FOOD NEWS
The Subtle Difference Between Buttercream And Regular Frosting
By C.A. Pinkham
Frosting is the most popular choice for cake decorating. Buttercream is among its many variations, and you can probably guess what differentiates it from typical frosting — butter.
"Regular" frosting is made with cream cheese or shortening as a fat source. Dessert staples like whipped cream can be used as frosting and fall into the non-buttercream category.
Buttercream has a depth and richness that you can only get from butter. While it may seem like a fancier option, both types of frosting have their place in different cake recipes.
Buttercream typically has the flavor advantage and tends to be extremely smooth, unlike shortening-based frostings, which occasionally suffer from lumpy textural issues.
You might want the tang of cream cheese frosting in certain recipes. For example, carrot cake is rarely made with buttercream and almost exclusively uses cream cheese frosting.
Other frostings have a neutral, white color that's perfect for use with food colorings (or on its own for a pristine look), whereas buttercream has a yellowish hue from the butter.