A vanilla based buttercream with a swirl of custard giving it a smoother, richer flavour and texture. This 4 ingredient icing is based on my basic buttercream base, with a small few tweaks.
So many custard frosting recipes ask you to make your own custard from scratch before adding to the recipe. But I cheated a little bit here. I wanted a really quick, accessible recipe that could be made by anybody. Which is why I chose to use a pre made, tinned can of custard. It worked so well, it was quick to make, tasted delicious and was definitely a lot easier (and cheaper!) then attempting to make custard from scratch. Plus, you have the added bonus of having custard leftover to eat!
Start off by creaming the unsalted butter until smooth before adding the icing sugar in two separate batches. I always stir it lightly with a spoon after adding icing sugar to avoid an icing sugar explosion! Once all of the icing sugar is mixed in add the vanilla paste and blend, followed by the ready-made custard. Be careful that you do not add too much custard, otherwise the icing will become too wet and will just fall off the cakes! This happened to me in experiment number one.
Vanilla
With buttercream you need to make sure that it’s mixed in well. You can’t overmix this, so make sure that you have a nice and smooth icing. This should be able to hold its own shape and be thick enough to pipe. If desired.
This is quite a luxury icing, perfect for any special occasions. I love to pair this with my banana cake or if you’re feeling super extravagant, why not try my banana custard recipe?
Ingredients
- 90 g / 3 oz Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 170 g / 6 oz Icing Sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Custard
Instructions
- Add the butter to a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, blend until creamy.
- Add half of the sieved icing sugar to the bowl and using a spoon, gently stir together until just combined (this helps to prevent an icing sugar explosion!), before mixing with the electric mixer.
- Add the remaining icing sugar and follow the steps above, do not be afraid to overmix, you want this to be nice and smooth.
- Add the vanilla paste and blend, then add in the custard until fully combined and the icing can hold it's own shape.
- You can either pipe the icing on top of the cake, or place a tablespoon of icing on each cake and use a butter knife or palette knife to 'smear' the icing on each cake.
Looking for more baking ideas? Have a look in the recipe section:
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