Icing Recipes Without Powdered Sugar? No, We Aren’t Kidding!

Would you rather go for a bare muffin, or one topped with rich, silky smooth icing? Definitely the latter! What’s so great about this dollop of goodness that’s got us poring over icing recipes like never before? The great part about this amazing preparation is that you can add a complementary ingredient while swapping another wherever possible.

Icing is one of many toppings that decorate cakes, cookies, muffins, cupcakes and the like. It’s incredibly simple to prepare and can be made within minutes. The best way to acquire a creamy finish is to invest in an electric mixer that will do the job for you in a lesser amount of time.

Whisking a mixture can be tiring, time-consuming and ineffective if not beaten properly. So if you’re still whisking mixtures by hand, I suggest gifting yourself a reasonably priced machine to help take the load off.

Then again, if you’re old-fashioned and still find comfort in a good old whipping session by hand, then by all means use a whisk if you’ve mastered the technique manually.

Homemade Icing Recipes

Don’t worry about making icing if you’ve never tried to in the past. Whether you’ve done it before or are new to this, these recipes will bring extreme pleasure to every icing-covered mouthful. Be sure to have all ingredients on hand prior to making your icing.

Rich Vanilla Icing

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of milk (whole-fat)
• 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (or extract)
• 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Nutella
• ½ cup of unsalted butter

What to do:

Take a nonstick saucepan and add to this the flour and milk, making sure the pan is sufficiently hot (keep the flame on medium-low the whole time). Use a wooden spoon or a whisk to stir the flour into the milk, making sure to do this without a break until it turns thick and reduces in quantity in the pan. Make sure that the mix has the consistency of paste – take it off the heat and empty its contents into a bowl. Pop it into the freezer so that it chills faster. The next step is to coalesce the granulated sugar and Nutella with the butter, beating the two together until fluffy (2 minutes). You can then take the mix from the freezer, making sure it isn’t hot or warm, but completely cool. Using a whisk or an electric one (with a whisk attached), combine the two mixes and wait for it to look like whipped cream (close to 10 minutes). In other words, when you lift the whisk from the mixture, the swirly tip of the icing should peak stiffly.

Tricky Chocolate Icing

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup cocoa
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or essence)
• ¼ cup milk (whole-fat)
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup butter (full-fat, unsalted)

What to do:

Mix all the above ingredients and bring to a boil over low heat, setting the timer for one minute and 30 seconds. Mix the contents continuously (not vigorously – very gently) and then add into this the vanilla extract. Let the mixture cool off the stove for about 3-4 minutes. Use the electric mixer (the icing will lose its effect if done by hand) and whisk the mix for 3 minutes and 30 seconds or until you see that it thickens considerably. Make sure to use the exact ingredient measurements as part of the recipe. Stick to the time allotments for each step to produce the right icing texture.

Heavenly Nutty Icing

Ingredients:

• ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract (or essence)
• ½ cup of whipped cream (whole-fat)
• ½ cup of peanut butter (not chunky, if it’s a dual mix like chocolate + peanut or banana + peanut, you can go ahead and use this)
• ½ pound of granulated sugar

What to do:

Mix all the ingredients in an electric mixer bowl before letting the whisk attachment do its job. Set the speed to low for about 25 seconds before switching it to medium for about 2 minutes or until it turns nice and fluffy. Make sure that there are no lumps and that you use as much as you need depending on what you’re using it for. It can be stored in the refrigerator and thawed before use within a week from its preparation.

Decadent Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• ½ cup of butter (softened)
• 4 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of banana essence
• 4 tablespoons of corn syrup
• 4 teaspoons of vanilla essence (or extract)

What to do:

Using an electric mixer, blend the salt, butter, including vanilla and banana essence together on low speed before adding the granulated sugar and flour. Make sure it combines beautifully – you can use a spatula to crush any lumps between each cycle. While powdered sugar is highly convenient when it comes to mixing ingredients without grainy sugar bits, you can whisk the mixture until it tastes smooth while testing. Keep the whisking at low for 20 seconds before slowly adding the corn syrup – switch to medium speed for about 3 minutes until the icing turns weightless and fluffy.

To-die-for Coconut Icing

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup of dark chocolate chips
• 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon of milk (whole-fat)
• ½ teaspoon of mango essence
• 1½ cup of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of coconut cream

What to do:

Using an electric mixer, combine together the butter, milk, and granulated sugar making sure that there are zero lumps. Wait for it to turn smooth and silky before adding the rest of the ingredients (make sure the chocolate chips are semi melted to avoid a gritty bite to the cream).

Icing is pretty simple to make right? Be sure to try out these icing recipes, alternating between them and even experimenting with various other ingredients to turn it into your very own rendition. With time, you’ll know how to combine various ingredients and how much of which add-on is too little or too much. Granulated sugar or other alternatives like stevia, sugar-free drops and such are great options to go with during the preparation process.

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