Frosting for Smoothing and Decorating

As they say on Instagram, people often ask me (well, not really, but why not share something useful 😜). This is my favorite frosting to work with, as it is easy to smooth and decorate cakes with. It’s quite stable, not difficult to prepare, and delicious. You can also use it to create borders around the cake to keep the gentle filling from spilling out and making a mess. It’s also very convenient for creating decorations in the currently trending Lambeth style (The Lambeth Method). I’ll add some extra tips at the end, so stay tuned 💛.

Ingredients

• 200g (7 oz) butter
• 200g (7 oz) cream cheese
• 150g (5.3 oz) white chocolate

Preparation:

1. Place the white chocolate on a double boiler to melt. The water should not be too hot to avoid overheating the chocolate. If you have an induction or electric stove, you can melt it directly on the stove at a low heat setting of 1-2.
2. Put room temperature butter and cold cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer and beat until fluffy. The cream cheese must be cold to ensure the mixture whips well and doesn’t melt or seep when you add the chocolate.
3. Without stopping the mixer, gradually add the melted chocolate and whip until the mixture turns white.

💛 If it’s a hot summer day and the cake needs to be transported, or if everything is melting and running, you can replace 50-70g (1.8-2.5 oz) of chocolate with chocolate glaze. Its melting point is higher, so the coating will be more resistant to heat. However, don't replace all the chocolate with glaze, as the coating is more likely to crack.

💛 When you melt the chocolate, don’t rush to pour it into the frosting right away. Cool it by stirring for a few minutes to avoid melting the butter.

💛 If you add the chocolate and the frosting becomes liquid, don’t panic. Put it in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes and then whip it again. Repeat if necessary.

💛 This frosting colors beautifully with regular gel colorants. It won’t be pure white by itself because the butter and white chocolate have their own warm yellowish tint. So, if you need a pure white coating or a cool color shade, add titanium dioxide (white food color) to the frosting.