Ermine Frosting is an easy and delicious buttercream made with flour, sugar, milk, and butter. It may sound a little strange but, trust me, it’s delicious!
I may never go back to Swiss Meringue Buttercream again.
I can’t believe I’m saying that, but it’s true! And I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to try Ermine buttercream. I don’t know why I thought it would be complicated to get right. It’s the easiest frosting I’ve made aside from American buttercream.
What Is Ermine Frosting?
Ermine Frosting is an old fashioned French-inspired buttercream recipe. It’s also known as flour buttercream, heritage frosting, or boiled milk frosting.
The first step is cooking the flour, sugar, and milk into a thick paste (or roux). The texture is similar to pudding.
Once that’s cooled, you add it to your whipped butter… and that’s it! Super easy and delicious. The frosting is silky smooth and not too sweet.
Ermine buttercream was traditionally the frosting used on a Red Velvet Cake, though cream cheese frosting is more popular with it these days.
How to make Ermine Frosting
Making flour buttercream is very simple. The process is similar to that of German Buttercream, but it requires fewer steps.
STEP #1 – MAKE THE ROUX/Pudding
Place the flour, sugar, and salt into a medium pot. Whisk to combine.
Add milk and vanilla.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. Continue cooking while stirring constantly for 1-2 more minutes until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency.
Step #2 – Cover and Cool
Pour into a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to room temperature.
You can make this a day in advance and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature again before using in the buttercream.
If you’d like to cool it faster you can pour it onto a plate instead and cover it in plastic wrap. Or pop it into the fridge once it’s cooled a bit. But be sure it bring it to room temperature if it gets too cold.
STEP #3 – BEAT BUTTER UNTIL PALE & FLUFFY
Whip it for a good 3+ minutes on high. I use a paddle attachment because I like that mine scrapes the sides of the bowl, but you can use the whisk attachment if you prefer.
STEP #4 – ADD FLOUR MIXTURE
Slowly add the (room temperature) flour mixture, about 1 Tbsp at a time, while the butter is whipping. This is kind of like adding butter to a Swiss meringue buttercream. Incorporate it slowly.
STEP #5 – WHIP UNTIL FLUFFY AND SMOOTH
Once all of the mixture is incorporated, whip the buttercream on high for 2-3 minutes until it is smooth and fluffy. Add any other flavorings.
If you feel like your buttercream is too soft at this point (mine was), pop the whole bowl into the fridge for 20-30mins (or freezer for 10mins) and give it a good rewhip.
It should be perfectly pipeable.
Flavoring Flour Buttercream
You have a few options when it comes to flavoring the buttercream. You can infuse the milk — I talk about this a bit in my Pastry Cream post — or you can add flavor at the end. Here are some options:
Add either to the milk mixture before cooking or to the buttercream at the end:
- 1/4 cup freeze-dried berry powder
- 1/4 cup peanut butter powder
- 2 Tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Add to the buttercream at the end:
- 6 oz cooled, melted chocolate (will make the buttercream softer)
- 2 Tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tsp hot water (cool before adding)
- 1/4 cup caramel or dulce de leche (will make the buttercream softer)
- 1/4 cup lemon curd (will make the buttercream softer)
Another option for lemon or any other citrus is to beat the butter with 1 Tbsp citrus zest before adding the pudding.
Does Ermine Frosting need to be Refrigerated?
Like most buttercreams, Ermine frosting will be fine at room temperature for a day or so; beyond that, it should be refrigerated.
I like to store mine in an airtight container in the fridge, but if I’m freezing it I spread the buttercream on a large sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it up, flatten it, and place it in a freezer bag.
Bring it to room temperature and give it a good rewhip before use. Be sure it’s completely at room temperature (but not too soft) before rewhipping. See troubleshooting section below if you run into issues.
Troubleshooting Ermine Buttercream
Ermine frosting is easy to make, but you can run into issues with it at times. As with all buttercream recipes, it’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature (but not too warm/soft) or this can wreak havoc on your buttercream.
Here are some common problems as well as my tips and suggestions on how to avoid/fix them:
- My frosting is too soft. This happens either if your butter is too soft or the flour mixture was still warm. Pop the whole bowl and whisk into the fridge for 20mins (or freezer for 10mins) and rewhip. Depending on how warm it was, you may need a couple of sessions in the fridge.
- My frosting is curdled. If your butter or flour mixture are too cold, this can cause the buttercream to curdle. If you keep whipping it, it will come together.
- My buttercream still looks curdled. If whipping didn’t get it to come together, you need to warm it up a bit. You can do this by either placing the bowl briefly over a pot with 1-2″ simmering water, or warm the sides of the bowl with a hairdryer. You can also try to microwave 1/4 cup of the buttercream for a few seconds then drizzle it back into the buttercream with the mixer until it comes together.
- It’s too sweet. You can add a bit more salt to help cut the sweetness, or cut back on the sugar next time you make it.
- The buttercream gets hard in the fridge. This is normal. Just like the butter it’s made from, it will firm up to the consistency of butter in the fridge. When you let it come to room temperature it will soften again.
- It tastes too buttery. The buttercream should be light and fluffy, not thick and greasy. If yours tastes like you’re eating a stick of butter, it probably just needs some more whipping.
Ermine Frosting FAQ
- Can I make it in advance? Yes. The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and rewhip before using.
- How do I make it more/less sweet? You can reduce or add sugar to the recipe if you’d like to adjust the sweetness. You can also add powdered sugar at the end to add more sweetness or stiffen it up. It will change the texture though.
- How do I flavor it? Refer to the Flavoring Flour Buttercream section above.
- Can I color it? Yes! Just add color like you would to any buttercream recipe. I recommend color gels or powder for best results.
- Can I make it Gluten-free? Yes. Just use your favorite GF flour blend.
Ermine buttercream is perfect for those of you who don’t like the sweetness/gritty texture of American buttercream but want something a little easier than a meringue buttercream.
It is a little softer than meringue buttercreams, but I found it very easy to work with and easy to pipe. You just might need to chill it for a bit if you find it too soft.
The buttercream has a yellow tint to it due to the butter, but you can check out this post on How to Make White Buttercream.
I’m so excited for you guys to try this one. Let me know how you like it!
Looking for more tutorials?
- How to Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- How to Make German Buttercream (Custard Buttercream)
- How To Make Ganache
- How to Make Pastry Cream
- How to Bake Flat Cakes
- How to Make White Buttercream
Tips for making this Ermine Frosting
- This recipe makes enough to frost and decorate a two-layer 8″ cake or a three-layer 6″ cake.
- Make sure your flour mixture and butter are both at room temperature before combining.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cake Layers post!
Ermine Frosting (Flour Buttercream)
Ingredients
Ermine Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- other flavoring optional (see Notes)
Instructions
Ermine Buttercream:
- Place sugar, flour, and salt into a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine.
- Add milk and vanilla, stir to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. Continue cooking while stirring constantly for 1-2 more minutes until the mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. Remove from heat.
- Pour into a bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top of to prevent a skin from forming.
- Cool to room temperature.*
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the (room temperature) butter on high until pale and fluffy (3 mins).
- Add the (room temperature) pudding mixture 1 Tbsp at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Add other flavoring (optional). Beat for 2-3mins until smooth and fluffy.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. Allow buttercream to come to room temperature and rewhip before use.
Notes
- 1/4 cup freeze-dried berry powder
- 1/4 cup peanut butter powder
- 2 Tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 6 oz cooled, melted chocolate (will make the buttercream softer)
- 2 Tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 tsp hot water (cool before adding)
- 1/4 cup caramel or dulce de leche (will make the buttercream softer)
- 1/4 cup lemon curd (will make the buttercream softer)
Olivia says
My ermine came out with lumps of flour, no matter how long I whisked over the stove top. Any suggestions? I’d like to give this frosting another shot as I’m also in favour of lighter, less sweet frostings. Thanks 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Olivia! I would try adding the milk slowly so it makes a bit of a paste first that’s easier to smooth out. Then add more milk a little at a time. Be sure to whisk constantly while it’s cooking too. Let me know if that helps!
Roxanne says
My mom used to make a frosting when I was growing up that had flour and milk in it. It was so wonderful. It tasted like whipped cream. I thought this recipe was it. It wasn’t. It has a nice texture and spreads really well. The taste was not good at all. I ended up putting a lot of cocoa powder in it. It was better, but I’ll never make it again. It makes a lot of frosting. People usually rave about my cakes, but this one was a flop.
Olivia says
Hi Roxanne! Sorry to hear you didn’t love this one. What didn’t you like about the flavour? It should taste like a light and sweet buttercream, but not as sweet as other frosting recipes.
Mary says
Hey there! About how many cupcakes would this frost?
Olivia says
Hi Mary! It should frost 18-24 depending on how generous you are with the frosting.
Janki Thackersey says
Hi! Is this frosting suitable to pipe a message (happy birthday or some such thing)?
Thanks!
Janki
Olivia says
Hi Janki! I haven’t tried it myself, but in general it’s fine for piping.
Rachel says
I love all of your recipes and your instructions are clear, and the tips and tricks extra helpful!
My mom has made this all my life but we never knew what it was called. She got it from a cafeteria lady so of course we called it Cafeteria Lady frosting. 😂. But she always heated her Mike and sugar, then dumped in the flour and it was a devil trying to keep it from clumping. I can’t wait to tell her your order!!
I wanted to try a London Fog cake so I infused the milk with Earl Grey tea before making the pudding and it is excellent!
Olivia says
Hi Rachel! Thanks so much, I’m so glad you find my posts helpful! Your cake sounds delicious. So many options when infusing the milk!
Maddy says
I have used this recipes several times and something is not working. The frosting is never quite sturdy enough and seems to break apart. I’m now wondering if it’s because I don’t use whole milk ? Please advise. I love it but it’s not working out!
Olivia says
Hi Maddy! I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with this one. I believe I used 1% milk (I never have whole milk on hand). The breaking apart leads me to think it’s a temperature thing. Are your pudding and butter completely at room temperature? And is your pudding getting thick like mine is in the pictures?
Regina says
Is this frosting sturdy enough to frost a 6″ Rosettes Cake? Thanks for your time!!!
Olivia says
Hi Regina! Yes, it should be totally fine.
Pam says
I am planning on using your Ermine frosting for filling a cake. I wanted to also drizzle some homemade caramel sauce on top of the frosting for each layer. My question is this frosting too soft to handle the drizzled caramel sauce?
Thanks for your help!
Pam
Olivia says
Hi Pam! I think it will probably be fine but don’t use too much caramel sauce between the layers as the cake will slide around. You can do a little lip with the buttercream on each layer and drizzle some caramel in that to help and/or use dowels/skewers to stabilize the cake.
Lisa says
Hi Olivia!
Thank you so much for this website!! I’m so excited to make something delicious 😀
Quick question. I’m making your Pina colada cake next week for a birthday but all of us don’t like icing that’s too sweet. I’m also going to make pineapple flowers and decorate the side and top of it. Should I use this ermine frosting or the original swiss buttercream? I only have a handheld mixer machine thing so I’m worried the swiss buttercream won’t turn out well but at the same time I don’t know if ermine buttercream will be solid enough to hold pineapple flowers…please help T.T
Kind regards,
Lisa
Olivia says
Hi Lisa! I would definitely give this one a try instead. It’s less sweet and much easier to make with a hand mixer. It’s a bit softer though but should still be totally fine for the cake. You could always try to hold the flowers up with toothpicks if it’s a concern. You may be able to just poke a toothpick into the center of the flour (if it’s still a bit soft) and then push those into the cake. I think I did that for some and/or used toothpicks under them to hold them up 🙂
Lisa says
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it! Will let you know how it turns out 😀 <3
Catherine says
Thanks for the recipe, it looks great! I’ll be trying it this weekend. I just wanted to check, can I use castor sugar instead of granulated sugar?
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Catherine! Yes, that should be fine. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Jovana says
Hi Liv
Thanks for the amazing recipe!
How much fruitpuree can i add? I did it a few times and everytime i added fruitpuree the buttercream curdled.
Best regards, Jovana
Olivia says
Hi Jovana! I would not recommend adding fruit puree to this frosting. The buttercream is already on the softer side and the puree will affect the texture as you’ve seen. Freeze-dried berry powder would be your best bet if you want to add a fruit flavour.
Divya says
Came across this recipe by chance and it is such a treat!
It was super easy to make, just a little patience required.
(Since I didn’t have gel/powdered food colouring, I added liquid food colour and edible glitter whilst cooking on the stove. Worked a charm, the colour does fade significantly when whipped with the butter, so I added approx. 1/4 tsp more and it did not affect the texture at all).
Thank you!!!
Olivia says
Hi Divya! I’m so happy you loved it. Thanks for your coloring tips!
Hava says
Is this frosting stiff enough to pipe a rosette cake with?
Olivia says
Hi Hava! Yes, it pipes like you can see in the pictures in my post. It’s not as firm as an American or a meringue buttercream though.
Cindy says
Hi Olivia. Could ermine frosting be used to make a chocolate drip cake? Or would the frosting be too soft under the ganache? Thanks.
Olivia says
Hi Cindy! I think it would work fine, be sure to chill the cake so the frosting is firm first 🙂
Hani says
Hello there .I would love to try the recipies on your page ! But can you pls tell the cup measurement ? Is it 128g per cup ? Or the standard measuring cup set 1 cup ? How to hear a reply soon. ,♥️
Olivia says
Hi Hani! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients.
Sarah says
I love love love this buttercream or frosting. My favourite has always been the French buttercream but this one is so much easier to make and tastes delicious. The taste is not the typical taste of butter like in other buttercreams which is good. Thumbs up for this! 🤗
Olivia says
Hi Sarah! Thanks for the feedback! So glad you like it 🙂
Susan says
Can the regular milk be replaced with almond milk or heavy cream instead?
Olivia says
Hi Susan! Almond milk should work fine but I don’t think I’d use heavy cream.
Pam says
I am making a 70th birthday cake that I would like to use Chocolate Ermine buttercream. I plan on decorating this cake with Kit Kat chocolate bars, espresso beans etc. and I am concerned that this buttercream might be too soft to hold the candy decorations on the “side” of the cake. I will be including some on top of cake as well. I have to make, decorate and freeze this cake in advance of being picked up in its frozen state. It will then be driven almost two hours from here and put in customer’s refrigerator until serving the next day at “room” temp. Do you think that the different candies I am planning to use might slide of the cake???
Should I be using IMBC to be safe. I am a self-taught cake decorator and would like your professional opinion.
Many thanks
Olivia says
Hi Pam! Honestly, to be completely safe I would use the Ermine as a filling and then do IMBC or SMBC on the outside (or a ganache on the outside). This frosting does not get as firm as the meringue buttercreams or ganache and because you have so many variables (the candies, the drive time, etc) I would play it safe! Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Pam says
Thank you so much for your quick response. I’m glad I asked. I will do the Ermine for filling as you suggested and use IMBC to frost cake. I did want to ask about the chocolate ganache. I’ve had problems when using ganache as filling in that when I take cake out the IMBC comes to room temperature but I find the ganache filling is still somewhat hard. Has that happened to you? I wait for the ganache to become to peanut butter consistency when filling the cake but after refrigeration I find it takes way longer to soften up again. Thanks again for your help.
Olivia says
Hi Pam! Ganache sets quite firm in the fridge and takes a lot longer to soften than buttercream (in my experience), but it also really depends on the ratio of chocolate to cream. If you use a 1:1 ratio it will be quite soft at room temperature, but a 2:1 ratio will be more firm (though it should still be spreadable).
Jaslin says
Hii..by mistake i added salted butter n it’s a bit salty…does adding powdered sugar & whipping it helps??? Plz do rply i have to assemble my cake in an hour!! Plzzzz
Olivia says
Hi Jaslin! You can try adding powdered sugar to sweeten it. I find salted butter too salty to use in baking but it’s a matter of taste/preference.
Sandra Rock says
Very creamy, incredibly smooth and yummy. I have made this before but would beat the sugar with the butter. That doesn’t always melt the sugar crystals. I will be making it this way from now on!
Olivia says
Hi Sandra! I’m so happy you loved this. Thanks for the feedback!