To celebrate spring, I made these cupcakes and piped them with a delicious, yet light and fluffy, fat-free frosting. I wanted to use a fat-free frosting to mirror the lightness of the season. Spring is such a bright and cheerful time of the year. The flowers start to bloom, trees turn green and everything around us comes to life with color. It’s also a great time of the year to start tending to the gardens again and plant more flowers.
Naturally, I had to pipe a few flower cupcakes, for what would spring be without flowers? I made a few mini flower cupcakes.
And I also made a few medium flower cupcakes.
I find this white cake recipe really delicious, moist and soft. With one recipe I was able to make two dozen medium size cupcakes and one dozen mini size cupcakes. I suppose if I wasn’t as generous in scooping the batter into each muffin cup, and if I had decided to make them all medium size, the recipe could yield three dozen medium size cupcakes. For a cake that’s completely fat free, try funfetti angel food cake with non-fat frosting.
The fluffy, light, fat-free, cloud-like frosting is one of my favorites. It is made by very slowly pouring hot syrup made of water and sugar over three egg whites while whipping the egg whites at medium low speed. On high heat, the syrup is first brought to a rapid boil. I use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature. When the syrup reaches around 225 F, I start whipping the egg whites first on low then increasing to medium low until the egg whites start to take shape. When the syrup reaches around 230 F, I reduce the mixer speed to medium and start to pour the syrup in a very small trickle into the egg whites. I pour only about a third of the syrup, then return the pot to heat the syrup up back to 230 F.
This photo was taken after pouring the first third of the syrup. The frosting is still soft, but has started to increase in volume. The bowl will be hot to the touch as shown by the heat condensation on the sides of the bowl.
Once the syrup reaches 230 F again, I reduce the mixer speed back to medium low and slowly pour about ½ of the remaining syrup. I repeat the procedure and return the pot back to the heat and switch the mixer speed back up to high. Again when the syrup reaches 230 F, I pour the last of the remaining syrup over the frosting with the mixer speed on medium low. Once all the syrup has been poured, I gradually increase the mixer speed all the way up to high and whip the frosting for about 5 – 7 minutes until the bowl has cooled to the touch, and the frosting has reached stiff peaks and lost its shine. I make sure to add the vanilla sometime while the frosting is whipping on high. In this photo, all the syrup has been poured in. You can see that the frosting is thicker because of the marks made by the beater.
This photo was taken after about 4 minutes of beating at high speed after all the syrup had been poured in. There is less condensation on the sides of the bowl as it starts to cool off. The marks made by the beater on the frosting become even more pronounced.
This frosting is almost done. You can see a few stiff peaks next to the beater. I continued to beat just a few minutes more to make sure the frosting was stiff and thick all the way through the bottom and not just in the surface. How long the frosting is whipped will depend largely on the mixer, but as a rule of thumb, I whip the frosting between 5 – 7 minutes on high after all the syrup has been added. Cues will be, the frosting will be very thick all the way through and will hold stiff peaks. The bowl should also be cool to the touch.
The frosting has reached stiff peaks, is very thick and fluffy and the condensation on the sides of the bowl has disappeared as the bowl has cooled down. At this point, since I wanted to have 3 different colors of frosting, I removed about 2/3 of the frosting from the bowl, left about 1/3 to tint with a few drops of blue food color. I divided the 2/3 frosting I removed from the bowl in half in separate bowls. I added a few drops of pink food color to one bowl and yellow to the other. I also made sure to mix each bowl thoroughly to distribute the color evenly.
It’s amazing just three egg whites and a small amount of syrup can yield so much frosting. I had 4 piping bags filled with frosting. Once I had all my piping bags lined up, it took just a matter of minutes to frost the cupcakes.
This is how I filled the icing bags:
- 1 large 16” piping bag with 1M tip – filled with blue frosting
- 1 medium 12” piping bag with tip 21 – filled with pink frosting
- 1 medium 12” piping bag with tip 21 – filled with yellow frosting
- 1 medium 12” piping bag with tip 103 – filled with blue frosting
I used tip 21 to pipe frosting on the mini cupcakes.
I started on the outer edge of the cupcake and swirled the frosting going round about 3 or 4 times until I reached the desired height.
To pipe the frosting on the medium cupcakes, I used the 1M tip.
Again, I just used the same technique starting at the outer edge of the cupcake going round to build a huge mound of frosting.
And what would cupcakes be without having a few with pink frosting?
Tip 21 was used to pipe this frosting on this cupcake.
It’s a field of cupcakes. This is one field I wouldn’t mind running through.
To pipe flowers, I used tip 103 for the petals, starting on the outer edge with the narrow part of the tip facing outward. For the center of the flowers I used tip 21 starting at the middle going round twice. It’s the same technique I used for the Ruffle Cupcakes.
Spring is all about light and airiness and I thought the fat-free frosting really went well with the cupcakes. The cake part itself was so good I could have had the cupcakes by themselves unfrosted. The cupcakes were consumed immediately so I didn’t have to worry about storage. I’ll have to come up with more things befitting spring. Until then…
Happy baking!
- 3 cups cake flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 ¼ cups sugar
- 4 egg whites
- ¾ cups canned coconut milk
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water
- 3 egg whites
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
- Mix together coconut milk and regular milk.
- Beat butter on medium speed using flat paddle attachment until smooth, creamy and free of lumps.
- Still on medium speed, gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add egg whites one at a time beating well after each addition to incorporate.
- Switch speed to medium low and add ⅓ of the sifted dry ingredients mixing well. Alternate with about ½ of the milk mixture and continue to mix. Repeat the procedure ending with the dry ingredients beating only until batter is smooth and creamy.
- Add the vanilla and mix until well blended.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake liners. Do not overfill.
- Bake in oven for 18 -20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks.
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt and water.
- Stir gently until more or less combined. The mixture will fully blend once it starts to boil. Do not stir once the syrup starts to boil.
- Turn on heat to medium high. Monitor temperature with a candy thermometer.
- When syrup reaches between 220 F and 225 F, start whipping the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium high speed using wire whip attachment of a stand mixer.
- Once the syrup reaches around 230 F and at the same time egg whites start to hold shape, switch mixer speed to medium, remove saucepan from heat and very slowly, in a thin stream, pour hot syrup into the egg whites, between the beater and the bowl to avoid splatters. Pour about ⅓ of the syrup.
- Return saucepan to heat to bring temperature back up to about 230 F. At the same time, increase mixer speed back up to medium high. When the syrup returns to 230 F, switch mixer speed back to medium and slowly pour ½ of the remaining syrup. Repeat procedure, returning the rest of the syrup to the heat to bring it back up to 230 F, while increasing mixer speed back to medium high.
- Once the last of the syrup has been poured in, increase mixer speed to medium high. Bowl will be hot to the touch. Mix in vanilla extract. Whip frosting until thick, glossy and holds stiff peaks. The bowl at this point will have cooled down.
- Tint frosting as desired and transfer to icing bags to pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Use immediately.
Spring Cupcakes with Fat-Free Frosting
I’m looking to makes a 60th birthday cake for someone who can only tolerate a max of 3g fat per 100g do you have any suggestions as the cupcakes look amazing
Hi Alison,
This frosting would be ok, but the cupcakes do have fat in them. Chiffon cupcakes would probably work. Just take any chiffon cake recipe and bake it as cupcakes instead.
Could liquid honey replace the golden syrup?
Hi Sophie,
That’s a good question. I haven’t tried replacing the corn syrup with honey. That’s something I’ll have to try out first to know for sure. I will do a test some time if I get a chance. Thank you for the note.
Great post! My dad has to eat an extremely low-fat diet but loves chocolate. I have a great chocolate cake recipe but have been looking for a fluffy (not runny!) frosting recipe. Any ideas on how I can make your frosting chocolate without compromising the fluffiness?
Hi Stephanie,
For this type of meringue frosting, the key to achieving maximum volume is to make sure your egg whites are separated cleanly from the yolks without the slightest trace of yolk in them. Also, you have to make sure your bowl and beaters are very clean with no residue of fat. Bear in mind that weather can also be a factor. Hot and humid weather can affect the fluffiness of the frosting. It is still possible as I’ve done it a couple of times when the weather was hot, but you just have to whip the egg whites well with a good stand mixer.
Hi! Gorgeous cupcakes! I have an annual order for fat-free cupcakes for a little boy who can’t digest fats. This topping looks yummmmmmy! What could I do with the leftover frosting? Freeze/refrigerate/ toss out?
Hi Rabia,
This type of frosting is best used immediately soon after it’s made. I use the whole batch and don’t keep any leftovers.
Hi,
I love your blog & cooking! =)
Especially this one! =)
I have a question,
I would like to use the white cake recipe to bake a cake and use this amazing fat-free frosting recipe to put on the cake.
I’m not very familiar with cups. Do you may have any idea of how the cake would turn out? (could I bake more than one cake using this recipe)?
Thank you very much!
Hi Romy,
You can bake a 3-layer 8″ round cake out of the cake recipe and the cake will come out fairly tall. If you want to bake more than one cake, you can use smaller pans, maybe 7″ or 6″ round pans, divide the batter into 4 and you will have enough layers to make 2 cakes with 2 layers each.
Thank you very much for your reply. You have helped very much. =) I have one other question (I just noticed) What kind of sugar did you use? (confectioners or granulated sugar)
Thank you
Romy
Hi Romy,
Granulated sugar.
Can I add raspberry jam into the icing to give it a fruity flavour? or would it mess up the icing?
Hi Holly,
I haven’t tried adding jam to this type of frosting. I have a feeling the jam might deflate it. Instead, you might want to try adding some kind of fruit extract such as orange or cherry.
finally found a recipe thats fat free! just a qn though, will it work if i cut the sugar in half as my family doesnt really like sweet stuff.
Hi Yin,
I haven’t tried cutting the sugar in half, but I would guess it would still come out ok. I would think you would also have to adjust the proportions of the other ingredients.
Hi,
These cupcakes look beautiful and delicious.
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
I had 1 question though can we substitute sugar free for the sugar in the recipe or what are the options to decrease the amount of sugar used?
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the note. I haven’t tried sugar substitutes with any of my recipes so I can’t really say for sure. You’ll just have to experiment. As for reducing the amount of regular sugar, it might be possible to reduce it by 1/4 cup but again, this is something I have yet to try.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply i had one more question for you
does the frosting loose its shape or deflates after being applied on cupcakes what is the best way to store it.
Hi Tracy,
The frosting will hold after it is piped on the cupcakes. When I make these cupcakes they are either consumed or I give them away on the same day, so I haven’t had to think about storing them. But I would say just keep them in a cake dome.
Will the icing need to be refrigerated?
Hi Robin,
The icing is best used immediately. I’ve left the cupcakes out at room temperature for several hours. They’ve always been consumed within the day, so I’ve never had to worry about storage. But if I had left overs, I would store them in a plastic cupcake container and refrigerate.
I love your cupcakes!!!
I really want to trie them, but I have got one question…1cup much in gram?
thank you!
Hi Julia, apologies, I should’ve weighed the ingredients for the benefit of those who bake by weight. Over here, baking is usually done by measuring the ingredients by volume, i.e., cup, teaspoon. I will include the weight next time, whenever I can. Meantime, if you are able to purchase measuring cups and spoons that would enable you to follow any type of recipe that’s measured by volume. Regards!
1 cup all-purpose white flour equals 128 g or 4.5 oz.
These look really lovely, think I may have a go! The colours are beautiful
Thanks, Angela.
Hi! I’m one of those people with an incredible sweet tooth.
I am constantly craving sweets, but as of late, I’ve been on the hunt
for healthy and better alternatives for the sake of my waistline.
My favorite dessert is cupcakes and I just started a cupcake blog devoted to healthy cupcake recipes.
I’ve assembled the whole array of healthy cupcake
recipes, including vegan cupcakes, gluten free
cupcakes, low calorie cupcakes, and of course – fruit cupcakes.
Hi! Your blog is nice and I like the idea of healthy cupcakes.
So very pretty! Look at all those colors!
Thanks, Julia!
Any idea how long this frosting would be stable? If I made it for, say, a potluck and it would sit on a table for a few hours, would it be okay, or would it be a dripping mess by the time dessert is served? Very intrigued… thank you!
Hi Holly,
I would say it would be pretty stable for a few hours. It is soft compared to regular buttercream, so it doesn’t crust. If you have to transport them, you would have to be careful because this frosting doesn’t harden. I wouldn’t pipe the frosting so high if the cupcakes would have to be transported. If you do decide to try it, let me know how it turns out if you get a chance. Thanks!
Those look amazing, and I’m dying to try that frosting.
Can you replace the coconut milk in the cake recipe with whole/regular milk? I don’t usually have coconut milk on hand.
Hi Natalie,
Yes, I haven’t tried the recipe with whole milk, but I would think it would work too.
Fat free!!! WOW! I’ll try that as soon as possible!
Thanks!
Your cupcakes look absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks, Rosie!