store, some of which include the addition of extracts, fruit, or peanut butter. If you want your homemade vanilla icing to have more of a vanilla flavor, you could try adding a half teaspoon of vanilla extract to it and seeing if that helps. This will lead to an increase in that flavor, which is one of the factors that contributes to the fact that homemade icing is so delicious.
If you want to make a tasty frosting that pairs nicely with chocolate or vanilla cake, you can also try adding one teaspoon of your preferred flavored syrup, such as maple, caramel, or raspberry syrup. This will allow you to make a frosting that is delicious and goes well with either cake. This will make for a very tasty combination.
Techniques and Suggestions to Improve Canned Frosting
Add a Pinch of Salt
When it comes to frostings that can be purchased from the store, the majority of them have an unpleasantly high level of sweetness. It is obvious that the frosting was not made at home due to the sweetness of it; therefore, a little trick that I frequently and thoroughly enjoy using is to add a little pinch of salt in order to balance out the sweetness. This is something that I do in order to make the frosting taste more homemade.
I use this trick in almost all of my sugary desserts and baked goods: adding a very small amount of salt helps give your food some depth of flavor, and it also makes things a lot tastier.
Use Color
You can achieve colors that are rich and vibrant by using food coloring in your cooking. It is recommended that one begin the process of making vibrant icing colors by beginning with a bright white store-bought icing to ensure the best possible results. If you want to make black icing, rather than starting with vanilla icing, you should use chocolate icing that you buy from the store.
You can find chocolate icing at most grocery stores or baking supply stores. As a result of this, achieving a color as dark as black will be a great deal less difficult.
Additional Flavor Can Improve Canned Frosting
Always add flavoring, but the amount you use will vary depending on the flavor of frosting you use. To perk up the flavor of your store-bought icing without much effort on your part, simply add one to two teaspoons of vanilla extract to the mixture.
If you are using chocolate icing, one teaspoon of instant coffee powder that has been diluted with one half teaspoon of hot water can be added to the icing to intensify the chocolate flavor.
When using a spiced store-bought frosting, you can either add in 12-1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or 12 teaspoon of cinnamon to accentuate those fall festive flavors. If you are using a spiced store-bought frosting, you can use either of these options.
Try enhancing the flavor of one can of frosting by adding eight ounces of cream cheese and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Your frosting will have a taste that is more velvety and decadent after the addition of cream cheese. Keep in mind that because this combination contains cream cheese, it will require storage in the refrigerator in order to maintain its freshness.
If I want to make my icing thinner, can I use water instead of milk?
If you don’t have any milk on hand, you can certainly substitute water for it. However, milk gives your icing a more robust flavor, so if you can help it, stick with milk whenever you can. It is also possible to use half-and-half, whipping cream, or your preferred alternative to milk in order to reduce the thickness of your frosting; however, you should be aware that doing so may also impart a flavor to the frosting.
How can I give icing that I bought from the store a fluffy texture?
Mixing one 16-ounce can of frosting with one 16-ounce can of frozen whipped cream topping will give your icing a fluffier texture (defrosted). Both ingredients should be mixed together thoroughly using a hand mixer. If you do this, the sweetness of your icing will be reduced, which is beneficial if you’re not a fan of super sweet buttercream.
It is important to keep in mind that if you mix your icing with frozen whipped cream topping, your icing will become extremely soft at room temperature and will need to be stored in the refrigerator.
Is it possible to make a glaze out of store-bought frosting?
Sure! Simply move your frosting to a bowl that can be heated in the microwave. Put it in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds on high. After a thorough stirring, pour the mixture over the cake.
Have you ever used canned frosting in a pinch? If you have any special tips for enhancing store bought frosting, please share them with us below.