Cake Frosting Recipes
- American buttercream recipe (4 cups) – the simplest of all frostings
- Swiss meringue buttercream recipe (4 cups) – a little easier to make than Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Italian meringue buttercream recipe (4 cups) – a little lighter in consistency than Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Cream cheese frosting recipe (4 1/2 cups)
- Mascarpone buttercream recipe (4 cups)
- Ermine buttercream recipe (3 1/2 cups) – also known as flour buttercream/heritage buttercream
- Crusting buttercream recipe (6 cups) – sets firmer than other buttercreams so this is commonly used to frost wedding cakes)
- Also, a Vegan Italian meringue buttercream recipe
Flavorings That Can Be Added To Buttercreams
The following quantities of flavorings can be added to any of the above frosting recipes (except the crusting buttercream recipe which would require 1 1/2 quantities of any of the flavorings below):
- Lemon Buttercream: add the grated peel from a full lemon, plus the juice from half a lemon
- Chocolate Frosting: add 8oz of milk chocolate or dark chocolate, melted and cooled
- Chocolate Truffle Filling or Frosting: add 3 teaspoons of your liqueur of choice to either the milk or dark chocolate ganache recipes here
- White Chocolate Buttercream: add 8oz of white chocolate, melted and cooled
- Raspberry or Strawberry Frosting: puree 4 oz of fruit and press through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Or as an alternative to fresh fruit, add the same amount of fruit preserve/curd instead
- Coconut Frosting: add 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
- Caramel Frosting: add a quarter cup of caramel sauce
- Coffee Buttercream: add 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of coffee extract
- Maple Syrup Frosting: add 8 tablespoons of maple syrup
- Cookies & Cream Filling: add 8 crushed Oreo cookies (or your favorite cookies of similar size) to the recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting
If you’re short on time, we highly recommend the Lorann Oils brand of flavorings available in a huge range.
Chocolate Ganache Recipes
Quantities of Fillings Needed for Different Size Cakes
The following chart gives you an approximate amount of filling you will need per layer of filling. So your cake is going to have two layers of filling, then you need to double these quantities.
Also the quantities for the buttercream, ganache and cream cheese fillings is for a 1/2″ deep layer of filling. The quantities for the preserves, curds, caramel sauce are for a 1/4″ deep layer of filling.
| Cake Fillings (cups) | 6" | 7" | 8" | 9" | 10" | 11" | 12" | 13" | 14" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buttercreams, Ganache, Cream Cheese Filling | 2/3 | 1 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 | 3 1/2 | 4 1/4 | 5 |
| Fruit preserves, lemon curd, caramel sauce, etc | 1/3 | 1/2 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/4 | 1 1/2 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/8 | 2 1/2 |
Quantities of Frosting/Ganache/Fondant to Cover/Ice Different Size Cakes
The following quantities are approximate amounts needed to cover/frost a cake. The amount used will vary according to each decorator.
| Cake Icings | 6" | 7" | 8" | 9" | 10" | 11" | 12" | 13" | 14" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buttercream (cups) | 1 1/3 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 2 5/8 | 3 | 3 3/8 | 3 3/4 | 4 1/2 | 5 |
| Ganache | 1lb 5oz | 2lb 5oz | 3lb 5oz | 4lb 7oz | 5lb 8oz | 6lb 12oz | 7lb 14oz | 8lb 15oz | 9lb 15oz |
| Fondant | 1lb 4oz | 1lb 10oz | 1lb 14oz | 2lb 2oz | 2lb 12 oz | 3 lb 3oz | 3 lb 8oz | 4lb 2oz | 4 lb 11oz |