Mom's Buttercream Frosting

This was a wonderful recipe. After I cooled the milk and flour mixture I beat it with the mixer until it was creamy and then added the rest of the ingredients. The frosting came out light and creamy like whipped cream, but better. I made a second batch and added melted semi sweet chocolate and a ½ cup more of powder sugar . It was perfect every one raved over the frosting on both of my cakes.

Oh, my.. this is amazing frosting. I've made classic egg-based buttercreams before, but always found them too buttery. And I'm not a fan of powdered sugar/butter/shortening frostings personally. This recipe was the perfect medium between the egg-based and American buttercreams: incredibly silky texture, not too sweet, nice and buttery but without tasting like sweetened butter (I've tried this recipe both as written and using all butter, and I actually prefer it as written). The only things I would recommend specifically are: 1) Use a stand mixer; 2) Cream your butter, shortening, and sugar together for at least 5 minutes before adding the milk mixture; 3) Add a pinch of salt; 4) After adding the milk mixture, beat the frosting for at least 5-10 minutes to give the sugar crystals time to dissolve, otherwise you'll have gritty frosting.

This is an old chestnut! I've been making this recipe for over 30 years. One ingredient that is missing is salt. You need to add a couple of nice, big pinches in order to counteract the blandness which shortening imparts. Measure flour into your saucepan with the salt, then whisk in the milk, little by little, to banish lumps. After it has been cooked (low heat, whisking constantly) long enough that it starts to boil (this has to be done in order to activate the flour's full thickening power, thereby eliminating an unpleasant "floury" taste) remove from the heat, and press a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface of your paste. This is the best way to make sure your paste doesn't form a "skin" as the paste cools. The sugar should be added in a very slow, very tiny stream in order to incorporate it sufficiently, then the mixture should be beaten vigorously for 5-10 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer, to eliminate grittiness. Then incorporate your chilled paste. Add your flavoring (I add a dash of lemon and orange extracts to the 2 tsp vanilla for a beautifully complex finish) and beat for another few minutes. Not the heavy texture of your conventional buttercream, but, as others have noted, more of a whipped cream kind of texture. Light, luscious, not too sweet. It's the perfect finish for any cake. Best not to attempt to decorate with it, however, as it's not as sturdy as a conventional decorator buttercream. This is always served to raves.

Thank you! The best old fashioned buttercream frosting I have had. I did however use 10x confectioners sugar (1 1/2 cups) in place of granulated, and I used all butter. I will not be trying another recipe from here on out, it's that good when done correctly. Thanks Again!!

The best way to ensure you will not have lumps is to start with the flour in a sauce pan over medium heat and very slowly pour in the milk, whisking the entire time. Also, so as not to get that gritty taste, I added the sugar to the flour mixture just before taking it off the heat. I then let the entire mixture cool in the fridge before whipping it into the butter. It turned out perfectly!

This recipe is very tasty and light. I was doubtful because of the use of flour in the recipe. It has a light taste. I used vanilla and almond extract and it worked really well. It was great straight from the bowl! It spread easily also. The only drawback to the recipe is the delay between cooking the flour mixture and getting on with making the frosting. I cooked the flour mixture and then cooled it in the fridge overnite so I could complete the cake in the morning. The mixture formed a crust which was tedious to remove. I recommend doing it all at once if possible. Great frosting. Thank you.

This frosting is smooth, pretty, easy to work with and most of all delicious! It's not too sweet at all and the consistency is really special. You do have to do it right, make sure that your "paste" is nice and thick and then whip the heck out of it, but it's worth the extra effort.

Followed recipe exactly, but the finished product tasted overwhelmingly like Crisco. Fortunetly, someone on site suggested using all butter, so I went back and remade the recipe. The second time around, it tasted a lot better, but lacked visual appeal.

This is wonderful! So much better than frosting made with confectioner's sugar. It tastes like a light, sweetened whipped cream frosting. I made this with all butter and no shortening and I really like the results. Thanks!

This frosting is wonderful. Very fluffy and easy to make. I only made one change. I used 10X sugar instead of granulated and doubled the amount.

Excellent icing!! Some suggestions-mix small amount of milk with the flour until smooth, then add rest of milk, also, beat cooled flour mixture with mixer before adding other ingredients.

This recipe was great. A secret - you can alter this recipe just a tad to make sugar-free and shortening free. Instead of the sugar, add in 1/2 cup of Blue Agave Nectar (comes in a syrup in most health food stores) and instead of the shortening, add in 1/4 cup coconut oil (very healthy!) and 1/4 cup extra butter (so 3/4 cup butter total). For a special taste, add in 7 pureed strawberries (might have to add some water) and the taste is fresh and AMAZING, and low glycemic/sugar-free on top of that!!

Love this frosting. Excellent smooth appearance and just the right amount of sweetness. I found that it helps to only allow the flour/milk mixture to become "cool" not cold, much easier to mix that way. Thanks for the awesome receipe, Adora.

I was intrigued by this icing since it dated back to the 40s - I just love retro recipes! I also used only butter in the recipe and had wonderful results. I only cooled the flour mixture for about 30 mintues and it worked perfectly. I also added a few drops of red food coloring to make a pink icing since I was using this over a rich strawberry cake. Beautiful results (see picture)!!

This recipe is excellent and easy! My hubby tried it and said its just like the frosting his mom used to make. It's very light and not sweet. The fun part is you can use different flavorings to use with different cakes. If you want more flavor just add a little more vanilla or another extract such as almond or rum etc. This is definitely a keeper.

This is a suggestion to Connie Rae concerning the "crust" that formed when she made her flour mixture and put it in the refrigerator overnight. If you put a piece of plastic wrap over your flour mixture right after making it and putting it in the container that you are cooling it in, then it will not form a crust and you will have a nice smooth frosting. I too had this problem and kept finding little lumps or flecks in my frosting, and my mom figured it out for me. (that the flour mix. forms a crust when it cools). I hope this helps. I loved this frosting by the way-has a kind of whipped cream taste. I also used all butter. D.Kinner

I used all butter. Turned out wonderful! This recipe is just like the frosting my mother always made, so I was familiar with the technique of slowly mixing milk into the flour over low heat. Also, you need to cream the butter for a long time before adding the sugar. And add only small amounts of sugar slowly to incorporate into the butter to not get that grainy texture. I'll use this for cakes from now on.

I don't know what went wrong, I followed the recipe exactly. The milk/flour mixture hardened in the fridge to where it was like jelly trying to mix it in again. The end product had chunks I couldn't get rid of. I was very sad because I needed it for my cake decorating class.

Fabulous! Soft, creamy, and not sugar-coma-inducing. I'm not all that experienced at making frosting, but this came together very easily. I substituted another half-cup of butter for the vegetable shortening and used confectioners' sugar rather than granulated. I ended up adding maybe a quarter-cup more sugar (if that) in small increments until the frosting tasted "just right" to me. Excellent, will use this recipe again!

Perfect frosting. Next time I may try a little more butter and less shortening.

Just heavenly! I had no problem with lumps. I doubled the recipe (for a three layer lake) and whisked 1/4 cup of flour with 1/3 cup of milk in a glass bowl twice, then transferred that to the saucepan and added the rest of the milk. I covered the paste with plastic wrap immediately and had no problem with a "crust" after the cooling stage. I backed off on the shortening by 1/4 and increased the butter. I used 80% regular sugar and the remaining 20% (and a bit extra) was powdered sugar. This, and a little extra vanilla (and almond) extract covered most of the shortening taste. The frosting had a very interesting whipped texture to it. In the end, I and everyone else absolutely loved it. This will be my preferred frosting from now on!!!

MMMMmmm This was my first shot at making a buttercream icing and it turned out fabulously! I tweaked it a bit with the ratios of shortening and butter and added a little more vanilla extract but other than that, it was great. A little tip that helped me with no lumps in the milk/flour mixture was to use a small sifter and while whisking the hot milk, sift the flour into the pot. Worked great, no lumps :)

I followed other reviewers and added the sugar to the warm paste. I also used 1 cup sugar because I like a sweet frosting. I used 3/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening. I whipped the shortening and butter while the paste cooled in the freezer (stir every 5 minutes to prevent skin). I slowly drizzled the paste (at this point I was dubious) into the shortening butter and to my astonishment a fantastic, fluffy frosting formed! I added one tsp of vanilla and one of rum. I used it on Black Magic Cake from this site (split into 4 layers). Great!

I thought this was wonderful frosting, I had made a lemon boxed cake and didnt have frosting so found this and tried it, its light and fluffy, and has a consistency of whipped cream, I love that its not too sweet, we Americans make all our desserts sickeningly too sweet, if thats a word..I love it and it turned out beautiful.

I could taste the shortening in it and it wasn't sweet enough. It frosted nicely and was an easy recipe to do. Next time I may use 1 cup butter and a bit more sugar.

Absolutely PERFECT.....Just what I was looking for! I took other reviewers advice and made a paste with the flour and a small amount of milk first..didn't have any problems with lumps after cooking. Beat the butter & sugar for about 8 minutes, then added the flour mixture and beat that for about another 8 minutes.....came out just right!!

As is, its not very good. I beat the sugar with the butter/shortening for 20 plus minutes and it was GRITTY. I decided to add the flour/milk mixture while still warm, hoping it would help with the sugar. It did a bit, but still was a little gritty. I tasted it and it was pretty bland, so I added some almond extract and a few shakes of salt. Like others said, its more like whipped topping than the frosting I'm used to. I also had to add some powdered sugar to sweeten it up and thicken a bit. Edible, but I would not go through the trouble to make again.

Was very intrigued by a frosting recipe that had flour and granulated sugar in it. Made it for my son's 1st communion cake. It turned out wonderful. Light, fluffy, melt in your mouth frosting. It wasn't to sweet which was great since my family doesn't like sugary sweet frostings. The only change I made was to add a small amount of almond extract and I used all butter. Will definitely use this recipe again.

This recipe is stellar! I like that it doesn't require powdered sugar (which can be more expensive). But, it's hard to save enough icing to put on the cake.... I'd rather eat it by the spoonful. Add a variety of extracts or flavorings to vary the recipe.

I have too say this a very very good frosting and very old school is what I like that taste you haven't had in awhile I made a cake for my sister on her birthday and she couldn't believe I made the frosting from scratch it is creamy and I did it with only butter so it was really good two thumbs up......

This is a great recipe! I did modify it a little, after you make the flour and milk paste, I added about a quarter of it still warm to the creamed butter and sugar, this disolved the sugar and gave it a very smooth texture. I also reduced the milk and added strawberry jelly for flavor. I also add 3/4c butter and 1/4c shortening. I will be using this recipe again for sure!!!

*Mine came out VERY lumpy--nasty, but I fixed it by pushing it through a fine wire sieve *--Next time I'll blend the flour & milk before cooking it. *Also, I put the granulated sugar in a dry blender to make it powdery. Store-bought confectioners sugar has cornstarch added and thus doesn't taste as nice. *I only used butter--if I wanted that hydrogenated junk, I would've bought the pre-made stuff from the store. *In conclusion, I thought this was too greasy tasting and rich, but then again I've never liked frosting.

oops! I used this recipe and didn't beat it enough. Went to recipe for "white frosting" where it says to beat for 10-12 min and turned out great.

My milk & flour never got to a paste & i cooked on low & stirred for 30 minutes. Maybe thats why the frosting never got creamy, but looked oily & separated. What did i do wrong??

This icing was great!

MMMMMM...Now that's what I call frosting. I only gave it four stars because I like frosting to be a bit thicker than this; but this recipe is perfect for the type it is. MOVE OVER WHIPPED CREAM CAUSE HERE COMES THE BUTTERCREAM. WooooHoooo!

easy to make and delicous. one of the best

I found that this version of buttercream frosting was a bit bland and not very sweet.

I loved this frosting when I was a kid. The problem was nobody in my family remembered how to make it. I can now recreate all the yummy cakes and cupcakes that I had enjoyed as a child.

This is the best frosting I've ever made. I've tried several other recipes from scratch and this was THE BEST! I'll definitely use it again.

Just made this for a friends 40th B'day cake and it was awesome! Wasn't sure at first how this would turn out but turned out light and fluffy. Made some extra and it has firmed up great for decorating cakes....

My mom made this for all of our cakes when I was growing up. Our friends loved it so much they would all ask her to make their birthday cakes! Since my recipes are in storage right now thought I'd try this one, but I already found a problem. This one says 1/4 cup flour when my mom always used 5 tablespoons which is closer to 1/2 cup-that much I do remember :D The flour/milk mixture should be cooked very slowly, being stirred constantly with a rubber spatula making sure to keep scraping the bottom so it doesn't stick. It should thicken until you can form it in a loose pile in the middle, sort of a loose ball, then cooled completely before mixing the other ingredients with it. I will try to update this if the rest comes out well :D Also the cake should be stored in the refrigerator after its frosted as the frosting tastes best cold.

I rated this recipe 4 stars before actually using it with a cake. I know, I know. My husband just loved this frosting on a Devil's Food Cake. And I agree, so now it gets 5 stars! Original review: This is a really really good frosting. It is a bit of work, but worth it. However, this reminds of a filling more than a frosting; maybe I am used to heavier frosting. It is soooooo smooth and airy though and has a good mouth feel to it.

OMG im a rather young baker and my mom, friends and everyone loves this iceing!! at first i thought...flour in a frosting? but you absolutley have to try this!!I might have used all butter...soooo yummy. added a couple drops of food colouring to make it look pretty! I used it ontop of a chocolate cupcake and the iceing made it amazing! definelty using this for ever

Been using this recipes for years, it is the best!!

very tasty, and rather easy to make

I was wondering if any other family every had this recipe!! This is the BEST buttercream ever!! My family has been using it for years. It can be tricky to get the lumps out but its worth all the effort in the end. Your family and friends will just LOVE it for holidays, birthdays or just because days! Thank you for sharing it!

I would give this 10 stars if possible! First time that I've tried it and the family LOVES it.

Just like grandma's but use butter instead of shortening but could work both ways but I havent tried shortening

I DID EXALCTLY THE WAY IT SAYS ,AND CAMEOUT VERY WELL,,,SOFT LIKE WHIP CREAM

I really enjoyed making this frosting because I was able to use regular sugar which every household tends to have and it was fast, light and not too sweet.

I have looked for this recipe for the last year it's just like my mom made!!! Work well for making flowers and decorating cakes. It is the best. Thank you.

The taste was good but the icing was too soft. I used it on a 2 layer cake and the cake fell apart because the icing was so soft. I would only use this again on a 13 X 9 cake left in the pan not on a layer cake. It was embarassing,

This recipe is FANTASTIC. Lumpy 1st time because I didn't heat the mixture correctly. The 2nd time I started w/flour on low/med heat slowly added milk. Once mixed together with no lumps I increased the heat to get the thicker mixture. YUM!

This was horrible!!! I followed the recipe exactly yet it came out in an almost cottage cheese consistency. It tasted as bad as it looked! Pure flour and shortening.

I love this frosting, I make it often to go on top of Crazy Cake. I would suggest to use 3/4 cup butter and 1/2 shortening to tame the flavor of the shortening. But all in all a fantastic recipe.

Light and not at all gritty, despite the granulated sugar. I cooked the milk/flour paste until about the thickness of white glue. Beat for 5 minutes with mixer. Really good!

This was a nice, lighter-tasting change from the traditional recipes. Found it was not sweet enough for our taste so added about 1/4 C powdered sugar and about 1/2 t more vanilla on top of the other ingredients. Hard to get away from the taste of the flour. Might be worth experimenting with cornstarch? Next time I will cover the bowl before chilling in refrigerator as I found a skin formed on top of the flour/milk paste making it a bit lumpy. Was able to beat it out with the mixer and it spread on the cake perfectly. Covered my 9-inch layer with ample frosting and it looked beautiful.

I made this to put on a chocolate cake. It is wicked good. I normally like the sweet stuff, but wanted something different tonight. I have made something similar before to put in whoopie pies and had trouble getting the sugar to disolve in the mixture, so I took another reviewers advice and put it in the flour mixture when it was still hot, then refridgerated. Worked great! Thanks for sharing!

I DO NOT LIKE SWEET STUFF, THIS RECIPE IS AWESOME!!!

So So. Doesn't make much frosting. And it was very loose. I added cream cheese to bump up the flavor and quantity and to thicken.

this frosting is delicious!definitely use this one each time i bake a cake.but make sure you stir the milk-flour mixture while you heated to make sure there are no lumps and beat it for a while before you add into the butter-sugar mixture.

This is probably the best tasting frosting I have ever made. Very much like a sturdy whipped cream. It is very soft and not easy to work with though so I would not advise it for a cake that will be out for awhile. The only thing I did differently is not chilling the flour mixture as was suggested earlier.

Eek! the shortening made it really waxy and flavorless. This is not for us, I won't be making this again.

Works well to decorate. Great, light flavor.

I just used this frost a great cake, and though my husband liked it, I found it to be indeed a bit waxy and flavorless, even with extra vanilla. Perhaps it is better with chocolate... either way, it didn't taste like the buttercream frosting I have enjoyed in restaurants. In terms of modification, I used 1/4 cup shortening and 3/4 cup unsalted butter. I recommend being very patient with the flour-milk paste, which easily clumps if heated too quickly.

i did NOT like this recipe!! it was flavorless and gritty. however, i did like the consistency. it was light and fluffy and easy to spread on the cake.

I needed to make a frosting for a spice cake in a hurry with the ingredients I had in my house so I came across this. I somehow got lumpy milk/flour, which the recipe said to stir until not lumpy...well I stirred and stirred and still lumps. So I tossed it and tried again. Still lumpy. I proceeded anyway, using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar (prior experience gave me grainy frosting). Minus the lumps, the frosting wasn't bad. Wasn't great either. But it was simple.

A lovely fluffy creamy frosting and very easy to make. I will definitely be using this frosting over and over again very yummy. Thanks for sharing it.

I have been looking for a frosting that was not too sweet and I think this is it! My friends enjoyed it very much. However, I noticed that the frosting seemed to slide off the cake as I was applying the frosting. What did I do wrong?

I have made this frosting before and it was the best frosting I have ever had. My recipe was slightly different, instead of shortening, I used one cup butter, and one cup sugar. Tonight I tried making it again, and it curdled. I'm not quite sure why. I softened my butter to room temp, and beat the sugar and butter for almost 20 min, and it was still slightly grainy. I used skim milk. Could that be it? Or did I beat it too long? Any input would be great. I absolutely love this recipe! Thanks. Oh, and I completely cooled the flour and milk so I don't think temperature was the issue.

Very good used replaced butter with the shorting

Awesome with cocoa powder. I didn't measure, just put eye-balled it. When making the flour/milk mixture, I took others' advice and put the flour in first then slowly stirred in milk. For me, it was still really lumpy; but after cooling it, I beat it for about 5 minutes and that smoothed it out. Next time, I will put the milk in first then slowly whisk in sifted flour. No gritty texture since I beat the butter and sugar for over 5 minutes.

Loved it. No changes made. It's my new go to frosting.

Hmmm. Did not like the consistancy and taste, so did not use the final product. I think I prefer buttercream recipes without flour.

So far, this is the best buttercream frosting recipe that I have found. It is creamy and not too sweet. It also colored well with food coloring. I used it to decorate my son's birthday cake.

Delicious!!! times 2

It was alright but even though I used all butter instead of part shortening, it still came out tasting kind of oily. Also, you could still feel the texture sugar granules being that it wasn't powdered. It would be helpful if the directions were more specific as to how thick the "paste" is supposed to get before cooling it.

This was my first time making frosting and this recipe was completely wonderful light and fluffy not too sweet

perfect

I thought this icing recipe was just a basic frosting.I didn't think it was great but it was ok.I was just looking for a icing recipe for on a box cake.I will keep this recipe on hand.

This is the best frosting I've ever had. It's very, very rich though, so if you're not in the mood for something awesomely sweet, you should find another recipe.

Easy to spred, even when straight from the fridge. Good flavor and not greasy. Great on chocolate cakes.

This recipe was very easy to make. It came out light and fluffy. I stirred the flour/milk mixture for about 5 minutes then popped it in the fridge. If you're looking for pure white frosting, it's not going to happen because of the vanilla (unless you get clear vanilla) It was pretty tasty, but a bit on the shortening texture/taste side. I probably will not make this again.

Great frosting! Thank you for the simple and tasty recipe!

I really liked this frosting - great texture (I didn't have the problems with lumps like some reviewers), and not too sweet. Next time I might try using more butter and less shortening, or even all butter. I think this is my new go-to frosting!

I lost this recipe many years ago and am very happy to find it again. It's really good and easy to make.

The paste gets super lumpy and I don't see what it really adds to the buttercream. The buttercream is good overall sans flour paste.

I will be making this for my boyfriend this weekend. He doesn't care for cake so he asked for icing and asked for the buttercream icing that is put on cakes at Kroger and Walmart. Not wanting to just get him their icing I decided to make him some. This recipe sounds most like the one my aunt used to make (she has passed away and no one but my sister had her recipe and she has passed away as well). I hope it turns out as yummy as I remember her icing!

Not all that thrilled with this recipe. I think I definitely have to make some alterations because it tasted a lot like shortening to me. I think it has potential but not as written. Next time I make this I will implement some of the ideas in the views but I was in a pinch and just made it as is.

I used all butter because I don't like the shortening taste. It came out wonderful. Thanks for the recipe!

This is a great frosting recipe!! I was looking for something light and fluffy to top some cupcakes. This was wonderful. I am going to try it next time I have to decorate a cake!!!

excellent recipe. takes minimal effort but results are well worth it. it's not a heavy frosting and tastes so much better than supermarket frostings. I use it for all my cakes

I rea enjoyed the taste, but it came out really thin, so I had to add flour to thicken it up...I might have messed up somewhere, but I am pretty sure that I followed the recipe exactly.

It was great. I had to fight my husband off the bowl so I could frost the cake. I only used 1/4 cup shortening and increased the butter by 1/4. I also added a teaspoon of almond extract. The butter I used was super soft, so I am not sure if that is why my frosting wasn't whipping up as much as I would like, so I added some powdered sugar until it was the consistency that I wanted. It could have been because I am in a high altitude area. But overall, very easy to make and great.

Sooooo good. Perfect all around. I will use this to frost all cakes from now on. Not overly sweet with a smooth creamy texture. Thanks for the recipe!

This was a very easy and tasty recipe for buttercream frosting. I added coconut flavor and sprinkled coconut on my cake. The frosting tasted just like the boughten cakes in the freezer dept. of the grocery store.

I used 3/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup shortening as other reviewers suggested. I had no trouble with lumps in the milk/flour heating like others. I heated on low and whisked almost constantly and thenI refrigerated until it was cooled not cold. It was smooth, airy and light. However, The end product still tasted too much like Crisco and not sweet enough. I will not be making this again.

No idea what i did wrong. mine turned out to be an oily mess that ended up partly liquifying amd dripping off of my cupcakes overnight.