Make sure you get all the way to the bottom for a giveaway about your favorite cupcake and frosting flavors!
I take it for granted that everyone has a favorite type of cake. The kind they hope to see on their birthday, that they enjoy making themselves or wish someone would make for them for a special occasion. The kind of cake that you wish you could, but know you can’t, eat entirely by yourself.
I take it for granted, living in Italy, that everyone has a favorite type of cake that –I– grew up with. Light and fluffy yellow cake, or dark, moist chocolate cake covered with perhaps the most important part of the cake: the frosting.
But these types of (American) cakes don’t really exist here (they have tiramisu, so they’re not really missing out), but it’s something I still enjoy for birthdays. So when it was S’ birthday this month, I decided instead of making one big cake, I’d make 10 little cakes and decorate and frost them differently.
I agonized about the frosting. But it got me thinking: Is there a perfect frosting recipe? and What is the perfect cake / frosting combination?
I gathered up some of the best frosting recipes from bloggers and some food sites and divided them into categories: Chocolate: Ganache, Buttercream and other variations; Buttercream and Swiss Buttercream, Meringue, Marshmallow, Whipped Cream, Special Combinations and even Vegan Frosting!
Then I thought I’d ask you for your help in finding the perfect frosting recipe and cake – frosting combo…will you help me find it? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Scroll down to the bottom for information about the giveaway. I’ll be adding more recipes to this post as I find them or you send them to me!
Chocolate: Ganache, Buttercream and other Frosting Recipes
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Besides layering chocolate bars directly onto your cake, chocolate frosting gives you so many ways to make it…chocolaty.
- The Best Chocolate Sheetcake Frosting from The Pioneer Woman
- Whipped Chocolate Ganache (for Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes) from Cannelle et Vanille
- Chocolate Frosting (for Yellow Cake) from eggbeater
- Chocolate Ganache Frosting (for Devil’s Food Cake) from David Lebovitz
- Swirled Chocolate Frosting (for Chestnut Cupcakes) from Tartelette
- Fudge Frosting from Chockylit
- Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting from Bakerella
- Chocolate Espresso Buttercream from Use Real Butter
- The Best Chocolate Buttercream from Joy the Baker
Buttercream & Swiss Buttercream Frosting Recipes
Probably the type that I’m most partial to, and (not-very-original) my mom’s is the best.
- (my own) Vanilla Buttercream (for Drunken Devil’s Food Espresso Cupcakes)
- Swiss Buttercream (Project Wedding Cake) from Smitten Kitchen
- My Favorite Vanilla Buttercream Recipe from My Sweet and Saucy
- Vanilla Buttercream (for Chocolate Pistachio Cake) from Use Real Butter
- Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting (for Violet Macarons) from Tartelette
- Buttercream (for Perfect Party Cake) from Andrea’s Recipes
- Classic Buttercream Frosting from the Kitchn
- Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting from the Cupcake Project
- Buttercream Frosting from Baking Bites
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipes
By far the favorite it seems amongst the bloggers (what about you?), I am actually not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, though maybe I’ll have to try all of these recipes to find one I truly enjoy.
- Cream Cheese Frosting from Simply Recipes
- Cream Cheese Frosting (for Red Velvet Cupcakes) from Pinch My Salt
- Cream Cheese Frosting (for Rhubarb Banana Cupcakes) from Tartelette
- Cream Cheese Frosting (for Carrot Cake) from Use Real Butter
- Cream Cheese Frosting (for Lavender Chiffon Cake) from Fresh from the Oven
- Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting from Simply Recipes
- Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting from 101 Cookbooks
- Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting (for Carrot Cake) from Smitten Kitchen
- Cream Cheese Frosting from Andrea’s Recipes
- Cream Cheese Frosting (for Mini Chocolate Cupcakes) from Baking Bites
- “Sprinkles” Cream Cheese Frosting from Alice Q. Foodie
- Cream Cheese Frosting (for Red Velvet Cupcakes) from Sassy Radish
Meringue Frosting Recipes
When I think of meringue, I usually think of pie, but there are some great meringue frosting recipes for cakes, too!
- Meringue Frosting (for Lime Tart Cupcakes) from Cupcake Bakeshop
- Swiss Meringue (for Lemon Mousseline Torte) from Use Real Butter
- Coffee Meringue (for Short Black Cupcakes) from Milk and Cookies
- Honey Meringue Frosting from Cupcake Project
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream (for Blueberry Jam Cake) from Joy the Baker
Marshmallow Frosting Recipes
Light, fluffy and sugary: frosting in marshmallow form? I am so there.
- Toasted Marshmallow Frosting from Coconut & Lime
- Marshmallow Frosting (for homemade Hostess Cake) from Smitten Kitchen
- Marshmallow Frosting (for Confetti Cupcakes) from Baking Bites
- Marshmallow Frosting (for Fluffernutter Cupcakes) from Su Good Sweets
- Marshmallow Chocolate Frosting from Canela and Comino
- Marshmallow Frosting from Culinary Conoctions by Peabody
- Marshmallow Frosting from Rachel Ray
- Marshmallow Frosting from Food & Wine
- Marshmallow Frosting from Martha Stewart
Whipped Cream Frosting Recipes
Most whipped cream recipes I found were infused with flavor or mixed with fresh fruit or other flavors.
- Whipped Cream Frosting (for Blueberry & Strawberry Cupcakes) from Making Banana Pancakes
- Whipped Cream Frosting from Cook Like Mad
Specialty Frosting Recipes
Not your traditional flavors, some of these combinations really caught my eye as something I’d like to try. Have another unusual combination you like?
- Maple Frosting (for Maple Bacon Cupcakes) from Vanilla Garlic
- Mint Buttercream for Chocolate Mint Cupcakes from Simply Recipes
- Self Frosting Cupcakes (Nutella) from Baking Bites
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from Sunday Nite Dinner
- Matcha Swiss Meringue Buttercream (for Chocolate Matcha Earl Grey Cake) from Use Real Butter
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from Alice Q. Foodie
- Maple Frosting for Pumpkin Cake from Karina’s Kitchen
- Chocolate Guinness and Whiskey Cupcakes with Baileys frosting from Sassy Radish
- Chocolate Oatmeal Cupcakes with Maple-Bacon Buttcream Frosting from Erin Cooks
Vegan Frosting Recipes
For something truly alternative – vegan frosting!
- Vegan Coconut Frosting from Elana’s Pantry
- Butter-Cream Frosting (Vegan, Diary-Free) from Go Dairy Free
- Vegan Chocolate Frosting from Elana’s Pantry
The Giveaway
All you have to do is comment below and tell me your favorite cake-cupcake and frosting combination – I need both flavors! And please send this to friends and family – Stumble it, Digg, Delicious! I’ll accept your comments until midnight, Thursday, April 2nd and I’ll post a winner Friday morning (Italy time)!
You could win (note to winners: you won’t be able to choose colors or scents, I already have them in my possession):
- A Flip & Tumble reusable “24-7” shopping bag – I have been carrying one of these in my bag for over a year and I use it all the time. Love them!
- 3 Handmade natural soaps from Saponissimo.com made in Positano by a fellow expat in Italy
- 2 multipurpose microfibre screen-cleaning cloths from Sarah Smith – I’ve been using these for a few months, they sent me a few for others to try since they found me on Twitter.
- and I may be adding something else – check back!
Disclosure: the bag and soap in this giveaway were purchased with my own money, the cloths were provided to me by the manufacturer. I am not being compensated by any of these companies.
The best frosting recipe I’ve used is from the Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook (by the co-author of the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook), simple butter cream frosting.
Also their milk chocolate frosting is delicious (it’s all about the chocolate you use).
My favorite, comfort food combo is moist yellow cake with milk chocolate frosting.
number two, lemon cake with buttercream frosting.
number three, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I love cake.
Okay I’ll stop now.
Espresso Truffle Cream Frosting
Ingredients
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup freshly brewed espresso (or very stong hot coffee)
8 ounces good semisweet chocolate (Half semisweet and half bittersweet chocolate is an excellent variation)
Directions
Place cream, corn syrup and butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on med-high until hot but not boiling–about 1 minute.
Stir in espresso and the chocolate and stir until melted.
When cool to the touch, use a mixer and mix on medium, scraping down the bowl often, until the color lightens.
Frost your cake immediately since this frosting sets up quickly; if needed, you can mix in more cream, a teaspoon at a time for an easier spreading consistency.
Keep the cake refrigerated or frozen until ready to serve.
I have been having the same issues with frosting. Trying to find one that isn’t too sweet hasn’t been easy and I still haven’t found it. My son doesn’t like any type of buttercream (and I’ve tried all kinds) so I leave his cakes and cupcakes frosting free, my husband only likes coffee flavour and I’m a chocolate fan. I’ve been meaning to experiment with a Nutella buttercream, but haven’t got round to it yet!
I’m very hungry from reading your post today…does anyone have any “FILLING” recipes for cupcakes???I would love some recipes. Thank U!
Sugar high time. My teeth hurt just from looking at all these frostings and cakes. Fabulous round-up. And thank you for the inclusion! :-) (Don’t include me in the contest, just wanted to say Ciao, Bella!)
My favorite cake – which really isn’t a cake is cheesecake ! My sister makes awesome cheesecakes…
I also love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting – or german chocolate cake with that gooey coconut frosting . yumm…
Check out http://zoebakes.com/?cat=8 for some absolutely beautiful cakes with fondant. Those would be truly special for a birthday cake … wonderful inspiration.
I have to admit that I’m not really a frosting person, although I don’t think of ganache or whipped cream as frostings (and I love those). I’m more likely to use a glaze, or just a dusting with powdered sugar or cocoa.
My favourite combination, though, is poppy seed cake with whipped cream filling and ganache frosting.
These cakes are making me drool! I don’t like overly sweet cakes so I would definitely go for the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting or the g/f pumpkin cake with maple frosting. Both of these look delicious!!
Wow! I love Tiramisu and my son makes the world’s best, but for my birthday I almost always make Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Chestnut cake made with chestnut flour, large and dense and moist layers with an unusual flavor and use my favorite simple chocolate buttercream (found on my blog). It is fast to make and goes down jusr as fast :
6 ounces (175 grams) powdered/confectioner’s sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons (50 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons very hot water
all whipped together.
Or try my brother’s incredible and dark Chocolate Ganache, also on my blog.
And Happy Birthday!
I like a dark chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting. Something about the dark/white combo that appeals to me.
Gosh so many frosting, they all sounds pretty mouth watering.
Cheers,
elra
My favourite is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
I don’t have a favourite cake..and I don’t really like icing……But I would eat Carrot cake without icing and I do like Banana cake…I was just commenting on your lovely little cakes…That is such a great idea…
Right now I am really into a caramel meringue buttercream that I’ve been working on (search my site for ‘salted caramel buttercream’) which goes great on my fave Droste chocolate cake (yum, caramel and chocolate)
My utmost favorite cake and the cake my mom (not my husband!) remembers to special order for my birthday every year is a Zuppa Inglese from our favorite french bakery here in Astoria, NY.
What I love to make myself however, and for the cake orders I’ve been receiving lately, is plain buttercake with silky meringue buttercream frosting–I’ve had friends and relatives ask for just vats of that frosting instead of a cake frosted with it!!!
Recently, I tried to make the chocolate cake on the cover of Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (fab book btw!). Anyway, the chocolate cake part was AWESOME, the marshallow frosting, not so much.
So I decided to make it like a Tuxedo cake from The Pastry Queen cookbook. I covered my “Dorie” cake with PQ’s recipe for whipped cream frosting and then chocolate ganache on top. I swear to you it tasted like a Ding Dong (or Hostess Ho Ho or whatever one your remember)!
In my family, there are lots of buttercream haters so from now on it’s whipped cream frosting for us.
This is tough to choose just one. Probably my favorite cake would be either a carrot cake (with pastachios instead of walnuts) and it has pineapple in it as well. Frosting is a cream cheese frosting.
My other favorite is what we call here, an Italian Wedding Cake. You can order it from the Italian deli. It has several layers of cake–in vanilla and chocolate (sponge). They are soaked in rum. There are the fillings (which are the best part!) a chocolate pudding type filling with chocolate chips and a vanilla pudding/cream recipe. There is also a cannoli filling in the cake. The outside frosting is a white Italian meringue.
Of course, let us not forget my aunt’s recipe for poppyseed cake with pineapple and a vanilla buttercream frosting….yum! But I would be happy with a Sfogliatelle Ricce (which I can’t get here–no one has ever heard of them) or some toasted Pannettone with melted butter on it..mmmmmmmm!
The favorite frosting around our house is cream cheese frosting… We even make a chocolate cream cheese frosting. I would love to make other delcious frostings, but haven’t found any that my family likes quite as much.
As far as my favorite cake/frosting combo… I like carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
Definitely carrot cake and cream cheese frosting – a winner!
My favorite that I have made were definitely Bailey’s mint chocolate chip cupcakes with Bailey’s chocolate frosting!
It’s so hard to decide so here are my top three – all involve chocolate chips:
pumpkin chocolate chip cupcake with cream cheese frosting or …
sour cream chocolate chocolate chip cupcake with marshmellow frosting or…
banana chocolate chip cupcakes with butterscotch frosting
Fun to think about! Thanks!!
Could not possibly decide. They all look fantastic!
Thanks for this glorious post!
M
I’d have to go with chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting, it works well together!
The cake I make over and over again is “Death by Chocolate”. It’s a recipe byDom DeLuise (can be found online). Everyone loves it and asks for the recipe. I love chocolate frosting on top of it (or just powdered sugar sprinkled on top). Divine!
My favorite cake of all time is still red velvet cake.. i think it’s usually made with a cream cheese frosting. yumm :)
My favorite cake/frosting combination for about five months now has been PW’s chocolate sheet cake with her sheetcake frosting!
The best cupcake/frosting duo for me is chocolate cupcakes with mocha whipped cream frosting.
I love whipped cream frosting — not too heavy, not too sweet, yet perfectly rich. I just HATE buttercream frosting and icing recipes — my teeth HURT from eating so much pure sugar.
This stovetop frosting is my favorite frosting ever, hands down [which is saying a lot since I’m a chocoholic]!
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a saucepan, combine the milk and flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Set aside to cool completely. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, then stir in cooled milk mixture. Beat until icing reaches a nice spreading consistency.
I like this frosting on everything, but my favorite would be Billy’s Vanilla Vanilla cupcakes [again, strange for a chocoholic].
I personally love an Orange Chiffon Cake with orange buttercream frosting, or a good carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, but I have any number of favorite cakes. This weekend I made an almond banana cake with caramel buttercream which was pretty fantastic. I glazed the top with the Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Sheet cake icing for extra oomph.
I love a coconut cupcake-yellow cupcake with a little bit of coconut in it topped with cream cheese frosting and coconut. And just a basic yellow cake with chocolate buttercream is right up there too!
My favorite cake/frosting of all time has to be my Nonna’s Red Velvet Cake with a cream cheese frosting. No one makes it like Nonna did. :)
Hi Sara,
I love chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache and raspberry filling. OH. MY. GOD. I’d kill for a piece.
And runner up- Carrot Cake with REAL cream cheese frosting!
Gosh, such a difficult question. I love mint chocolate cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, which are topped with both chocolate ganache and mint frosting (I think it’s buttercream), vegan of course. On the other hand, the dulce sin leche cupcakes (coconut milk cupcakes with brown rice syrup caramel) are also heavenly.
And tomorrow I’m planning to make caramel apple cupcakes with penuche frosting (a type of fudge) from Veganomicon. Who knows, maybe they’ll be my new favorite.
Still trying to come up with the ultimate frosting myself. Very likely to include either cashew butter or almond butter and perhaps brown rice syrup.
Hey!
My favorite is coconut cake and for hanukah I will toss the coconut with some blue food coloring. The recipe is from Namoi Judd’s Home Companion.
My favorite combo is chocolate on chocolate. Yep, the Pioneer Woman has the best sheet cake recipe – ever.
Laura
Looks like I’m way too late. Regardless, my favourite is probably cinnamon buttercream with rum raisin yam cake (think punpkin pie… but a cake). And that’s Italian buttercream, naturally. I’ve got a picture, but I can’t post links, so you’ll just have to imagine it. :)