This Nostalgic Pantry Staple Makes Strawberry Frosting A Breeze

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Beat softened butter with powdered sugar, and a dash of vanilla extract and you'll make a dreamy buttercream frosting for cupcakes and cookies. While you could turn this classic recipe into strawberry buttercream frosting by adding pureed or freeze dried strawberries, there's an even simpler way to get that fruity flavor using a nostalgic pantry staple: Nesquik Strawberry Powder.

This sweetened powder (colored with beet juice concentrate) is normally used to prepare strawberry milkshakes — just add a spoonful to milk and make a lump-free paste, before topping with more of the white stuff. However, Nesquik Strawberry Powder can also be used to give homemade frosting a pastel color and strawberry flavor. The Nesquik-infused frosting can be used in the same way as any other icing and is super easy to make.

To start, warm some milk and place it in a large bowl. Sprinkle your flavored powder into the milk and give it a stir until it's fully dissolved. At this point, you should be able to smell the aromatic strawberry flavor coming from the bowl. Next, add some softened butter into the flavored milk and combine well, before sifting in powdered sugar and mixing everything together thoroughly. For a fluffier frosting, whip it in your mixer to incorporate lots of air. Place the prepared frosting in the fridge to chill, prior to using. 

If you want to try this hack, but are concerned about messing up ingredient ratios, our classic vanilla buttercream frosting recipe is a great place to start. Simply add a dash of Nesquik Strawberry Powder to the milk and stir it well before combing it with the whipped sugar and butter mixture. This will create a pretty and pink pastel frosting that's perfect for piping onto cupcakes, sandwiching whoopie pies together, or filling layered cakes.

Looking for an even richer frosting to slather over baked brownies? Consider switching your strawberry-flavored powder for Nesquik's chocolate variety. You could also use the banana-flavored powder to make a yellow frosting for banana bread. If you prefer an icing with a lighter consistency, you can even sub the milk for water. Just bear in mind that buttercream frosting contains butter, so it will begin to set on the surface as fat hardens. However, this can be useful if you're using the flavored icing to frost cupcakes in advance — you can easily cover them in plastic wrap without worrying that you'll ruin the decorative swirl design on top. 

If you're seeking more alternative uses for powdered drink mixes like Nesquik Strawberry Powder, try adding them into a simple syrup to make granita or snow cones. You can even mix them into boxes of vanilla cake mix to produce colorful baked goods.