How A Small Addition Of Dairy Will Upgrade Store-Bought Frosting

Homemade frosting is delicious, but making it can be time-consuming. For those looking for ease and convenience, store-bought frosting is a great option. Store-bought frosting, however, has a different texture and flavor than frosting made from scratch. Luckily, there are many ways to tweak that can of frosting to make it taste better and be easier to work with.

Dairy can be the key to transforming your premade frosting. Folding in some whipped cream will make it lighter and airier, giving it a texture and a taste closer to frosting made from scratch. This hack will require just a touch of elbow grease, though. Freshly whipped cream works the best. Canned whipped cream tends to break down quickly. If you're in a time crunch, you could try frozen whipped topping, which is more stable than canned. Start by incorporating a small amount of whipped cream into your frosting and add more until you reach the desired consistency. Another strategy is to add the whipping cream to the frosting itself and whip both the cream and the frosting together. 

Whipped cream makes frosting better

Mixing store-bought frosting with whipped cream not only changes the texture, but it can also cut down on the sweetness. One of the challenges of canned frosting is that it can be overly sweet, and this trick helps to dial it down. One thing to note about adding whipped cream to shelf-stable frosting is you'll need to refrigerate your cake to prevent spoilage. The cake can sit out for an hour or so, but after that, pop it in the fridge.

There are a couple of other dairy-based tricks to try beyond the whipped cream hack. Even a little bit of milk added store-bought frosting can loosen it up and make it easier to work with. This would work great in combination with whipping the frosting with a stand or handheld mixer, which also helps to make the frosting fluffier. Another dairy-driven way to improve store-bought frosting is to mix in some cream cheese, which will help cut the sweetness as well as improve the frosting's texture.