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Frostings & fillings

Frostings & fillings

Basic Buttercream

This buttercream with it’s firm consistency is perfect for all types of decorating projects including stabilising multiple layers and all kinds of fancy piping effects.

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (450g) icing sugar, sifted
Flavour for Icing
Food Colour Gel or liquid

Place butter in bowl of a stand mixing and beat on medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes until pale and fluffy.
With mixer off, sift in icing sugar and Strawb’ry & Cream, folding to combine. Return to mixer and beat until combined, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Add Food Colour Gel and mix until desired shade is reached.

Frostings & fillings

Food Colour Mixing Chart

The shades on our Food Colour Mixing Chart are made with Food Colour Gels in our go-to Basic Buttercream recipe. For recipes that have larger ratios, you may find it easier to measure with a spoon.

Approx. ¼ tsp Gel Colour = 40 drops = 1 tsp Liquid Colour

Frostings & fillings

How to Make Buttercream

I don’t know about you but, buttercream is one of our favourite ways to finish off a beautiful cupcake.

There are four different types of buttercream.

Tip: Use our handy Food Colour Mixing Chart to create a rainbow of icing and cake colours from soft pastels to vivid brights. Happy mixing!

1: Basic Buttercream Sweet, fluffy and delicious, but don’t be fooled – this icing is anything but basic! Basic buttercream’s firm consistency makes it perfect for all types of decorating projects including stabilising multiple layers and all kinds of fancy piping effects. One thing to note: you may need to add extra colour to compensate for the yellow of the butter.

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (450g) icing sugar, sifted
Flavour for Icing
Food Colour Gel or liquid

Method
Place butter in bowl of a stand mixing and beat on medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes until pale and fluffy.
With mixer off, sift in icing sugar and Strawb’ry & Cream, folding to combine. Return to mixer and beat until combined, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Add Food Colour Gel and mix until desired shade is reached.

2: French Buttercream Compared to basic buttercream, the French method of adding sugar syrup creates a much smoother finish. Take the richness up a notch with egg yolks and you’ve got yourself one sexy, silky icing!

Ingredients
230g unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp water
5 large egg yolks
Pinch of salt
Flavour for Icing
Food Colour Gel or liquid

Method
Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Meanwhile, add yolks and salt to bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until pale and thick.
When syrup reaches softball stage (114°C) remove from heat. With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully add syrup to yolks. Stop pouring every 10 seconds and increase speed to high, then switch to low and drizzle in more syrup until fully incorporated.
After all syrup has been added, beat on high until mixture has cooled to room temperature – about 10 minutes.
Switch to paddle attachment and add butter one cube at a time, mixing well between each addition.
Add Food Colour Gel and mix until desired shade is achieved.

3: Swiss Meringue Buttercream This smooth, glossy buttercream is made with whipped egg whites for a much lighter texture than basic buttercream. Better yet, it has a super white finish, making it perfect for colouring without over-compensating for yellow butter! It looks stunning on the outside of cakes, but be wary of using it between layers as it has a much fluffier consistency.

Ingredients
6 large egg whites
1 2/3 cups caster sugar (310g)
¾ tsp (3g) salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
565g unsalted butter, softened
Flavour for Icing
Food Colour Gel or liquid

Method
Fill a pot with at least 4cm of water. Use a thick ring of aluminium foil to prevent bowl from touching bottom. Bring to a boil, then adjust temperature to a gentle simmer.
Combine egg whites, sugar, salt and cream of tartar in bowl of a stand mixer. Set over simmering water, stirring and scraping constantly with a spatula, until egg whites hold steady at 80°C – approx. 10-12 minutes.
Once ready, transfer to stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip at high speed for 10 minutes, until meringue is glossy, stiff, and cool – around 32°C.
With mixer still running, add butter, 1 – 2 tablespoons at a time. Volume will initially decrease, but as cool butter is added, it will begin to thicken and cool. Buttercream should become thick, creamy, and soft around 22°C.
Add flavour and Food Colour Gel until desired shade is reached.

Troubleshooting: If warmer than 23°C, buttercream will be soft and loose; chill for 15 minutes and re-whip to help thicken and cool. If colder than 20°C, buttercream will be firm and dense, making it difficult to spread; to warm, briefly set over a pan of steaming water until edges melt slightly, then re-whip to help soften and warm.

4: Ermine Buttercream This is a very old, traditional recipe for buttercream, made on a simple pudding base. While flour in icing may sound a little strange, this recipe is perfect for anyone who finds buttercream far too sweet! It is soft, fluffy and the least sweet icing of all.

Ingredients
4½ tbsp plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
230g unsalted butter, cubed and softened at room temperature
Pinch of salt
Flavour for Icing
Food Colour Gel or liquid

Method
Whisk together flour and sugar in medium saucepan. Whisk in milk. Place saucepan over low heat and bring to a boil, whisking continuously, then cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Pour pudding onto a clean heatproof plate or shallow container. Cover immediately with plastic wrap, pressing wrap directly against pudding surface.
In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter until smooth, fluffy and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Add cooled pudding one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flavour and salt and beat until buttercream looks thick, smooth, and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Add Food Colour Gel and mix until desired shade is achieved.

Frostings & fillings

White chocolate frosting

450g cream cheese
225g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g melted white chocolate
900g icing sugar

1. Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the cooled white chocolate then gradually add the icing sugar. Beat until smooth.

2. Chill the icing for at least 1 hour or until set.

Frostings & fillings

Orange Buttercream Filling

A rich, silky orange buttercream.

What you need:
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup refined coconut oil at room temperature
1 tablespoon orange zest
¼ cup orange juice

What you do:

In the bowl of a standard mixer, combine powdered sugar, coconut oil, and zest. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. With the mixer running, add 1 tablespoon of orange juice at a time, until the desired buttercream consistency is reached

Frostings & fillings

Icings

Ginger icing
75g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 c icing sugar
3 tsp ginger

Lemon icing
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp butter
2 c icing sugar
1 tsp grated lemon rind

Vanilla icing
2 c icing sugar
30g butter
1 tsp vanilla
boiling water to mix

Orange icing
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp butter
2 c icing sugar
1 tsp grated orange rind

Chocolate icing
2 c icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
30g butter
boling water to mix

Caramel icing
60g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 cup sifted icing sugar

Coffee icing
1 1/2 c icing sugar
30g butter
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
boiling water to mix

Frostings & fillings

Mock Cream

60g butter
60g castor sugar
vanilla
1 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp milk

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla well till fluffy.
Gradually add boiling water and when this has beaten in, lastly milk gradually added.

Frostings & fillings

Hazelnut buttercream frosting

(Makes enough to frost 18 regular cupcakes)
113 grams (4oz) butter
2 c icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/3 cup of hazelnut spread (like Nutella)

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Add the hazelnut spread and the milk and beat until smooth and fluffy.
Use a spatula or piping bag to frost your cupcakes.

Frostings & fillings

Buttercream frosting for cupcakes

340g icing sugar
85g butter
1 to 2 tbsp milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 dsp cocoa if chocolate flavour

Cream the butter and the essence well.
Gradually add half the icing sugar, alternating with the liquid.
Continue beatting until the buttercream is smooth, creamy, light and easy to spread.

It should never be heavy or fatty.

Store in the refridgerator.
It also freezes really well.

Frostings & fillings

Marzipan

100g almond flour
100g icing sugar
1 egg white
a few drops of almond flavoring

In a bowl, pour the flour, icing sugar, almond flavoring and the ehh white, stirring with a spoon and then, when the ingredients have blended better, knead the dough with your hands until you get a good stiff mix.
Then store it on a dusted surface with icing sugar and knead again until it is soft and elastic, then created with the mixture forms a good structure.

To make it easier to work the dough, fill a glass of water and add a little as you knead.

There are countless variations to the recipe for marzipan. We have given here a basic and easy to prepare recipe, for something more elaborate you can use peeled and grated almonds instead of almond flour for the dough, and use glucose syrup. Add food colouring to colour the marzipan.