11 Creative Methods to Enhance Store-Bought Frosting

If you’re starting your baking journey and taking those first baby steps in the kitchen, using store-bought frosting is a wonderful idea! Its ease of use, shelf stability, and consistency make it convenient for numerous pastry projects, eliminating the stress of making frosting at home.

You can find it in most standard grocery stores in the baking section, it’s typically right next to the boxed cake mixes. Store-bought frosting comes in various flavors like vanilla, chocolate, cream cheese, and even butterscotch. It’s a saving grace when creating a layered cake, whipping up cupcakes, or even decorating sugar cookies for the holiday season. Store-bought frosting generally has a sweet, buttery flavor with a creamy yet dense texture. 

As a pastry chef and sweet treat fanatic, I secretly love using it to frost my confectionery creations whenever I’m in a pinch for time or feeling too lazy to whip a batch of homemade frosting. Plus, it’s the perfect way to satisfy a sweet tooth with any desserts on hand. However, sometimes it just needs a little boost of improvement to take it from being good to great! Whether adding a handful of chopped nuts, sprinkling in some fried dried fruit, or mixing in a splash of brandy, taking a small step to elevate your store-bought frosting will kick your desserts up a notch! Here are 11 fun and clever ways to improve your store-bought frosting.

The most obvious way to enhance your store-bought frosting is simply by adding some chocolate. If you have vanilla or cream cheese frostings, you’re in luck since they blend perfectly with the dark color and rich flavor of chocolate. The best way to incorporate the chocolate is to melt and fold it into the frosting. Melting chocolate can be tricky, as there is potential for it to burn or become brittle, so the safest method is in the microwave in intervals or over a double boiler. For those unfamiliar with a double boiler—also known as a bain marie—you bring a pot of water to a boil and place a bowl over it to trap the steam. The gentle, indirect heat melts the chocolate without burning it.

You also don’t have to melt the chocolate to incorporate it. If you want a crunchy texture, add some chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. You can even add cocoa powder if you don’t have chocolate in your pantry, or if you have leftover ganache from making the Decadent Chocolate Macarons Recipe, melt it again and use that. Whether it’s melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or leftover ganache, adding rich chocolate flavor will improve your store-bought frosting.

One of the best qualities of store-bought frosting is its long shelf life. Generally, it can last unopened for around 12 to 18 months. However, if it has been sitting on a grocery store shelf or in a pantry for a long time, the texture becomes dense and difficult to manage. The last thing you want is to spread tough frosting on a beautifully baked cake, causing it to crumble into pieces.

You could throw it away and head to the store for another container, but why waste it? This problem is easy to fix with a mixer. Whether you use a stand or a handheld mixer, the consistency will return to normal in no time!

Whipping it in the mixer can also be handy if you’re looking to expand the volume of your frosting. Essentially, whipping will double the amount of frosting by incorporating air bubbles. The texture will be lighter, creamier, and fluffier, resulting in a delightful consistency. Applying more air to your store-bought frosting will make it much easier to manage when spreading it on your cakes and cupcakes. Next time you need to fix flat frosting or improve the texture, simply whip it in a mixer until it reaches your desired volume and consistency.

Incorporating dye into your store-bought frosting will give it the pop of color needed to take it to the next level. You can use food dye, and in most grocery stores’ baking sections, you’ll likely find all the colors of the rainbow. However, if you want to take a more natural route, there are many ways to color your frosting without artificial food dye. When thinking of natural ingredients for food dye, think outside the box like a pastry chef!

Professional pastry chefs often blitz freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries into a powder and use it as a substitute for pink or red dye. Depending on how much you use, you can give your frosting either a light pink or deep red hue. Matcha is another common ingredient, providing a vibrant green color. If green isn’t your color, try spirulina powder for a beautiful blue. For a bright yellow, add a dash of turmeric powder, or for a subtle orange hue, blitz up some freeze-dried carrots.

Whatever ingredients you use, consider that they might slightly alter the flavor of your frosting. Be sure to select a cake that pairs well with the flavors you are using so you’re not accidentally putting turmeric frosting on a chocolate cake. Whether you use pastry-grade food dye or grind up freeze-dried fruit for a natural option, adding color will elevate your frosting.

Sometimes, all a store-bought frosting is crunchy texture. Incorporating some crunchy texture into store-bought frosting is a great way to give it a more homemade feel.

Nuts are an excellent choice if you want your frosting to have a satisfying crunch. There are a variety of nuts you can use; however, depending on the frosting you’ve bought, you want to make sure it pairs well. If you have a chocolate frosting, nuts like hazelnuts, almonds, and pecans complement the rich chocolatey flavors. For a vanilla buttercream frosting, try using some chopped pistachios. The distinct buttery flavor of the pistachio is absolutely divine, combined with the richness of the vanilla frosting. Whichever nut you choose, you can either chop them on a cutting board for a coarser texture or blitz them in the food processor into a powder for a subtler texture. If you want even more flavor, you can roast them for a few minutes in the oven to bring out the natural oils.

If you have a nut allergy, try using ingredients like shredded coconut, peanut brittle, chopped dark chocolate, crushed peppermint candies, or even sprinkles. Make sure your frosting is at your desired consistency beforehand, otherwise, it might be difficult if you want to incorporate other ingredients. Whether you use chopped nuts or rainbow sprinkles, adding crunchy ingredients will give the frosting a more dynamic and unique texture—you might even forget it’s not homemade!

Boosting the flavor of your store-bought frosting is an excellent way to take it up a notch. It goes without saying that there’s already a base flavor in the frosting.

There are many ways you can boost the flavor of your frosting. One of the simplest ways is adding a splash of an extract like vanilla, peppermint, almond, or cinnamon. Another way is adding spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. If you’re hosting an adults-only dinner party and want to make a boozy frosting to pair with some chocolate cake, try adding dark liquor like dark rum, bourbon, amaro, or brandy. These aged spirits will provide a comforting flavor of warm spices and earthiness, which is excellent at cutting through the richness of the frosting. You can even add nut spreads like pistachio, almond, or peanut butter and use it as a frosting for these Bakery-Style Peanut Butter Cookies.

For a creative twist, you can add a splash of rose water. If you have a store-bought vanilla frosting, rose water’s slightly sweet and floral flavor will pair with it flawlessly. You can freeze this delicious Olive Oil Polenta Cake from the Tasting Table or pipe it onto your Christmas sugar cookies for a unique flair to your holiday baking production.

Fresh fruit or jam is a fantastic way to improve your store-bought frosting. If you’re concerned about the processed flavor of the frosting, it’s a wonderful addition to balance out the taste with some natural freshness.

For fruit, it’s key to pick out ones that are soft and ripe, so they can easily be blended into the frosting. Try to veer away from fruits with a high water content, like melons and stone fruits, to avoid watering down the consistency of the frosting. Fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, and cherries are easily blended into store-bought frosting. The best way to achieve smooth consistency and avoid chunks of fruit is by mixing it with an immersion blender or food processor.

Try adding a handful of cherries to a dark chocolate frosting to complete the richness, or toss some raspberries into the cream cheese frosting to add a bit of tartness. You can even blend a banana into the vanilla frosting and smear it on top of this Brown Butter Banana Bread Recipe.

If you want to use a jam instead, no problem! It couldn’t be easier to incorporate jam into store-bought frosting; all you have to do is add a spoonful and mix until you’ve reached your desired flavor. Feel free to use any jam you have on hand, whether it’s cinnamon apple, blueberry, peach, or pear.

While store-bought might already be pretty creamy, what’s wrong with making it extra creamy? There are plenty of ways to introduce more creaminess into your frosting. The best way is to utilize dairy products that contain a high fat content.

Cream cheese is a prime example. It adds a mouthwatering tanginess to the frosting you can’t find in any other ingredient. Use it as a base for red velvet cake or whoopie pies. The tart tanginess complements the sweetness of the desserts perfectly. If you want it to be extra creamy, add mascarpone cheese. The fat content is higher than cream cheese, resulting in a more decadent frosting. You can just keep it simple by adding butter, too. Why bother picking up an extra ingredient when you can use what’s already in your fridge? Butter is a great way to balance out the overpowering sweetness that store-bought frosting is well-known for—plus it’ll create a richer frosting, making it even more flavorful.

Incorporating creaminess will not only improve the flavor but also the texture. The fat from dairy products helps the frosting become less stiff, making it much easier to spread on your desserts. Anytime you are adding a dairy product, you want to make sure that your chosen ingredient and the store-bought frosting are at room temperature before mixing them. This will allow the two ingredients to mix together homogeneously, preventing them from breaking apart.

If you’ve got a warm kitchen from baking sweet treats in your oven all day, chances are the store-bought frosting you picked up from the grocery store is a little thin. No need to panic—you can easily thicken it with ingredients you probably have in your pantry.

To thicken store-bought frosting, gradually add confectioners’ sugar and mix until your desired consistency. It’s best to incorporate it in a stand or handheld mixer to ensure it blends into the frosting evenly and smoothly. Also, be sure to sift your confectioners’ sugar beforehand because the last thing anyone wants on their desserts is clumpy frosting. If you don’t have confectioners’ sugar in your pantry, you can use corn or potato starch in a pinch; however, it might leave a tacky, dry consistency.

Once it’s thickened, you can use your newly improved store-bought frosting to decorate various desserts. Place it in a piping bag, put on your apron, and get to work! Use it to create intricate designs on your cakes or gingerbread houses during the holiday season. Let your creativity flow with your frosting and test out new pastry tricks like this pretty way to decorate cakes with just a spoon and a bag. You can even replace cream cheese frosting in this Red Velvet Whoopie Pie Recipe use some thickened store-bought frosting instead. The thick frosting will adhere to the whoopie pies, so you don’t have to worry about it spilling out from the sides.

Occasionally, you can be on the latter, and your store-bought frosting is as thick as a brick. This commonly happens with store frosting since it may be sitting on the grocery shelf for a while. Thankfully, a few ingredients can help thin out your frosting. You can either use milk, heavy cream, or even water. Dairy products are best since they can incorporate some additional creaminess, but water is totally fine.

Anytime you’re low on frosting, it’s ideal to do it in a stand or handheld mixer so you don’t risk separating the fat molecules. Start with a teaspoon and gradually add the liquid until your desired consistency is reached. Adding liquid too quickly can result in runny frosting. If you make this mistake, add sifted confectioners’ sugar to thicken it. You can use the thinned-out store-bought frosting to decorate sugar cookies, gingerbread houses, layered cakes, or to make a glaze for your desserts. If you don’t have any piping bags in your kitchen, use Food Republic’s neat parchment paper hack to make them at home.

Adding citrus to store-bought frosting is an excellent way to take it to the next level. If you want some sour flavor, add a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of zest from the rind. You can also keep it classic with a squeeze of orange juice. Yuzu, a citrus commonly used in Japanese cuisine, is a great way to give the frosting a zesty punch of flavor. You can even use grapefruit! The tartness from the grapefruit juice will cut through the sweetness of the frosting incredibly well! Plus, it’ll give your frosting a vibrant pinkish color.

You can even add some minced preserved lemons. The salty, tangy flavor is slightly different from fresh lemons. It has a mellow, acidic taste with a slight bitterness that would go well with the tanginess of store-bought cream cheese frosting. Whether it be the zest from a lemon, a squeeze of orange juice, or a teaspoon of yuzu paste, it’ll improve the frosting and give it a unique, tasty twist.

Just remember, to keep it simple in the kitchen—sometimes, all a store-bought frosting needs is a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to give it the flavor boost it needs. If you happen to be making this Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake and don’t feel like making the glaze, just pick up a vanilla frosting from the grocery store and squeeze in lemon juice.