Home
Dessert Recipes
Icing + Frosting
13 Dreamy Frosting Recipes

13 Dreamy Frosting Recipes

By Food & Wine

Updated November 07, 2018

Tina Rupp

More than just icing on the cake, these creamy and rich toppings include mascarpone, chocolate buttercream, and caramel.

Start Slideshow

1 of 13

White Chocolate Buttercream

Credit: © Daria Khoroshavina

Go to Recipe

Creamy, sweet, and perfect for any treat, you'll wan to make this frosting for all of your favorite cakes.

More Dessert Recipes and Tips

2 of 13

White Buttercream Frosting

Go to Recipe

This simple and straightforward recipe is a perennial favorite. Easy to make, it goes especially well with chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.

Terrific Cupcake Recipes

3 of 13

Chocolate Frosting

Go to Recipe

The inspiration for this frosting technique comes from dessert maven Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Alfred A. Knopf).

Fantastic Chocolate Cakes

4 of 13

Marshmallow Frosting

Go to Recipe

This billowy frosting is the perfect upgrade from a classic buttercream.

Amazing Cupcake Recipes

5 of 13

Mascarpone Frosting

Credit: © Quentin Bacon

Go to Recipe

Mascarpone is an Italian cheese that's superrich, delicate and creamy. Here, it's simply blended with confectioners' sugar to create a sublime, snow-white frosting. For the best results, try to buy mascarpone that's very fresh.

Layer Cakes

6 of 13

Chocolate Frosting

Go to Recipe

The chocolate frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Return to room temperature before using.

Chocolate Cake Recipes

7 of 13

Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting

Go to Recipe

Carrot cake, that 1970s favorite, has a new audience at luxe restaurants like Manhattan's Le Bernardin. At the Urban Farmer in Portland, Oregon, pastry chef Jodi Elliot prepares the ultimate version: moist and not too sweet.

Carrot Cake Recipes

8 of 13

Chile Chocolate Buttercream

Go to Recipe

In the sixth grade, Lisa Ritter prepared Mexican hot chocolate as part of a social studies project. Years later, she wanted to re-create that sweet-spicy sensation in a layer cake, so she developed a cinnamon-flavored sponge cake and subtly spicy buttercream frosting made with ancho chile powder and cayenne pepper. "This recipe makes great cupcakes, too," Ritter says.