7 Minute Frosting

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There’s nothing sweeter than an old-fashioned homemade 7-Minute Frosting recipe. It’s made completely from scratch and so simple you will want to whip it up every time you get a craving for something sweet. All you need are a few pantry ingredients, and just about, well, 7 minutes!

Delicious, light, and perfect for all sorts of cakes! 7-minute frosting is a nostalgic recipe that reminds me of my grandmother. It was her go-to frosting recipe and always used on birthday cakes.

I’ve started quite the collection of frostings on this site. Have you tried my bright and fruity raspberry buttercream frosting or my rich and decadent salted caramel frosting? With each one I add, the recipes just get better and better. Take this 7-minute frosting for example – it’s unbelievable.

It has to be my favorite. It’s basically marshmallows in frosting form and I love how it balances out against a fluffy cupcake. I used it to top my favorite banana pudding cupcakes because it resembles the meringue topping on the classic banana pudding dessert. It would also taste amazing on this s’mores cake!

This frosting recipe is made with egg whites, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. There’s no butter or loads of powdered sugar in this recipe. While I love buttercream frosting, sometimes it can be too rich and too sweet.

This marshmallow frosting recipe is not overly sweet and has hints of vanilla. It is shiny and feels silky on the tongue.  This makes it perfect for filling and icing ultra sweet, flavorful cakes. It’s perfect against a rich chocolatey cupcake or chocolate layer cake.

Because this frosting is so soft, it’s not good for piping or intricate designs. You’ll need an offset spatula to spread it on the cake. But you can use a pastry bag and pipe a single big dollop on top of cupcakes – it will hold up well for that.

For this 7 minute frosting recipe, you will need a stainless steel or any heatproof bowl. Put all the ingredients in, except for the vanilla, and whisk or mix with an electric mixer continuously as it heats over a saucepan of simmering water.

You won’t get stiff peaks with this frosting – the corn syrup will make it more like a marshmallow fluff consistency. Once the frosting thickens – this should take just about 5 minutes – remove it from the heat. Add the vanilla and continue to beat it until it’s thick but spreadable.

This usually takes around 2 minutes. A total time of 7 minutes!

What You’ll Need