Make Your Frosting Silky Smooth With A Dollop Of Mayo

Making a good, smooth frosting can be challenging, regardless of whether it's a traditional American buttercream you're making or another type of icing. Sometimes, the mixture gets too thick or stiff, while other times, it's full of lumps and bumps that just don't look, or taste, good on your baked treats. 

Luckily, there are a few tricks you can implement to help keep your icing silky smooth and tasting great. One such trick is to add a dollop of mayonnaise to your frosting. The mayonnaise can help smooth out lumps and bumps and give a great consistency to the cake topping. Plus, it can make your icing extra creamy.

Of course, if you want to try this trick at home, you've got to know how to implement it and why it makes such a difference to your icing in the first place. That way, you can start taking advantage of this quick kitchen tip.

Using mayo when baking, including adding it to frosting, isn't as odd as it might initially sound. Mayonnaise is a moistening secret ingredient in many baked goods, including brownies and cakes. This condiment typically contains oil, egg yolks, and a bit of vinegar. The oil and egg yolks in the mayonnaise are what primarily help smooth out your icing and give it a great consistency and creamy mouthfeel.

To add mayonnaise to frosting, you can just add 1 tablespoon or more of the condiment to your favorite icing recipe next time you make it. It doesn't matter what kind of frosting you choose to make, either. Mayonnaise works well in both buttercream and cream cheese frosting, for example, making this a versatile trick to implement. Alternatively, you can also just make a mayo-based frosting. These frostings may substitute butter or cream cheese for mayonnaise entirely, or they may contain smaller amounts of the former ingredients. Regardless of which route you choose, you might be surprised at just how smooth and creamy the frosting turns out!

Adding mayo to your frosting isn't the only way to get a silky-smooth cake topping. You can also get smooth frosting by taking the time to sift your powdered sugar before adding it to your mixing bowl. This helps remove any lumps from the sugar, reducing your chances of getting a bumpy final product. It also helps aerate the powdered sugar, making for a fluffier frosting.

Once your frosting is already made and you need to get a more even consistency, you can also take the hair dryer to it. All you have to do is switch on your hair dryer, use a low-air and moderate heat setting, and blow the hair dryer over the mixing bowl while continuing to beat the frosting. The heat can help break up the lumps and get your frosting back to a smooth consistency.

Another method to break up lumpy frosting is to add a splash of milk or heavy whipping cream. These liquids will help thin out the frosting, and the dairy product will add some creaminess to it as well. If you don't have either of these ingredients on hand, you can always add water instead. So, whether it's milk, water, or mayo that you add to your frosting, or you just make sure to sift your ingredients before you get to beating, know that there are plenty of tricks out there for making super smooth frosting for your baked desserts!