Fluffy Cooked Flour Buttercream Frosting

Lately, the kiddies have been complaining that frosting/icing on cakes have been too sweet.  I am glad that they told me.  It explains why they only eat two bites of a store-bought cake and leave the rest for me and hubby to finish.  It is a difficult task when we go to birthday parties, and my 3 kiddies leave their barely touched cakes for me to finish! 

It was so nice to stumble across "the Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling" from OurBestBites. This cooked flour frosting uses considerably less sugar (1/2 cup) than conventional buttercream (about 2 cups).  I had to try it!  It is very fluffy and not too sweet.  It is best made fresh to preserve its creamy fluffiness.  If refrigerated, the butter content will solidify in the fridge, and the frosting will get firm.  It didn't bother us, as they were quickly devoured cold from the fridge without any complaints. 

A cooked paste (roux) is made from flour and milk over the stove and then cooled.

The milk and flour was cooked over the stove over medium heat. Make sure there are no lumps.  Notice how runny it is.  

When the flour gets cooked, it becomes a thick paste.  Remove from heat and place in a bowl to cool. 

Cover the flour paste with clear plastic wrap and refrigerate to prevent the being formed on top.  Make sure it is completely cooled so the butter will not melt when it is added.   The cooled flour/milk paste is added to butter and sugar and then it is whipped for approximately 6-8 minutes until a fluffy frosting develops.

Instead of vanilla extract, I used lemon extract and a few drops of yellow food colouring.  I piped this frosting with a Wilton 1M tip on top of a simple vanilla cupcake.  I knew it was pretty good when the kiddies inhaled their cupcakes and my son wanted another one!  I asked him if it was too sweet and he said it was "SO GOOD"! 

[edited January 16, 2013] By request, I pulled out my digital scale and converted my Canadian "cup" measurements to weight in grams and ounces.  The recipe below has the ingredients by weight now!  

Fluffy Cooked Flour Buttercream Frosting
- lightly frosts 12 cupcakes 

3 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plain flour
1/2 cup homo milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup butter (I used 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup granulated (caster) sugar (not powdered sugar) (I used 1/3 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavour you wish (I used lemon extract)

- optional food colouring (I used 2 drops of yellow)

OR

Converted the recipe to units by weight:
3/4 oz (23g) plain flour
4 oz (110g) full-fat milk (I used 1%)
4 oz (110g) butter (I used approx 65g)
3 1/2oz (95g) caster sugar (not powdered sugar) (I used 65g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavour you wish (I used lemon extract)
- optional food colouring (I used 2 drops of yellow)

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.

Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring with a rubber spatula, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan.   Continue to cook until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding or paste.

Put  mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it’s fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don’t want it warm at all. As it’s cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top.

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You’ll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer if you have one, instead of the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Mixture will separate and look messy, keep beating!  Continue beating until mixture comes together and is light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes, but time varies.  Take a sample of frosting between your fingers; frosting is done when light and fluffy and sugar granules are dissolved.

- Adapted from "Our Best Bites:  the Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling".  

 Enjoy!