Chocolate Crisco Frosting Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is frosting better with butter or Crisco? ›

When it comes to frosting, it's best to lean into the topping's richness. That means using full-fat ingredients like shortening to your advantage. Although butter has a creamy, sweet taste, it still contains some moisture, making it susceptible to melting — cue, shortening.

Raid your pantry for flavor boosters.

Other smooth ingredients that you can add to amp up a canned frosting are peanut butter (or any nut butter of your choosing), fruit preserves or jam, nutella, marshmallow creme, cookie butter, or a citrus curd.

Add corn starch

If you want to thicken your royal icing without adding additional sugar, you can add a minimal amount of corn starch (less than a teaspoon) to help your icing thicken up.

If you are making a chocolate frosting, adding more cocoa powder is a great option for thickening it. The technique is basically the same as if you were thickening with powdered sugar, but you want to use a smaller quantity of cocoa powder than icing sugar. Try adding just 1 to 2 teaspoon at a time.

Sugar is the most important ingredient in all types of frostings, providing sweetness, flavor, bulk and structure.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Butter and flavorings are beaten into the meringue to create the buttercream. Because of its stiff meringue base, the frosting holds up well, will not crust and is great for piping cupcakes and decorating cakes.

But, there are ways to make it more interesting; one such way is to hit it with a shot of vinegar. Don't worry, the icing won't taste sour or like vinegar at all, but the acid will help balance out the sweetness, making it taste more pleasant. Even better, it will make the icing stronger and more durable.

If it's too cold, small bits of the chocolate may harden as your ingredients are being combined and you will have chocolate bits in the mix rather than a smooth chocolate frosting.

It is really important that the cake is still warm when the icing is poured over, so that the cake can absorb some of the frosting. If the cake is cold then the crust will have set fully, which means the icing can't sink in and will sit on the surface and be runnier.

It is possible to simply use granulated sugar in a slightly smaller amount, though you'll have to accept that the texture may not be ideal, especially for icing or other recipes that are supposed to be super smooth. Just substitute 1 cup of granulated sugar for every 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar and proceed as directed.

What happens if you use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar for frosting? ›

"Regular sugar has a larger crystal size than powdered sugar," he explains. "This means, cup for cup, there would be more sugar in a cup of powdered sugar than in a cup of regular sugar." In addition to inconsistent measurements, regular sugar won't dissolve and mix as well into recipes like frosting and icing.

"Mixing in cream cheese, whipped cream, lemon zest, or even Nutella can make such a difference." From making frosting creamier or fluffier to changing its flavor, these easy changes will certainly impress anyone you're planning to share your dessert with.

4.) Thin or Thicken carefully. If you feel the frosting is a bit too thick for your liking, thin it out gradually with tiny DROPS of milk or heavy cream (yes a little liquid goes A LONG way in frostings).

Frosting is too runny.

This could be because the butter was too soft or you added too much milk if it is buttercream frosting or it could be that you have overbeaten it if you're making cream cheese frosting. Also, a hot kitchen can make frostings go runny, so be mindful of the temperature.

Butter imparts a yellow tinge when used in frosting, but has great flavor. Shortening allows you to achieve a clean, white color that serves as a perfect canvas for your artistry. The shortening and butter combination gives a whiter buttercream that still has great flavor.

But, this ingredient is now more commonly used in cakeries for cake icing. Why Do Bakers Use Icing Shortening? Icing is typically made by whipping sugar and fat. Unlike common fat sources like butter, shortening is completely white, so it's very useful if you want to achieve a bright white color for your icing.

Frosting made with shortening also tends to hold up better to time and temperature, so be sure to add shortening if you're planning to pipe buttercream flowers or borders or if your cake will be sitting out at room temperature for an extended amount of time. If you'd rather use one or the other, that's fine, too.

If you want to add additional flavor to the dish, lard is the right choice. Shortening is ideal for its neutral flavor, many professional bakers use it for icing.