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Cake with icing that's not buttercream

34 replies

Tintarella · 15/02/2026 18:07

My DD has a birthday party coming up and I'd like to order her a lovely cake (am rubbish at baking myself). The problem is she doesn't like buttercream or icing made with cream cheese. The only type I've found she does like is the frosting type stuff you get from some supermarkets - no milk or dairy in them, just loads of sugar and lovely e-numbers. Anyone know of any cake makers in London that do that kind of icing (what is it even called?!)? All the ones I've looked at just do buttercream as par for the course.

Indulgent Chocolate Icing | M&S

Our Indulgent Chocolate Icing is a dark delight, made for adding a rich chocolate finish to cakes and desserts.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/food/indulgent-chocolate-icing/p/fdp60505366

OP posts:
Winterwalks90 · 15/02/2026 19:35

Ganache or fondant / sugarpaste are the only alternatives

BuffetTheDietSlayer · 15/02/2026 19:39

Would Ermine frosting work?

CanYouHearYourself · 15/02/2026 19:39

Whyarepeoplesuchwankers · 15/02/2026 18:16

Royal icing would probably be ok but I can't imagine most bday cakes use it?

It's what just about every supermarket birthday/Christmas cake is covered in 🤷

Are they? Surely they are fondant?

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BauhausOfEliott · 15/02/2026 19:43

Whyarepeoplesuchwankers · 15/02/2026 18:15

Get a plain cake and ice it yourself? It's not hard, literally just mixing water and icing sugar in a bowl then using a knife to smoother it once it's on the cake. Add few drops of food colouring too if you want, it ends up much paler than what's in the bottle. You need much much less water than you think in the icing sugar. Else it's really runny and comes straight off. Put it in the fridge when it's done to harden it faster.

Otherwise there's royal icing (no idea what it's made from), comes in a roll, you unwrap it and lay it over the cake like a cover, cut to fit, fold over at the sides and press together with a knife. It doesn't taste as good as icing sugar though IMO.

The stuff that you roll out is fondant icing, not royal icing.

Royal icing is a completely different type of icing.

Ionacat · 15/02/2026 19:44

You can do a royal icing which is egg whites, icing sugar and glycerine.
Chocolate ganache can also be whipped to look like more like buttercream.

Grecia2000 · 15/02/2026 19:50

I make an icing that’s 50 percent fondant and 50 percent marzipan. Properly mixed together it makes a delicious icing

samlovesdilys · 15/02/2026 20:44

Look at the hummingbird Boston blackout cake, it has a chocolate custard icing. If you want to make hard royal icing (in a 1970s Christmas cake style) you can buy a bag of mix on Amazon and add water - otherwise you make fro scratch with egg whites and gelatine (maybe glicerine??!!)

BlueBlueBerries · 15/02/2026 20:47

Swiss buttercream is very light, so much better then a classic butter cream.

blooooooor · 15/02/2026 20:47

Try Cake box 👌🏻 stunning cakes. I hate buttercream as well
https://www.cakebox.com/celebration-cakes/by-design/kids

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