SerpApi.Org
Before there was cream cheese, there was ermine.
Ermine frosting is feathery light and soft, so it spreads and swirls like a dream. It's creamy, delicate, and plenty delicious, but far less rich and heavy than most frostings, especially super-sweet buttercreams. Ermine frosting is snow white, unless flavored with something like cocoa powder or made with exceptionally yellow butter.
But despite its many charms, recipes for ermine frosting nearly disappeared after cream cheese frosting surged onto the scene, so many bakers have never heard of it. But just one taste can turn folks into big fans, even those who aren’t usually keen on any type of frosting.
Ermine is earning its renaissance among those of us who love its winning flavor, good looks, and vintage appeal.
Ermine's Place In Frosting History
Recipes for this type of frosting date back to the 1800s, often associated with Mahogany Cake, an early form of red velvet. The word ermine was meant to invoke images of the soft, fluffy, opulent white fur that adorned royal garments of yore.
But as is often the case with old recipes, it has other descriptive names as well, such as Boiled Milk Frosting, Cooked Flour Frosting, or Roux Frosting.
How Ermine Frosting Is Made
The recipe begins by cooking flour and milk together until they form a smooth, thick paste, which explains why it goes by Gravy Frosting in some old Southern cookbooks. At one time, almost any roux-based recipe made on a stovetop, whether sweet and savory, was called a gravy.
Ermine frostings require less butter and sugar than traditional buttercream, so they were a popular choice during times when those items were rationed or too expensive.
The cooked part of Ermine frosting is easy, especially compared to fussy meringue-based European buttercreams, but we should pay attention to the visual cues that tell us when the cooked base reaches the ideal consistency for beating in the butter. Lucky for us, that base is forgiving, so we can pop it into the fridge when it’s too warm and soft, or let it sit on the counter when it’s too cold and stiff.
Even though the finished frosting resembles delicate whipped cream, it’s remarkably sturdy. The cooked flour base stabilizes it, making Ermine less likely to melt or slip on warm days, a real plus in a Southern kitchen, although this recipe is too fabulous to make only in the summertime.
Read the original article on Southern Living
