Hi, my lovely bakers. I’m back with yet another frosting recipe for you all! Yes! Since I’m on a mission to put out different and numerous frosting options for everyone, I have a unique recipe this time. Ermine Frosting is a light, smooth, fluffy frosting that isn’t too sweet and works well for piping.
Swiss meringue buttercream is one of those frostings which is light as air and so shiny that everyone wants to use it. However, there is one limitation, that is, it’s made using eggs. So naturally, it’s not an option for vegetarian and vegan bakers.
Ermine Frosting is an excellent alternative to Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The texture is very similar as it’s light, just like whipped cream and quite velvety. So, what is it made of if eggs are not used? Ermine frosting is made using cooked flour and milk mixture, which is commonly known as roux paste, along with sugar, vanilla and unsalted butter. Yes, flour in frosting, but trust me, it’s completely cooked, and you won’t even taste it in the end.
Doesn’t it sound interesting? I was overjoyed when I came across this frosting. It’s not very sweet (which generally other buttercream are), and it’s pretty stable for frosting and piping designs.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe?
There are so many reasons why you would want to make this frosting repeatedly.
- It’s Eggless: Getting a smooth, velvety texture without the use of meringue is quite challenging. However, with this recipe, you can easily achieve that. Having that delicious Eggless frosting handy is a great plus for any baker.
- The Texture: Not everyone is a fan of dense buttercream. Most of us like our frosting to be light, airy, smooth, and Silky. That’s how the ermine frosting is. Even though it’s a buttercream but it’s quite airy and fluffy.
- It’s Not Overly Sweet: Another challenge bakers face is when clients ask them to use less sweet frostings. Now be it ganache, whipped cream or American buttercream, all these frostings have a good amount of sweetness which cannot be reduced even if we wanted to. That’s when Ermine frosting can come to your rescue. It’s not too sweet and has a very subtle, soothing flavour, which is pleasant to the palate.
- Customizable: Since it’s made using a basic vanilla flavour, you can always add any other flavour as per your need. You can use any good oil-based essence to make any different flavour and even add gel-based colour as per various themes.
Important Ingredients Used In The Recipe
- Flour: As bizarre as it may sound, flour is one of the significant ingredients in this recipe. Flour is roasted first, and then milk and sugar are added to make a pudding-like paste. This is then cooled down and added to unsalted butter to make the frosting. The flour helps in the thickening of the roux paste, and it makes the frosting stable at room temperature.
- Milk: To get the creamy smooth texture, full-fat milk is used. Milk provides a great richness in flavour and texture to the buttercream.
- Unsalted Butter: Beating softened unsalted butter helps to incorporate air into the butter. This makes the frosting airy and fluffy.
- Castor Sugar: Just like Swiss meringue buttercream, I have used castor sugar in the recipe. This is because it gets cooked with flour and milk; hence it dissolves completely, and no grittiness remains in the end. This also makes it less sweet.
How To Make Ermine Frosting
Preparation: As always, collect your ingredients and tools required for the recipe. The complete list of ingredients with their quantities is given below in the recipe card.
Prepare Roux: To make the roux paste, take flour in a saucepan and roast it a little. It will get aromatic and a little brown once cooked. To this, add the milk whisking continuously using a whisk. It is important here that no flour lumps are left.
Add Sugar and Vanilla Essence: Once the roux paste is made, add the sugar along with the vanilla essence and stir again. Cook until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes a little thick, similar to a pudding.
Cool Down The Mixture: After the mixture is ready, transfer it to a bowl and cover it with cling wrap such that the wrap touches the surface of the mixture. Let this mixture cool down.
Beat Butter: Using an electric hand beater, start beating softened Unsalted butter in a mixing bowl. Keep the speed at a medium pace. Beat until it gets aerated and fluffy.
Add Flour Mixture: Now, add the cooled flour mixture to the beaten butter and continue beating until the entire mixture gets incorporated well into the butter. It should become one homogeneous buttercream.
Chef’s Tips For The Recipe
Important to Cool Flour Mixture
It is crucial that you cool down the cooked flour-milk mixture in the way it is mentioned. If you add a warm or hot mixture to the beaten butter, it will melt the butter, and the frosting will be mushy.
Tip For Roux Paste
When milk is added to the cooked flour, it tends to curdle very quickly. Hence it’s important that you whisk the mixture vigorously and continuously so that no lumps are formed.
How To Store Ermine Frosting
You can easily store the buttercream in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. It is best advisable to make a fresh batch when it is needed and use it immediately.
More Easy Recipes
I’m sure you would want to try our other frostings as well. Here are some-
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Frequently Asked Questions
The origin of the name comes from the animal ermine. It has a Silky soft white layer of fur which resembles the frosting.
It’s pretty simple. All you have to do is add drops of gel-based icing colour when the base frosting is made, I.e., when the flour-milk mixture is thoroughly mixed with unsalted butter. So, in the end, you can add the color and mix again.
It is generally paired with red velvet cakes or cupcakes(if cream cheese frosting is not needed) as the texture and the flavour gel with the cake pretty well. You can always pair it with any other dessert where you require soft, velvety and light vanilla frosting.
