You may have perfected your recipe for chocolate buttercream icing, or know exactly how you want your fairy cake frosting to turn out, but sometimes it pays to stray away from those recipes and flavors you know so well. Here are three slightly less usual cake frosting ideas to test out, either on a plain sponge or, for the pistachio and orange frostings, on a rich chocolate cake.
Pistachio Mascarpone Frosting
Ingredients (to make enough to frost 1 cake):
- 4 tablespoons of Italian pistachio spread (look online or in good Italian delis)
- 3/4 cup of mascarpone cheese
- 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
Instructions:
- Whisk the icing sugar into the mascarpone.
- Once the sugar is well combined, gently stir the pistachio spread into the cheese until the frosting is smooth and entirely combined.
- Spread across the middle and top of a sponge or chocolate cake.
Dark Chocolate and Orange
Ingredients:
- One large orange
- 1 cup of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 2/3 cup of dark chocolate
Instructions:
- Zest and juice the orange.
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave.
- Combine the icing sugar and butter, stirring well until entirely smooth and combined.
- Stir the chocolate and orange juice and zest into the butter and icing sugar until the frosting is smooth and well combined.
Rose And Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 3 drops of rose essence
- Zest of half a lemon
Instructions:
- 1. Cream together the butter and icing sugar.
- 2. Carefully scrape all of the vanilla seeds from the pod, add these to the butter mix.
- 3. Stir the lemon zest and rose essence into the frosting, keep stirring until everything is well combined.
Each of these frostings has the potential to make your usual bake just that little bit more interesting and exciting, so get experimenting with your frosting and see how creative you can get!
