No grit silky smooth eggless buttercream frosting made with just 2 ingredients – butter and sweetened condensed milk.
I am always on a lookout for different frostings. India is predominantly vegetarian and hence I cannot always use my favorite Swiss meringue buttercream (with egg whites) for a lot of frosting needs. There’s always the easy American buttercream, but I feel however much I try, I cannot get rid of the grittiness of icing sugar in the final frosting. Also, I find it to be too sweet for my palate.
Today, as I was getting ready for another eggless cake order for the first birthday of a friend’s daughter, I didn’t want to use the non-dairy whipping cream. I decided to try the ‘Condensed Milk Buttercream Frosting’, also known as Russian buttercream. I had heard about it a while ago and it was always on my list to experiment. I have also seen variations like Dulce de leche, chocolate, etc. It’s really easy and quick to make with just 2 base ingredients – butter and sweetened condensed milk. Since it was my first attempt, I made a small batch and only flavored it with vanilla.
The experiment was a success! The ‘condensed milk buttercream frosting’ is indeed silky smooth and the texture is very similar to meringue-based buttercream. It seems to be pretty stable too and pipes beautifully! Since there’s no icing sugar, it’s not gritty at all and neither is it too sweet.
Since it’s just 2 ingredients, make sure your butter is softened but not melting. The condensed milk should also be cool at room temperature – neither warm nor cold. Bakers also replace some of the butter with shortening to make it more stable, but I’ve used all butter. If you feel the buttercream is too soft, add a little icing sugar to thicken it. Personally, I found it to be the perfect consistency.
This recipe makes about 2-2.5 cups of frosting. You can easily double or halve the recipe.
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Condensed Milk Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 250 g unsalted butter – softened at room temperature
- 200 g sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract – you can use any other extract to flavour as per choice
- drop food gel colour (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, using a stand mixer/hand mixer, beat the butter for 3-4 minutes till its light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat for a minute. (Replace the vanilla with extract of your choice).
- Add the condensed milk to the butter and whip them together for about a minute. Do not beat too much else you’ll incorporate a lot of air in the final frosting.
- Buttercream Frosting is ready. Transfer the icing to a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice for frosting cakes or cupcakes. Ensure your cakes/cupcakes are cool before you start piping.
Edit (30 Jan 2019)
This is my two-tier eggless raw-sugar cake frosted with condensed milk buttercream that went out today – orange cake filled with orange curd flavored buttercream and butterscotch cake with homemade praline. I shared the recipe for Condensed milk buttercream a few days back on a Facebook Bakers’ group and it garnered a lot of attention and questions as well, so I thought I’ll share my experience and observations for condensed milk buttercream (CMBC I am calling it) –
1. It whips up easily with just 2 ingredients – cannot get easier than this.
2. Its very easy to beat up too much air in it which results in small air pockets and it becomes tough to get a smooth finish on cake sides. Important if you don’t plan to pipe anything and just keep sharp edges and smooth sides.
3. Takes flavours and colors very easily – I added little orange curd for my filling and Fab Flavours Orange extract for frosting for cake #1. For cake # 2 I added butterscotch essence. It tasted great!
4. When it’s made fresh, its really smooth but if it sits on the counter for a bit, there’s a slight separation of fats which looks like it’s curdled. Good news is, I beat it with a spatula for a minute or so before putting into the piping bag and it became smooth again.
5. I piped rosettes and borders and it holds shape well.
6. I personally think that it’ll stand great for couple hours at room temperature, but would need refrigeration if keeping for long. I haven’t tried keeping it out for long, but I am guessing it from its texture and behavior. I might be wrong.
Conclusion – CMBC is a great alternative to American buttercream. It tastes great, not too sweet and really easy to make. I would probably use it for frosting cupcakes or use as fillings or piping decorations but not when I am looking for sharp edges and smooth sides since I feel the air pockets are tough to get rid of.
What happened if we incorporate lot of air?
You’ll see air pockets in the buttercream and it won’t look nice when you pipe.
Hi Noopur ..thanks a lot for lovely recipe of butter cream.. can u pls give some guidance abt how to store n how long can b stored…
This should stay good for 3-4 days in fridge, whisk it again before using it.
Since its really simple and quick to make, I would suggest make a fresh batch whenever you need it.
Hi…does the condensed milk be cold or at room temperature and butter also???
They should be at room temperature but not hot and melting.
Thank you for the simple recipe. What condensed milk did you use? Amul mithai or Nestle Milkmaid?
I used Milkmaid
Thank you 😊
Hi is this stable enough ?will it stay good at room temperatures too?
If the weather is not too hot, it should stay fine.
You can also replace some butter with margarine for more stability.
Can it be used to frost a cake? Also would like to know if amul butter can be used. Thanks in advance
Can it be made from homemade condensed milk??
Yes
Wonderful share! Thank you so much.
You’re welcome Megala 🙂
Hi can you frost a cake with this
Yes you can.
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Can we make flower out of this frosting and store them for later use in decorating cske? How to store flowers ?
I havent tried flowers but I guess you can make them like regular buttercream flowers. This frosting gets a little softer in heat so you need to take care of that.
Hi …. I am planning to make CMBC today as trial and i have to make in lemon flavour….. what do you suggest to use to get the flavour….. fresh lemon juice, lemon essence or lemon flavoured tang…… I saw in one of the blog C ant recollect the name , the baker used the powdered lemonade for favouring…
Would really need your help in this for this flavour
I would recommend using lemon extract and some fresh lemon zest in the buttercream. Not sure about powdered lemonade, you can take out a little frosting in a bowl and try adding to it to see if it works 🙂
Lemon curd also sounds like a good idea if you’re looking for more richer lemon flavour.
Hi Noopur, thanks for the recipe..i am really looking forward to try it because the gritty texture of ABC is a big turn off for me….BTW do you know how well this would stand under fondant?
It should work fine under fondant. Do try it and let me know how it goes 🙂
Hey how many mini cupcakes can we frost with this recipe?
Hello Hashka! This recipe makes a little more than 2 cups of frosting which is enough to frost about 24 regular sized cupcakes, so I would say you can frost 40-48 mini cupcakes with this depending on how much you use on each 🙂
At what point can i add the color and what type of color?
As soon as the condensed milk is combined with the butter. I used gel colors.
Hey,what butter do you use for all your buttercream s? I’ve tried amul many times, but feels like it’s not meant for buttercream 😊
I have used Amul and President butter successfully without any issues.
When frosting cupcakes the day before a party do they have to be refrigerated ?
Hello Barbara, I would suggest keeping them in the fridge covered in an airtight container. Take them out an hour or so before serving.
Hi there! I was surfing the Net for IMBC and I came across your blog. The simplicity of the recipes on your blog attracted me to bookmark some recipes for future reference. Have you tried making a chocolate version to the above CMBC? If so how much cocoa powder can be added for the optimal flavor?
Hello Mary Allen! Thankyou for your lovely comments 🙂 Do share your creations as and when you try them!
I have used about 1/4 cup of melted dark chocolate (lukewarm not hot) and it came out great, I haven’t tried it with cocoa powder.
HI I tried to make this and for some reason it got separated, the frosting was a bit too runny and after making my best to frost the cake the condensed milk was running from the cake, I know I have to have made some mistake, all I did was to double the recipe and add the condensed milk very slowly into the creamed butter. Any advise to make it work next time?
Hello! It seems the butter got too soft. Butter should be soft to touch but not too melting or too soft. Even thr condensed milk should be cool. If this happens, keep the bowl in fridge for 15 min and then whip it up again.