Cream cheese frosting alternatives / lighter flavour?

[-Daniel-]

So I want to make a red velvet cake this weekend, but I do not like cream cheese frosting (especially when made with Philadelphia) as I find the cheese taste too strong for me.

I don't like cheeses and only really tolerate it as part of a pizza or cheesecake.

Has anyone made red velvet or similar cakes and changed the cream cheese frosting for something else? I love the look and texture, it's just that the taste isn't for me (and since I don't like it at all, I find it really hard to know if it's made correctly and other people will like it)

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I personally have never met anything with cream cheese in it that I didn’t like it.

The classic frosting for a red velvet cake is ermine frosting. The whole cream cheese frosting is a very recent development. With the sudden surge in popularity of red velvet cake, occasional bakers were not up to the task of making a ermine frosting. The cream cheese frosting was a move towards ease and convenience.

It’s a classic cooked flour based frosting. It is light and creamy. And not overly sweet or buttery. But is not super stable. This is not a frosting to use on a cake you plan to take to a summer picnic.

Apocalypso mentioned a good ermine recipe on Serious Eats by Nila Jones. She cooks the sugar to ensure it is very smooth. And I am wondering too if the cooked sugar might help to stabilize it. I have this on my list to make particular ermine. It sounds quite good.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/12/flour-buttercream-fluffy-frosting-recipe.html

 

[-Daniel-]

It seems like a fairly simple recipe, I'm going to try this... have you ever done it before?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Yes, but not the Nila Jones version. Her recipe differs in that she adds the sugar to the flour during cooking. Which makes so much sense. No undissolved sugar. And I’m thinking it could help it hold up better.

You how with a 1:1 simple sugar syrup, the mixture thickens once the boiled sugar water is cooled?, I’m thinking that the water in the milk may have the same affect on the sugar. The mixture is brought to a boil, which is 212°, and then it’s cooked for a full minute. Which will raise the temperature even more. But of course just speculation on my part

If you do make that particular recipe, would you mind posting to let us know your thoughts on it? This would be much appreciated.

 

[-Daniel-]

I'm gonna have a look out for other recipes too, I'll let you know what I go for in the end

 

[Apocalypso]

I just looked up the ingredients and converted all but the vanilla to grams in weight:

4 1/2 tablespoons (1.4 ounces) all-purpose flour (40g)
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
1 cup whole milk (230g)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and softened at room temperature (226g)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

I also kinda did this as I'm tempted to make half a batch to try, why waste two sticks of good butter in case I don't like it? (I love my digital scale, much easier to halve a recipe.)

 

[Angie CupcakeQueen]

I’ve made red velvet may times and I never use cream cheese frosting.
I use a whipped vanilla buttercream frosting. It’s really good! I’ve made batches of them for my sister for her birthday then some for her boss who loved them. Just an idea.

 

[Apocalypso]

I had stumbled across this recipe for "ivory silk buttercream" a while back but didn't save the link. Just ran across it again. This uses nonfat dry milk in a unique way as its "secret ingredient." I know dry milk was a recommendation for making white bread, but this is the first I heard of it being the basis of a frosting. Thoughts?

http://wickedgoodkitchen.com/ivory-silk-buttercream-2/

 

[-Daniel-]

I've never used dry milk in a frosting... I guess the idea is to add less liquid to the frosting?

I've decided to go for a regular buttercream mixture, I don't want to experiment too much because I need to make sure my friend likes her cake!