How to make Ermine Frosting 

Makes about 3 cups: 1 1/2 cups (366g) milk, any fat percentage 6 1/2 tablespoons (48g) all-purpose flour* 1 1/4 cups (250g) white granulated sugar 1 1/4 cups (283g) unsalted butter, softened slightly 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal) *You can use any type of flour, but I use all-purpose wheat flour. Since we're cooking the flour for its thickening properties and not the gluten content, the type of flour doesn't matter. If you are gluten-free, you'll want to consult a gluten-free conversion chart to add the correct amount of flour you want. (This is on my list for future testing, so a gluten-free option should be coming soon.) Step-by-step photos and instructions: www.sugarologie.com/recipes/ermine-frosting

This is the most delicious frosting in my opinion.... I grew up having this on a red velvet cake every birthday!

This series is excellent, so helpful. I have used this particular buttercream for decades never knowing it is called ermine. I learned it from an old cookbook, in a recipe for “Waldorf Astoria cake” - now known as red velvet cake.

Quick tip Running the roux through a fine mesh strainer while still hot and fluid will eliminate any lumps that may form during cooking. Do this as insurance at least until yo perfect your cooking technique. Also high speed blender helps.

This seems like it would be a great choice for a ‘naked’ cake. Where the stability between layers matters a lot more than the ability to smooth it out on the outside. Also because if I were choosing a naked cake, I’m probably going for something less rich and sweet in the first place. Definitely bookmarking this one!

i'm sorry but the captions wrote "i whip myself in butter" instead of "i whip my soften butter" and i couldn't pay attention to the rest cause i was laughing so hard. on second watch, what an interesting recipe 🤔 definitely wanna try it

oh my glob how have i never heard of ermine frosting before??? i hAve to try making a vegan version of this immediately!!! thank you so much for making this series!!!

The only frosting I love :) I am from Europe and everything is covered in crème au beurre (French buttercream). I hated it as a kid. When I drank a cold soda with frosted cake my mouth felt like it had a layer of wax. I still dislike frostings. Swiss is better but Ermine is GOOD. I use less sugar and sometimes I add flavoring oils.

I requested this every year for my birthday cake my mom made. We called it Mock Whip Cream. I was born in 1964. I found it also in a late 1950's newspaper. Also called "mock". I'm happy just eating it like candy. Don't even need the cake...😋

THE only kind of buttercream I like! Not overly sweet, love the flavor!

This has been my frosting of choice for years. Can’t wait to try out your method for making it!

As someone who struggled with annoying solid beads of flour mixture that would clog up the piping tip with past ermine frostings, THANK YOU for this recipe! The key is to cook the flour mixture just enough but still remains liquid and that was exactly what I needed.

Ermine frosting is the only kind that I use on Red Velvet cake. My recipe is a little different, but I'm definitely trying yours; it looks AMAZING‼‼🎂

I actually just made this for the first time for my fiancés birthday cake, it’s so good! I needed something a touch less sweet than buttercream and it was perfect :)

This is VERY similar to the icing recipe we've been using in my family for at least 3 generations. We cream the sugar and butter together, then add the cooled flour paste and vanilla. So thankful to have an 'official' name for this recipe! But it will always be "Grandma K's Frosting" to me 🖤 Now, to make it BLACK!!! I've been watching your Black Cocoa videos and am now wondering how to do that with THIS recipe. Have you tried it yet? I'm guessing you would add the Black Cocoa Powder to the cooking process. Would you reduce or eliminate the flour? Would LOVE to know your approach to this. THANKS! I have Black Cocoa in my Amazon shopping cart :D

I've had many success with this recipe in the past. For some reason this time, it had a wet slightly separated consistency. It was really soft and a big globby mess. I put it back in the fridge to see if it will help. When I re-whipped it, same thing! I left it in the fridge over night. Whipped it up the next day, same thing!! I have no idea what I did wrong this time.

I’ve never heard of ermine frosting before, it looks beautiful

I use corn starch because my husband has to be gluten free and it comes out good

I love your approach. I see things the way you do... always loved categorizing, comparing, breaking things down...organic chemistry was lovely. I wish I had figured out what I wanted to do, but it's so encouraging to see you pursue your passion with such determination, flair and utilizing all the tools available to you (chemistry/physics/hypothesize/practice/experiment/practice/org chem/molec bio who knows what else you apply! Its genius)!!! You're not only educating so many, but sparking curiosity and creativity! You go girl. Seriously so happy to see you at your craft! 🤗

best frosting hands down!

This is my favorite frosting next to just whipped cream! Amazing video!

I've made this before, long time ago. I found the recipe about pioneers recipe or something. I don't like sweet buttercream. With this recipe, I can easily reduced the amount of sugar without compromising the texture.

Thank you so much! I grew up having ermine frosting on red velvet cake for celebrations, using the Waldorf recipe. I had always loved the flavor but had such a terrible time trying to get it to not look bad. I used your recipe and first try it was perfect and I am overjoyed!❤

Wow I've never heard of this

I like the periodic table like graphic for the butter cream at the start, it's really neat

I love ermine frosting! I use it for all my cakes and cupcakes.

Love this buttercream!! I lost my recipe, so thank you so much for posting this recipe!! 😊

I was experimenting last night making a strawberry compote and adding in a box of pudding mix for a filling… It ended up kinda gelatinous. I’m going to try and save it with this recipe by replacing the flour paste with it!

Thanks a lot for the interesting video. May I ask what is the difference between german buttercream and this one? It does sound very close ingredients wise.

I make a brown sugar ermine for my cookie dough cake. It's great

I love this frosting!!

I use for customers who prefer less sugar.. I love it and flavoring it.. is Devine.

Can you please make a video about troubleshooting and what to do if the frosting separates

I love your videos!!! Switching to the paddle attachment at the end makes so much sense! This might be helpful for my (basic) buttercream that I make with a dairy alternative to be allergy-sage for my daughter. Thanks

How long can it last in the fridge if I make a batch of it for future cakes? Please & thank you for your knowledge. 🥰

Wow. Thanks so much for this ❤️ 💕

Love this series

You're a scientist soul in a baker mind ❤️❤️

Wow. Amazing information

It's the ONLY frosting I use for my signature red velvet

You can put the sugar in from the start and it works just as well

Aaah yes absolutely, i will *whip myself in butter* 😂

I am going to give this frostings a go for an upcoming event. Wish me luck.

I cannot make this SOB frosting (as in ermine, not your particular recipe, lol-yours is very similar to mine I’ve done for 10 years btw) to do intricate piping like Russian piping. Even sticking it in the fridge for a bit, goose egg. It is just a shapeless mess. Some piping is ok. It’s annoying, but everyone I know loves this. I seem to remember a powder sugar ermine I used to do that fared better and tastes very similar, However, I never did intricate piping, so ’ll try again. Is there something to the science of powder sugar vs granulated that could explain this, I wonder.

This is amazing! Do you know if it freezes well?

Hmmm. This looks like pudding cream I make with starch. I wonder if flour would make it better actually, I need to try this!

With much respect, it’s pronounced ER-minn, second syllable rhyming with win, not wine. I adore this super informative series!!!! Thank you so much.

I tried it, it tasted really good and worked on the cake but sadly it looked kinda weird and I’m not even sure how to explain it

Could you use the paddle attachment for a bit longer to remove more of those air bubbles that are present when smoothing, or is it possible to over mix this easily?

Did I miss the part on how it tastes?

Can I make chocolate/mocha flavored ermine buttercream? if so how? Do I melt some chocolate like for some other buttercream and just add after vanilla? or cool it a bit before adding as it might heat the ermine buttercream?

Is there a buttercream that you could recommend of yours that can have chocolate powder added? I was going to use your condense milk buttercream, but then thought it could be a little sickly with the chocolate. What would you recommend please?

Hiiiiii Will adding gel food colouring change the consistency to hold the frosting together or will it make it runny and unstable?

Do you think this would work with an alternative milk? I have a cottage kitchen and I’m allowed ABC but I prefer SMB unfortunately not allowed to use milk or eggs in my frostings.

If you want a flavored buttercream where do you add the extract or dehydrated fruit powder?

how is that less sugar? im confused maybe its less sweet?..

Is this possible with hand beating ?? I don't have beater so !! Can you make easy frosting recipes for beginners without beaters

Could you add spread to this buttercream ? Like Nutella, Peanut butter, or Biscoff spread ?

My ermine always seems to melt from my hand warmth in the piping bag. Love the flavor though.

Can you do a German buttercream recipe

So…..pudding! I wonder if it would work with cornstarch, replacing the flour (adjusting amounts for thickness)?

I love this buttercream because it's one of the least sweet one out there. But I do have one issue: the colouring. Because one of our child's friends has a milk allergy, I do make the vegan version of this buttercream for birthdays. But adding colour to it is a recipe for failure. It *always* does split and will just look gross and bad. Plus it does most definitely *not* keep its shape, but quickly becomes runny. Do you have any advice as to what I can do when making the vegan verdion? I just gel colours, so it should work with the butter/fat in it. My go-to vegan recipe includes: oat milk (high fat), regular wheat flour, sugar, vegan butter, salt, and vanilla extract.

can u flavor ermine frostings similarly to the way u can flavor buttercream frostings w/ a syrup?

I tried this, it's absolutely delicious ! However, when piping my cupcakes, it started melting quite quickly actually. Is there anyway to prevent this?

I always add the salt to the heating milk so it dissolves completely.

Hello how long this cream can last in fridge? Is it ok to make in advance and put in freezer for a month? Pls reply

This was my only failure. It split. Maybe because the recipe used browned butter snd I got ahead of myself, ability-wise. Will try again someday.

It will spread better if you macaronage it before spreading.

What if i dont have a sheetpan?

I want to make a 4 layers 15 cm (6 inch) red velvet cake including some piping on the top of the cake. Will this be enough, or should I double the recipe?

I made some exactly according to my recipe and it came out so runny 😢what did I do wrong.. I was thinking maybe hot Weather I don’t know.. do do have any ideas?

Could i sub the milk for coconut milk?

Ermine chesee cream butter cream please 🙏🏼

When i made ermine, i didnt have a hand mixer then. I made ermine on the second cake ive ever made. It was delicious but it was too "sandy" and too sweet? Maybe just the recipe i used but probably sandy/grainy cause i didnt have a hand mixer then

What is the cream/frosting they use for icecream cakes? In australia some people call it mock cream??

😢 i cant get it right it always separates i have tried difrent butters but no luck

I tried it and while it tasted pretty okay (it would be amazing if didn’t add soo much sugar by so much I mean the amount she listed) Here are some problems I faced and how you can maybe avoid them! - adding the sugar quickly before the flour and milk could mix properly (the mixture was not fully blended and had weird chucks in it which did not help with the piping) - using large ish chucks of sugar (i didn’t use the normal sugar but a slightly larger kind and it WAS NOT a good idea!! Don’t use it!) - NOT blending the butter properly (I used the whisk attachment on an emersion blender and didn’t mix long enough) - piping bags (I Did NOT use proper piping bags which caused my process to be even more messy but I’m not saying you HAVE to buy them. just make sure to use a larger ziplock that what you may think is good enough or it will spill out and make a MESS.) - Vanilla (use a good quality vanilla and not one that has been sitting in your fridge for god knows how long and make sure to add little by little ! Little goes a long way!) Thank you and thats all I probably won’t retry this soon but maybe AFTER my mom has forgotten about this incident (I used her kerrygold butter and SHE IS MAD i used ONE WHOLE CUP ) Anyways bye!

I had to tell my poor brother with celiacs about this frosting cause he's like oh I'll just buy buttercream for my GF cake. And he looked so disappointed that he also has to watch out for frosting too.

I’m still working on mine but all I have is a gloppy texture HELP what did I do wrong??

I know the recipe calls for flour but what happens if it was cornstarch.

Can we use some cream cheese in this frosting???

FYI, Ermine is pronounced with a short i (like win),;as if the e was not on the end.

What if we add corn starch instead of flour?

0:30

"I will whip myself in butter" Pfffffft, there mayyy have been a typo in the captions

That's wrong way of making ermine, I always use this frosting or whipped cream and the best way is put the sugar and flour in milk before cooking it so that the sugar produces kinda condensed milk texture in flour mixture, then start whipping the flour mixture while adding soft butter chunk by chunk, that way you produce a light airy ermine that smooths beautifully

Those mixers make things difficult for hand bakers .. y’all make something so simple seem so complicated.. whisks and paddles.. so much for A SIMPLE FROSTING

ah.its just german buttercream without the eggs

It's not er myne. Just ermn.

I don’t like ermine at all. Tastes like pudding