Stiff and Non-Powdered Sugar Frosting Recipe for Cupcakes

[hanners]

Hi, I'm trying to find a recipe I can use to frost the top of my cupcakes for a baby shower. I've been looking everywhere for a recipe that doesn't use powdered sugar but I can't find anything. I personally don't like buttercream because it's much too sweet for my taste. I'm searching for a recipe that's stiff enough that it will hold its shape and won't melt once its been pipped. I usually buy heavy whipping cream and whip it together with a little bit of powdered sugar but that seems to droop and melt once its been out for a while. I plan on using a 1A piping tip for these baby shower cupcakes. I added a picture of what I would like my cupcakes to come out like. Does anyone know of a good frosting/icing recipe that will stay stiff, hold its shape, and not contain ridiculous amounts of powdered sugar?? Please help!

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

How about ganache? It's just chocolate and cream, and the quantities would depend on the chocolate used and the consistency you want. If you need them to be blue you could make white chocolate ganache, but that will be slightly sweeter than milk/dark. It can be fairly rich, so you might want to lessen the height a little.

Alternatively you could always top them with a more traditional icing (ie powdered sugar and water) and then add something decorative on top. That would minimise the sugar.

 

[hanners]

Welcome to the forum!

How about ganache? It's just chocolate and cream, and the quantities would depend on the chocolate used and the consistency you want. If you need them to be blue you could make white chocolate ganache, but that will be slightly sweeter than milk/dark. It can be fairly rich, so you might want to lessen the height a little.

Alternatively you could always top them with a more traditional icing (ie powdered sugar and water) and then add something decorative on top. That would minimise the sugar.

Thanks for the suggestion! Would the ganache keep its shape?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thanks for the suggestion! Would the ganache keep its shape?

It depends on the ambient temperature. Ganache is chocolate so if it’s exposed to high temperatures for a long period of time it’s going to melt. But ganache is your best option outside of that horrific crap made with butter/shortening and powdered sugar.

The frostings with powdered sugar are not real buttercream. And I agree they are wretched. I will not make them. Real buttercreams are Swiss meringue buttercream and Italian meringue buttercream. These are light fluffy and not too sweet But being butter-based they are more heat sensitive than ganache.

Whenever you’re dealing with ambient temperatures above the mid 70’s and above, melting is going to be an issue with any real buttercream or ganache. So you have to plan. Keep the cupcakes in an air-conditioned room or refrigerator until 30 - 40 minutes before serving. If it’s going to be an outdoor event with no cool storage, then pack them in a cooler with some ice until it’s close to serving time.

The key with ganache is getting the ratio right. Whipped ganache frosting is equal amount of chocolate to heavy cream BY WEIGHT. Use good chocolate not chocolate chips as chips are compound chocolate. Compound chocolate will produce a waxy texture. Plus it just doesn’t taste as good as fine chocolate.

 

[Becky]

The key with ganache is getting the ratio right. Whipped ganache frosting is equal amount of chocolate to heavy cream BY WEIGHT. Use good chocolate not chocolate chips as chips are compound chocolate. Compound chocolate will produce a waxy texture. Plus it just doesn’t taste as good as fine chocolate.

Yep, agreed. @hanners the easy way to tell whether it is compound chocolate is to look at the ingredients - if it contains cocoa butter it is proper chocolate, if not then it's compound chocolate.

 

[hanners]

It depends on the ambient temperature. Ganache is chocolate so if it’s exposed to high temperatures for a long period of time it’s going to melt. But ganache is your best option outside of that horrific crap made with butter/shortening and powdered sugar.

The frostings with powdered sugar are not real buttercream. And I agree they are wretched. I will not make them. Real buttercreams are Swiss meringue buttercream and Italian meringue buttercream. These are light fluffy and not too sweet But being butter-based they are more heat sensitive than ganache.

Whenever you’re dealing with ambient temperatures above the mid 70’s and above, melting is going to be an issue with any real buttercream or ganache. So you have to plan. Keep the cupcakes in an air-conditioned room or refrigerator until 30 - 40 minutes before serving. If it’s going to be an outdoor event with no cool storage, then pack them in a cooler with some ice until it’s close to serving time.

The key with ganache is getting the ratio right. Whipped ganache frosting is equal amount of chocolate to heavy cream BY WEIGHT. Use good chocolate not chocolate chips as chips are compound chocolate. Compound chocolate will produce a waxy texture. Plus it just doesn’t taste as good as fine chocolate.

Thank you so much, this helped a ton!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you so much, this helped a ton!

Hope it all works out