This Toasted Addition Will Make Store-Bought Frosting Taste Gourmet

There are some game-changing ingredients that transform store-bought icing, and you can certainly rely on flavorings like extracts, infusions, and spices to bring a little zip and kick to your creamy cake topping. But frosting is fertile ground for so many sensory delights, and if you're not considering a textural contrast, you may be leaving some truly unforgettable cake experiences on the table.

It's true that when creating a frosting, whether traditional American buttercream or vanilla whipped cream, one of the gold standards of success is an ultra-creamy, rich, and silky consistency. But as humans, we crave a little something to shake things up from bite to bite, and that can be accomplished by adding a little crunch.

Toasted nuts get this job done beautifully while also adding that roasted flavor for a little complexity. And when you consider the many types of toasted nuts you can play with for your next party centerpiece, it's easy to imagine a new world of exciting cake creations.

Toasted nuts are an absolute treasure when it comes to culinary creations of any kind. By gently heating your choice of nut, either on the stovetop, in the oven, or even using your air fryer, you release all those intoxicating aromatic compounds, sharpen all those inherent flavors of fresh nuts, and even breathe new life into the ones that may have been in your pantry for a little too long. This easy step also gives them a textural upgrade that will present a satisfying crunch against your creamy frosting and tender baked goods.

Once toasted, a good starting ratio is about ½ cup of nuts to 2 cups (or 16 ounces) of frosting so as not to overwhelm your tasty topping, but you can adjust the amount based on your preference or use. You can also decide whether you want your bits to be crushed, which will give you a more smooth and integrated result, or if you prefer it to be a little chunkier with bits of sliced, halved, or whole nuts (should you opt for smaller inclusions like pine nuts, for example).

Use a light touch to fold in your selected nuts so you don't overwork or deflate a cloudy frosting (especially with more delicate options like whipped cream). Once you've got these bits well-distributed, you'll be ready to spread it on your favorite treats.

When it comes to putting your elevated store-bought frosting to work, you can have a lot of fun figuring out your favorite combinations. The union of toasted almond and vanilla is an easy, versatile go-to that would be a beautiful addition to a classic yellow cake and beyond. That said, those flavors also make an ideal complement to an orange pound cake or a key lime cake. On the citrus front, a ricotta cake made with lemon zest would be an ideal fit for a store-bought lemon frosting flecked with rich and creamy pine nuts.

Hazelnuts and chocolate are undeniably delicious together (as evidenced by the global domination of Nutella) and would make a nice toasty topping for a moody Brooklyn Blackout cake. Peanuts being another classic cocoa pairing, try these toasted legumes mixed into a rich and decadent dark chocolate fudge spread. And while we're on the classics, instead of putting walnuts in your carrot cake batter, mix them into your cream cheese frosting for a twist.

Add a little crushed salty pistachio to a buttercream as a counterpoint to sweet-tart strawberry cupcakes in the summertime. For some extra sweetness and crunch, take a little extra time to whip up some candied pecans and stir those into a salted caramel frosting to pair with pumpkin cake come fall. No matter the season or occasion, you can count on this trick to turn your grocery store spread into a frosting that's totally tops.