Frosting Face-Off: The 6 Types of Frosting (and How to Pick the Right One)

From cream cheese to meringue, here’s the science behind each style (and when to use them).

Sep 14, 2025

You might be surprised to learn—especially if you're in the U.S.—that cream cheese frosting wasn’t originally paired with Red Velvet Cake. In fact, that now-iconic combo didn’t really take off until the 1960s, when Philadelphia Cream Cheese began promoting it in printed recipes as part of their national marketing campaigns. Before that was the traditional topping, Ermine frosting—a fluffy, lightly sweetened buttercream made by cooking flour and milk together.

I know it might sound strange to imagine Red Velvet without cream cheese, but Ermine frosting (sometimes called "boiled milk frosting") was the original and if I’m being honest, it’s still my favorite. It’s softer, less sweet than American buttercream, and surprisingly stable.

So today, we’re diving into the six major frosting types, when to use them, how they work, and a little food safety science to go with each one. Whether you’re piping roses, layering wedding cakes, or just swooping something delicious on a cinnamon roll, this guide will help you choose the right frosting—and understand why it behaves the way it does.

Let’s dig in.

🧁 1. American Buttercream

Ingredients: Butter + powdered sugar + milk or cream
Texture: Dense, very sweet, slightly gritty
Structure: Fat-based
Best for: Cupcakes, kids’ cakes, decorations
Shelf Life: Very stable at room temp

A straightforward fat and sugar emulsion. The cornstarch in powdered sugar adds thickening and helps absorb moisture. It’s shelf-stable because of the high sugar content, which lowers water activity (aw), reducing microbial risk (FDA). However, it lacks the emulsifiers or proteins that create a silky texture in more advanced frostings.

🧀 2. Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients: Cream cheese + butter + powdered sugar
Texture: Soft, tangy, slightly sticky
Structure: Water-in-fat emulsion
Best for: Carrot cake, red velvet, cinnamon rolls
Shelf Life: Refrigeration required

Cream cheese introduces water content and acidity. According to Essentials of Food Science, the lower pH from lactic acid bacteria affects protein interactions, softening structure. Its higher moisture content means it's less pipeable and less stable than pure butter-based frostings, especially in warm environments.

Tip: Adding too much powdered sugar can destabilize the emulsion, making it weep.

🌾 3. Ermine Frosting (Boiled Milk Frosting)

Ingredients: Flour + milk + sugar (cooked) + butter
Texture: Airy, custard-like, less sweet
Structure: Starch gel + fat emulsion
Best for: Old-fashioned cakes (esp. Red Velvet!)
Shelf Life: Must be refrigerated

Cooking flour and milk creates starch gelatinization, forming a pudding-like base. Once cooled, butter is beaten in, creating a stable emulsion. The flour provides thickening (via amylose/amylopectin chains), while the cooked sugar offers a silky mouthfeel without excessive sweetness. Refrigeration is necessary due to the milk content.

🥚 4. Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients: Egg whites + sugar (warmed) + butter
Texture: Smooth, creamy, less sweet
Structure: Egg white foam + fat emulsion
Best for: Layer cakes, macarons
Shelf Life: Refrigerate; sensitive to temperature swings

Egg whites and sugar are heated to ~160°F over a bain-marie (to pasteurize and denature proteins), then whipped into a meringue. Butter is added gradually, creating a silky emulsion. As noted in ScienceDirect, Swiss meringue has superior mouthfeel due to microfoam stabilization but can curdle if too cold or melt if too warm.

🇮🇹 5. Italian Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients: Egg whites + hot sugar syrup + butter
Texture: Airy, rich, refined
Structure: Cooked sugar foam + fat emulsion
Best for: Wedding cakes, mousse cakes
Shelf Life: Refrigeration ideal

Science Snapshot: Hot sugar syrup (240°F) is slowly added to whipped egg whites, cooking them and forming a stable foam. The IHA notes this style is favored by professional decorators for its pipeability and shelf stability. Butter is added to create a rich, yet light-textured frosting. It’s the most stable of the meringue-based frostings once emulsified correctly.

🇫🇷 6. French Buttercream

Ingredients: Egg yolks + hot sugar syrup + butter
Texture: Decadent, custardy, luxurious
Structure: Egg yolk foam + fat emulsion
Best for: Éclairs, tarts, special-occasion cakes
Shelf Life: Refrigeration required

This frosting uses egg yolks instead of whites, giving it a custard-like richness. Sugar syrup cooks the yolks and stabilizes them while providing gloss. The lecithin in egg yolks is a natural emulsifier (FDA), helping butter bind with the sugar-yolk base into an ultra-smooth consistency. Because it contains raw-ish egg yolk and dairy, it’s highly perishable.

👩‍🔬 Final Thoughts:

Each frosting is a masterclass in emulsion science, balancing sugar, fat, moisture, and air. Want a rich pipeable frosting? Go American. A less sweet, luxurious finish? Try Swiss or French. For something nostalgic and unique, Ermine’s your underdog.

Let your texture goals, flavor preferences, and storage conditions guide your pick.

👩‍🔬 Want More?

Want to learn more? Have a questions? Reply and let me know—I always love talking about the science behind baking.

Stay Sweet,
Sarah @HalfBatchBaking