Sweetened condensed milk is such a fabulous way add rich smoothness to frosting. Here are some fabulous ways to whip is up with no powdered or icing sugar needed.
There are a couple of methods to turn sweetened condensed milk into frosting without needed to break out the powdered sugar. One is to make a Russian buttercream and the second is to cook the sweetened condensed milk with other ingredients before making it into a frosting.
I will also show you how to make a simple pour over type icing made with sweetened condensed milk as a bonus!
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Russian Buttercream
As far as gathering ingredients goes, it doesn’t get much easier than Russian buttercream. You need butter, sweetened condensed milk and a flavoring.
That doesn’t mean it’s foolproof, however. You are relying completely on the butter for stability, there is nothing else to help it hold it’s shape.
Success depends mostly on the consistency of your butter when you start. You want it to be just soft enough that your mixer can whip it.
Too soft and you are going to have a mushy mess. Luckily a few minutes in the fridge and another round with the mixer can fix most of your problems!
One more caution would be to not add too much liquid. There just isn’t anything to absorb it. A splash of vanilla or extract is fine, but there is a limit to how far you can go.
The plus side is the resulting frosting is super creamy and smooth. Plus it isn’t too sweet!I made a fabulous Lemonade Russian Buttercream Recipe for some lemon cupcakes and our guests raved about them.
They were curious about the frosting when they tasted them because they knew there was something a bit different, but they couldn’t put their fingers on it. Go check out that recipe and make a batch for yourself!
Cooked Condensed Milk Frostings
If you want to be able to add more ingredients to your sweetened condensed milk frosting, you are going to want to cook it first. That is a great way to add more flavors and even sugar without all of the powdered sugar.
If you want caramel flavor tones in your frosting, creamy caramel sweetened condensed milk frosting is the way to go. Brown sugar is cooked into the sweetened condensed milk until it is thick caramelly and delicious.
Once that mixture is cooled, it is beat into butter and cream cheese to make the most delicious frosting. I spread it over a devilishly good chocolate cake and the combination was fabulous!
For a fluffy, airy frosting whipped sweetened condensed milk frosting is the way to go. It is cooked much like an ermine frosting with a bit of sugar and flour cooked into the sweetened condensed milk.
That mixture is beaten into butter and shortening for a super silky finish. The resulting frosting is another one that isn’t too sweet, just sweet enough. I think you will be surprised with this one!
Cream Cheese Condensed Milk Frostings
Another great way to make frosting without powdered sugar is to start with a can of condensed milk and a brick of cream cheese. Then you can flavor it all kinds of different ways.
Peanut butter cream cheese frosting is perfect on a chocolate cake. It would also be wonderful on a butter cake if you prefer vanilla.
Or make a nice creamy lemon cream cheese frosting with the help of a can of condensed milk. It has a nice lemon flavor and soft texture with only 3 ingredients.
Fudgy Condensed Milk Icing
If you are a chocoholic like me, this icing will get your attention. It is basically a super tasty ganache made from chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter.
It would be perfect for pouring over a sheet cake, or for fun cherry topped cupcakes like this. (It would make a fabulous ice cream topping as well!)
I would almost think you could whip it once it was completely cooled and then pipe with it, but I haven’t tried that yet. If you give it a go, you’ll have to let me know what you think.
Check out the fudgy sweetened condensed milk icing recipe and show me what you decided to do with it!
If you change your mind and decide you want to use some powdered sugar after all, try my sweetened condensed milk buttercream recipe. It is a tried and true favorite that everyone loves.
After getting a lot of questions about making whipped cream from sweetened condensed milk, I decided to do an experiment. See how it went!
If you want to know more about all the different types of frosting, check out my Frosting 101 guide. Or check out my collection of recipes using condensed milk for more liquid gold inspiration.