Bet you never thought that a birthday cake could be nutrient dense! Well, it can and your kids will be smacking their lips and loving every crumb on their plates! When my children have a birthday, I make traditional butter frosting for their birthday cake with deep yellow grassfed butter – preferably raw.
Remember that video lesson I posted on how to make raw butter?
That exact container of raw butter that I showed on camera at the very end was used just a few days later for making the birthday cake buttercream frosting shown in the picture above for my new 10 year old.
Homemade Butter Frosting
If your kids won’t eat much butter, a lovely homemade cake slathered with butter frosting is a great way to get a bunch of this sacred food into their little tummies. My children enjoy it atop devils food cake.
You’re going to make a cake anyway, so why not make it as full of nutrients as possible. Let me also just share with you that butter frosting made with pastured, raw butter is to die for!
You can even make homemade powdered sugar with a whole sweetener like coconut or cane jaggery, sucanat, or palm sugar. Although very healthy, I do not recommend date sugar as it does not dissolve well in frosting recipes.
To make, simply powderize it in your food processor or blender first and use that to blend with the raw butter for an amazing cake topping that will please everyone at the party!
Traditional Butter Frosting Recipe
This traditional recipe for butter frosting is full of healthy fats and uses a whole sweetener that you can feel good serving as the perfect topping for that special cake.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup grassfed butter softened
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1/3 cup whole milk preferably grassfed
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
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Thoroughly powderize whole sweetener of choice (sucanat, jaggery or coconut sugar) in a food processor or blender, sift and measure into a bowl until desired quantity is reached and set aside.
If you cannot get the sugar to powderize sufficiently or do not care for the taste of molasses, use sifted organic powdered white sugar instead.
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In a large glass bowl, whip butter until creamy and fluffy. Gradually beat in 3 cups of the powdered sugar.
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Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla. Beat in the remaining sugar and add additional milk to obtain the desired spreading consistency to the butter frosting.
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Spread the butter frosting on the cake as desired or just enjoy it off the spoon!
Recipe Notes
Never use nonorganic powdered sugar in North America as it will almost certainly contain GMO beet sugar.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Tawnya, I just found this: http://recipestonourish.blogspot.com/2011/11/vanilla-honey-buttercream-frosting.html looks like it works!
Would organic dextrose also be a good sweetener to use, since it contains no fructose?
I use a recipe that has butter and cream cheese. As I don’t bake much and usually just frost for birthday parties I usually just use the store bought stuff but you could easily use the homemade variety. Makes the icing nice and thick for piping.
llana, would love to have that recipe! Thanks from Texas!
Will honey work instead of sugar?
I came to comment that I actually made honey butter frosting and it turned out great. I just beat softened butter with honey (but I have a commercial stand mixer, it needs to be beaten well). It was very stable, even out in the summer heat (though not in direct sunlight) and I used the leftovers on toast. It lasted in a covered container on my counter far longer than plain butter would (several weeks, in fact).
It’s a mildly sweet, buttery frosting, and went lovely on my stinging nettle cake!
How about the recipe for the cake? đŸ™‚
Yes! please post that!
Ditto! Have a birthday this week for #1.
Ok will do. Will try to get that written up this week.
Can’t wait to make this!! I would also loooove to have the recipe for the cake!! It looks sooooo delicious!
My thoughts exactly. That cake looked soooo good.
Ditto! Who can pass on something like THIS???!
ditto – Ditto – DITTO! : )
I would also like a cake recipe. I make a lot of soaked nut cakes. I’m gluten free and would love to make cake I feel good about that isn’t quite as weird.
Last week I actually whipped up raw butter with a little maple syrup and cocoa powder and it made a lovely and low-sugar frosting. The kids dipped strawberries into it for a snack.
Yum – good idea too!
That’s what we did with our raw butter after you posted the tutorial last week. The kids dipped strawberries in it.
Yummm!
Birthday season is approaching here. Thank you for this!!!
Mouth watering đŸ˜‰