Heritage Frosting Recipe
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This Heritage Frosting Recipe has been one that has topped Red Velvet Cake in my family for as long as I remember.
Heritage frosting includes ingredients and is made a bit differently from how you might think of a frosting, but definitely don’t let that scare you away from making this wonderful frosting recipe.
Heritage frosting is made by cooking flour and milk over low heat until it is thick, then allowing it to cool completely. As it cools, you whip together butter, sugar and vanilla until they are light and fluffy before adding the butter mixture to the cooled flour mixture and whipping until it resembles fluffy whipped cream. Believe me, it is out of this world delicious and the perfect pairing for so many delicious desserts! Once you taste a cake topped with this frosting, you will be completely smitten, I think. Totally smitten.
You may also want to give my Chocolate Heritage Frosting recipe a try. It is divine!
Here is the Heritage Frosting recipe that Mama learned when she was in high school. She’s been using it ever since.
Heritage Frosting Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (22.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (227 g) whole milk
- 1 cup (226 g) butter, or shortening
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cook flour and milk on low heat until very, very thick. Cool completely before moving forward with the recipe.
- Cream sugar and butter and vanilla until fluffy. Add to completely cooled flour and milk mixture. Using a paddle attachment, mix on high speed with an electric mixer until the mixture is the consistency of whipped cream. Spread the frosting on completely cooled cakes or other desserts.
- Store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
(This post originally published November 7, 2010. Republished on December 12, 2014.)
Is this regular sugar and not confectioners sugar? Thanks
I was wondering the same thing.
Great question! It uses granulated sugar. I’m updating the recipe to avoid any confusion!
This looks quite interesting and delicious. Can it be used in place of buttercream frosting?
Hi Jocelyn,
Yes, you can use heritage frosting in place of a buttercream frosting. The richer the cake, the better this frosting pairs with it!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
This is a delicious recipe. I’ve used this as filling for cupcakes & cakes. Rave reviews from everyone.
I got this recipe 30+ years ago from friends but it was called Blue Ribbon Frosting. I always use it on an Apple cake. I just made it this week and took it to work. It was a big hit.
I’m smitten with it just from this post! 🙂
Surprised anyone even knows this recipe! It was the way my mom always made our red cake frosting long, long before it became the “thing”. It was always a very special occasion when we got red velvet cake. Linda
This sounds delicious! Everyone knows that frosting is the best part!
This frosting is definitely one of those you can just eat by the spoonful! 🙂
My mom always called this “wedding cake icing” and still makes my brother, now 46, a chocolate cake with wedding cake icing anytime he visits. We used to refrigerate the leftover frosting and put it between graham crackers for an after school snack. This recipe brings back great memories!
My husbands Mom made this with chocolate cake. Oh my its GOOD !!
This recipe is amazing!
Do you know if you can use it on carrot cakes?
Thanks
You can use this frosting on Carrot Cake. Glad you like it. Thanks