I’ve never really been a fan of buttercream. Too sweet & too greasy. I use bare minimum on the cakes that I actually eat, or I’ll scrape it off if it’s served to me.
Now there is an even better way to make buttercream! So you’ve heard of pudding in cakes, pudding in cookies, but have you ever heard of pudding in buttercream frosting? I hadn’t, until I searched it & only found like one recipe. I adapted it to my liking & I loved the results! The texture is perfect: smooth & velvety, yet durable & holds it’s shape. You also use less powdered sugar while adding flavor (not just pure sugar) to the frosting. It’s genius! Or at least I think so! 🙂
Plus, think of all the flavor combinations…crazy amounts of pudding boxes waiting at the store for you to make frosting with! I just happened to have this white chocolate pudding in my cupboards & needed something to make with it, so this is what I did. And I like it!
White Chocolate Pudding Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 (3.56oz) box white chocolate instant pudding (the 4 servings size box)
- 1/2 cup cold skim milk plus extra for thinning
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup shortening (can use all butter if desired)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk pudding with milk in a small bowl. Set aside in fridge or freezer until thick/solid; about 3 minutes; it's not very long.
- Meanwhile beat butter & shortening in a bowl with a hand mixer. Add vanilla & thickened pudding. Blend until combined.
- Add powdered sugar & blend again.
- Add additional milk, 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved. (I added about 3 to 4 Tablespoons. Fill pastry bag & pipe icing onto cupcakes or spread with a spatula onto a round cake.
- *Use promptly after freshly being made. If prepared beforehand: thin with additional milk to a spreadable consistency. Keep refrigerated.
Recipe Notes
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Recipe adapted from Cooking with Carrie
Entirely Eventful Day says
April 16, 2013 at 2:40 PMyum. pinned this for later 🙂
Mrs. Diner says
April 16, 2013 at 2:54 PMGenius!
Amy CookingAdventures says
April 16, 2013 at 7:51 PMSuper cool! I’m definitely going to give this a whirl!
ba says
April 16, 2013 at 9:24 PMI’m a frosting liver, but ry isn’t Seems like this will be the best of both worlds. If I wanted to make choc frosting would I need to add cococo and pudding?
Amber Brady says
April 17, 2013 at 12:39 AMBrianna, if you want chocolate, just do chocolate pudding. No cocoa required. Should work the same!
Cindy says
April 17, 2013 at 10:10 PMNow I do love butter cream but my favorite is Swiss Meringue Frosting–to die for. But I am always open to something new and this looks delicious! Can’ wait to try it.
Katie Clark says
April 20, 2013 at 2:24 AMWhite chocolate is my favorite!
Stephanie says
April 20, 2013 at 11:10 PMI like baking and making cakes, and this looks like it would be super yummy.
Jenn says
April 21, 2013 at 7:42 PMHershey’s instant pudding? I’ve got to find myself some of that. Yummy.
Christi says
April 23, 2013 at 4:03 AMSeriously, this looks SO good! I want to lick it right now!! Thanks for sharing!
Amy says
April 3, 2014 at 9:08 PMWould this recipe be stiff enough to pipe onto cakes?
Amber says
April 5, 2014 at 8:33 AMYes, ma’am. The pudding actually makes it stiffer than typical buttercream. If it sits too long, you will need to add a little milk to make it easier to work with. It’s best to decorate right after being made.
Jess says
April 26, 2014 at 5:46 PMI am a little delayed in my question, but can this be used to make flowers and other fancy cake designs? I am taking a decorating course and I just can’t stand to use the traditional buttercream week after week; I hate it!
Amber says
April 27, 2014 at 4:15 PMYes, but you will need to use it right away, because the longer it sits, the stiffer it gets. It will also need to be refrigerated after decorating. If it does get stiff, add additional milk 1 Tbsp at a time until you get the piping texture you want.
whitney says
July 30, 2014 at 5:44 PMCan I substitute Stevia sweetener for the powdered sugar. I will use less than 1/4 cup…
Amber says
July 30, 2014 at 6:29 PMThe powdered sugar kind of gives the frosting body and thickness, along with the sweetness. The pudding does help thicken this recipe, so you could give it a try. I don’t bake with Stevia, so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t see why not.
whitney says
July 30, 2014 at 11:46 PMThanks for the quick reply! I wonder if anthem gum would help make up for that? I really commend people that experiment and create these recipes, because so much trial and error and wasted food is involved. I am making this for my birthday so my son who is on the LGIT for epilepsy can have a small slice. Thanks for sharing!!
Amber says
July 31, 2014 at 8:54 PMI’m so sorry I couldn’t help you more! I really need to dabble in more recipes for those with diet restrictions so I can have a solid answer for questions like these. Please let me know if ends up working out!
whitney says
July 31, 2014 at 9:31 PMHi there! It was pretty sweet already without the extra bitterness of the Trader Joe’s Stevia, but I added about 2 tsp in to see how it tasted. Then I added the xantham gum in as well. About 2 tsp and it thickened it up nicely. I also had used too cold of butter and it looked all curdled but i ran it all in the blender and it smoothed out super nicely. I stored it in the stainless blender in the fridge and will process it one more time and then use it to frost the cake tomorrow and serve fresh. Thanks!
Amber says
August 3, 2014 at 8:47 PMGlad it worked out! Thanks for sharing your alterations!
Linda says
September 3, 2014 at 11:36 AMIf I make this for cupcakes do the cakes have to be kept refrigerated?
Amber says
September 3, 2014 at 2:57 PMI do because of the milk in the pudding. So, yes.
Cathy says
October 4, 2014 at 1:51 PMDoes this have more of a yellow color to it?
Amber says
October 5, 2014 at 4:53 AMIt’s definitely off white, more ivory in color.
Nicole says
November 24, 2014 at 1:42 PMI made your chocolate cake recipe. I’m making a 2 layer cake and filling with your White Chocolate Pudding Frosting. The outside is gonna be Chocolate Pudding frosting. My question is this cake is for Thanksgiving, so can I make both frostings now and keep them in the fridge til Thursday?
Amber says
November 25, 2014 at 9:26 AMSo you are prepping the frostings beforehand, storing them in the fridge and frosting the cake on Thanksgiving? If you are frosting the cake later, you will need to add additional milk to thin the frosting a little bit to a spreadable consistency. It thickens up like pudding does when refrigerated. If you are frosting it and refrigerating it, it should be just fine to slice and serve! Happy Thanksgiving!
Nicole says
November 25, 2014 at 9:33 AMI’m going to frost the cake Wednesday and keep it in the fridge til Thursday. Thank you!! i can;t wait to try your frosting!
Nicole says
November 26, 2014 at 9:24 AMI made the this frosting and to me it doesn’t taste sweet enough. Would you add more powdered sugar or another box of pudding?
Amber says
November 26, 2014 at 9:51 AMI would do more powdered sugar to your personal tastes.
Ashley Henson says
January 15, 2015 at 12:56 PMI’m having a problem. Mine looks like it is separating
Amber says
January 15, 2015 at 12:59 PMDid you store in in the refrigerator before you needed to use it? I would just use a hand mixer and blend it all up again. It should come together.
Barb says
January 19, 2015 at 8:02 AMI am 62 years old and have been in a kitchen since I was 20, but I don’t understand if you make the pudding according to the box directions, or make the pudding with the 1/3 cup of milk listed in the directions? Thanks in advance for your clarification.
Amber says
January 19, 2015 at 12:41 PMHi Barb,
Mix the pudding with the 1/2 cup milk listed in the directions. Then you will add the pudding to the beaten butter and shortening with the vanilla. Next add the powdered sugar and mix well. Then you can thin the frosting to your desired consistency by adding 1 Tbsp of extra milk at a time. Hope this helps!
Alisa says
February 13, 2015 at 10:02 PMJust made this frosting and was not impressed tasted it after doing exactly what the recopies says to do and all I could taste was butter… no thanks not on my cupcakes. trying to salvage it I started adding more powdered sugar and a little milk ended up using almost a whole bag of powdered sugar just to not taste just butter. And if I stop mixing it and it sits for a just a minute it starts to seperate.I personally wouldn’t make this again.
Amber says
February 16, 2015 at 1:48 PMHmm, interesting. Thanks for your review. I’m sorry you didn’t like it!
Rhonda says
February 18, 2015 at 1:56 PMI just made this icing and I’m not impressed. It has a after taste. I was so hoping this was my miracle recipe. I tasted mainly butter and shortening. I ended up adding unsweetened cocoa and more flavor. Oh well I thought I would give it a try.
Amber says
February 19, 2015 at 3:57 PMOkay, thanks for your review.
Tamara says
March 2, 2016 at 8:36 PMI am wondering what brand of pudding you used?
Valerie says
July 14, 2015 at 7:09 PMJust made this and I love it! Normally I use buttercream but have been trying to find something that is not so sweet. This is perfect. I am making a wedding cake and due to time constraints I am making it ahead and will have to freeze for a few days. I am wondering if the frosting will thaw well? Any idea? Have anyone ever tried freezing it?
Amber says
July 15, 2015 at 8:55 PMHi Valerie! If it’s only for a few days I would just refrigerate it. You will need to add a little bit more milk to get it to be workable again, because it thickens up like pudding, but you should be fine. Good luck!
Sunshine baker says
March 20, 2016 at 6:35 PMI made this icing with all butter, but find it to have a strange texture. Did anyone else have this problem?
Amber says
March 20, 2016 at 8:20 PMI wonder if the shortening helps stabilize it. I didn’t think it would be that different doing all butter. I’m sorry it went all funky on you. 🙁
Anuradha Das says
April 11, 2016 at 3:53 PMi tried this recipe i use 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup of butter it has too much shortening flavor and is super greasy can i use less shortening more butter and add more powdered sugar? also does this crust?
Amber says
April 13, 2016 at 8:22 AMYou can definitely adjust it to fit your personal tastes. And I’m sorry, but I haven’t made it recently, so I can’t remember if it crusts. I hope you can get it to work out the way you want it to. 🙂
Anuradha Das says
April 16, 2016 at 12:18 PMI used less shortening more butter so i can get that butter taste. It gets hard in the fridge so i guess it does or doesn’t matter if it does. I couldn’t tell either cause it went from the fridge to serving. i made this recipe for a b-day party came out really nice thick and fluffy! i loved the white chocolate, thank you this saved me such a nice way to use less sugar. Cant wait to try different pudding flavours!
Amber says
April 17, 2016 at 8:08 AMYay! I’m so glad you got it to work out! Thanks for the update!
Susan Korecky says
February 15, 2018 at 11:59 AMI don,t like super sweet frosting. Do you think leaving out the powdered sugar would make a big difference?
Amber says
February 20, 2018 at 6:59 AMYou can always taste it first and then add powdered sugar to taste, but it may also effect the texture and pipe-ability of the frosting.
Adriana Restrepo Garcia says
February 27, 2018 at 3:31 PMThank you for your recipe!!! I think exactly as you when you said: “I’ve never really been a fan of buttercream. Too sweet & too greasy. I use bare minimum on the cakes that I actually eat, or I’ll scrape it off if it’s served to me.”
Do you know a “non buttercream” recipe that I could use with Russian tips, for flowers?
Thank you so much!!!
Adriana
Amber says
March 1, 2018 at 6:29 AMI actually have made a buttercream I like. It’s half butter, half coconut oil. If you want to try it out, it’s the frosting for these cookies: https://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/the-best-sugar-cookies/
Melissa says
May 22, 2018 at 4:46 PMI make icing with cool whip and different puddings. Makes a nice base to add things like cookie crumbs or peanut butter too. Everyone loves my cupcakes.
Kristy says
August 6, 2018 at 11:21 AMCan I substitute coconut oil for the shortening or at least part of it?
Amber Brady says
August 6, 2018 at 4:32 PMAbsolutely! Probably even for all of it. I substitute coconut oil for shortening all the time.
dimitra says
September 25, 2018 at 1:15 PMif i use instant pudding mix with sugar,,how much powder sugar should i use?same?also is it steady to make swirls?thanks
Amber Brady says
September 25, 2018 at 1:42 PMThe pudding I used has sugar (not sugar-free) so follow the recipe as written. It makes swirls, just like in the photos. Very sturdy.
Tara says
November 22, 2018 at 7:29 AMJust made this. Used cream cheese instead of shortening and added some melted whites chocolate. Taste is good, not too sweet. However, doesn’t look like enough to frost my layer cake. Thankfully I’m making a filling so I should be able to spread around the top and outsides.
Cherrie cadran says
December 12, 2018 at 3:29 PMCan I use white milk?
Amber | Dessert Now Dinner Later says
December 13, 2018 at 5:59 AMAny milk should be fine.