Cooked Vanilla Frosting

  • 15 mins
  • 45 mins

Ingredients

  • For the cooked vanilla frosting:
  • 5 Tbsp flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1-2 tsp vanilla
  • NOTE: I doubled these ingredients to be sure I had enough to frost a cake.

Preparation

Step 1

FOR THE FROSTING:
Whisk together in a saucepan the flour and milk.

Cook over medium heat until starting to thicken and cook for a minute or two more-- don't let it get too thick or it will be too stiff when it cools. (The roux has to boil for a little bit for the flour to cook and lose its starchy flavor.)

Pour into a wide bowl and allow to cool, stirring now and again. If the roux is lumpy when it cools, just press it through a fine sieve.

Beat together a cup of unsalted butter and a cup of granulated sugar until light (you really need an electric hand mixer or stand mixer for this).

Beat in the cooled roux about two tablespoons at a time. As you beat and add the roux, the frosting turns creamy instead of grainy from the sugar -- almost like "magic"!

Add 1-2 tsp vanilla and beat some more until it's light and creamy.

TIP: Don't chill the roux in the fridge or it will be too hard to beat stuff into.