Seven Minute Frosting and a Giveaway
If you are looking for a light, fluffy frosting with tons of vanilla flavor, I’ve got your answer! Whip up a batch of this easy seven minute frosting the next time you bake a cake or cupcakes.
Did you have a nice weekend? Ours was one of the nicer ones we’ve had in a while. It was pretty jam-packed with activity, not a lot of down-time, but we just enjoyed the heck out of it.
On Saturday we had a little league game (as always), and then we headed home to get cleaned up and then right back out for the rest of the day. My brother- and sister-in-law had offered to take my boys to the Franklin Institute for the big Lego exhibit, as a birthday gift to the both of them. They had an absolute blast, and Mr. Allie and I enjoyed some much-needed grownup time, just the two of us. We walked all around the Walnut Street area, popping in and out of shops (the original Anthropologie store and Di Bruno Brothers being a couple favorites!), stopping here and there for a cocktail or two along the way. I’m loving the mixology trend that’s happening right now. The drinks are really fun and unusual, and a bit fussy (in a good way!) so I’m happy to have somebody else making it for me! I had a traditional Pimm’s Cup at Village Whiskey, a blackberry/St. Germain/tequila thing with fresh basil at The Dandelion, and a super ginger-y rum drink with lemongrass at Franklin Mortage. Franklin Mortgage is a really cool, kinda mysterious speakeasy-type bar with some really creative cocktails. If you’re ever in Philly I highly recommend checking it out!
Sunday was equally full, with yet another little league game, our first mow of the season, and me puttering around in the kitchen with this fabulous frosting recipe. Have you ever had Seven-Minute Frosting before? It’s one of my all-time favorites. Made with little more than egg whites, sugar, and vanilla, it’s light as can be and reminds me a lot of marshmallow fluff.
Basically all you do is combine a handful of basic ingredients in a bowl set over simmering water, and whip it for seven minutes. Easy peasy! You’ll love this frosting on chocolate cake– it’s such a classic combo!
Most of the time I rely on my stand mixer when baking, but for certain things, the mobility you get with a hand mixer is a must. This is one of those such things. I used my brand spankin’ new KitchenAid 9-speed Hand Mixer, and it was perfection.
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Seven-Minute Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) cream of tartar
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 2 egg whites
- 1/3 cup (83.33 g) water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, (vanilla extract may be substituted)
Instructions
- Set a pot of water on medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer.
- Place the sugar, cream of tartar, salt, egg whites, and water in a large mixing bowl. Stir on low speed until combined.
- Place the bowl over the simmering water, making sure it rests above the water and not in it. Using an electric hand mixer, whip the mixture on medium-high speed for seven minutes.
- Stir in the vanilla.
Allie, Can I use coconut extract instead of vanilla extract in 7 minute frosting? What would the ratio/quantity be?
To use with your coconut cake recipe. Thanks!
Yes absolutely! You can add it to your own taste- maybe start with 1/2 teaspoon and see how you like it? You can always add more if you like a more pronounced flavor. Good luck!
Hi Allie,
I love this recipe but I want to frost a Raspberry Velvet cake, is this stable enough to take some raspberry purée or would a Swiss Meringue be better do you think?
Hi there! I’m afraid I can’t say for sure as I’ve never tried. But if you feel like experimenting, I’d love to hear about the result! Good luck and enjoy!
It collapsed! I think the acid in the fruit was too overwhelming for the structure, I’ve tried white chocolate in this as well and couldn’t make that work either, in the end I made yet another batch and used gel flavouring and that gave me the usual bowl of luscious ness but with a Raspberry edge, it was eventually a showstopper and I learned along the way!
Gah! I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way you had hoped, but it sounds like you found a great workaround. Thanks for sharing here- I’m sure other readers will appreciate knowing!
Thank you, Allie.
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Hi there, I’m new to your website and everything looks so good. I was wondering if this frosting is good for piping for cupcakes?
Thx
Hi and welcome! To be honest, I would not recommend this recipe for that type of use. It doesn’t seem to hold its shape as well as some of the other frosting recipes on this site. I think you’d probably have much better luck with Swiss meringue buttercream, whipped cream frosting, or the magical cream cheese frosting. Here are some links for you:
Hope that’s helpful!
It’s nice and fluffy but super granular, the sugar isn’t blending 🙁 what am I doing wrong?? Help!
Hey Kat! Sorry you’re having trouble- is the water in the pot simmering? Because it sounds like maybe the sugar’s not dissolving as it should.
I’m going to make your dairy-free coconut cake for Easter this weekend but was going to try & make it in steps. I read that the pastry cream is ok to make ahead of time. What about this frosting?
Hey Ashley! Normally I would say yes, but in the case of this particular frosting recipe, I just want to caution you that it does tend to crust over a bit, and then when you re-whip you end up with a bit of a graininess. It might not matter too much since the whole thing will be covered in coconut flakes anyway, but I just wanted to make you aware!
If I wanted to colour this frosting, would it be ok to add a touch of Americolor gel colour? If so, at what stage of the mixing would you add it? Thanks!
Hey Melanie! Thanks so much for reading. Honestly I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work. I would add it at the very end, just to make sure there’s no problem getting everything whipped up nice and stiff. Good luck and enjoy!
The only thing keeping me from making 7 minute frosting is the mixer! Haven’t quite figured out how to get my stand mixer over a pan of hot water! LOL Thanks for the chance to win ;).
It was the same for me for many years! My pleasure Barb 😉
Does this frosting have a strong enough consistency that it could be used to decorate cakes? Could it be piped into designs on a cake? =)
I think it could- as you can see in the pic, it holds a stiff peak. But in my opinion, the most stable frosting is a Swiss meringue buttercream. I have a recipe here, I’d love it if you gave it a try!
What a fun weekend! And it sounds like you and I have the same taste in cocktails!! I hope we can have one (or two) together sometime. 🙂
How have I never made seven minute frosting? It looks just perfect. I can’t wait to try your recipe.
Oh, I would love that! Thanks so much Marissa!
ooooh I love the texture of this frosting!!
Thanks so much Kayle!
Dang, everything in this post is so cool, Lego exhibit, anthropologie store, cocktails, frosting…!! 🙂
Hehe! Yeah, right??? So glad you enjoyed, thanks for the awesome feedback Nicole!
Seven-minute frosting? Will have to try this!
Yay! I hope you like it Bee! 😀