Frosting clay? Yeah, I made up the term. It’s buttercream frosting made malleable, a delicious alternative to fondant.
Frosting clay
Frosting clay has the same ingredients as buttercream frosting, but it’s similar in texture to fondant or candy clay. Frosting clay first appeared on my blog years ago, in this guest post on “sculptable frosting” by Cheryl of Sew Can Do. I’ve been meaning to revisit this delicious fondant alternative for years.
Pretty much every cake decorator and cookie decorator I have ever known has agreed that fondant can’t be beat for it’s texture when you’re decorating. You can roll it out, cover cookies and cake, make cupcake toppers and other decorations.
But the cloying taste is just not that appealing. Frosting clay to the rescue! If you like buttercream frosting, you’ll like the taste of this edible clay.
Frosting clay vs fondant
As I mentioned above, this buttercream frosting clay is a fantastic substitute for fondant. Mostly. Because it’s made with butter, it will have a more greasy feel, so it’s a bit messier to work with.
It also does not have the coverage that fondant has. You can roll out a large piece of fondant to cover a cake seamlessly. Frosting clay really doesn’t have the same properties to cover a whole cake.
Frosting clay is best for small decorations, such as the ladybugs, flowers, and caterpillars you see here.
watch this short video to learn to make frosting clay
how to make frosting clay
you will need:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick, or 113 grams) softened butter
- 1 tablespoon milk (whole milk used here)
- dash vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 4 to 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
- what to do:
Place the butter, milk, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a standing mixer. Blend well. Add the confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, blending after each addition, until the consistency is that of a dough and is it is not very sticky.
Divide the clay and tint any colors you like. You may roll out, cut out, and shape the frosting clay however you like. If the clay gets sticky, dust your hands with confectioner’s sugar. If it softens, place in the refrigerator for a bit until it hardens.
Store leftover frosting clay in the refrigerator. It will harden when chilled, so let it come to room temperature before using again.
how to color frosting clay
Place a few drops of food coloring, I recommend Americolor Soft Gel Pastes, on a chunk of frosting clay. Knead very well. Use confectioner’s sugar on your hands if the clay becomes too sticky. The food coloring will dye your hands, so you might want to consider using gloves.
how to work with frosting clay
You can treat frosting clay as you do fondant (when making small decorations, not large-scale decorating) or even when you play with Play-Doh.
You can roll it out on a surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Cut out shapes with mini cookie cutters or fondant cutters. Form shapes and use toothpicks to add accents.
You can also use food coloring pens sparingly on the surface of frosting clay. Because it has a butter base and it’s soft, you can’t draw a significant amount on the surface with food coloring pens, but you can use them to make dots, such as those for the lady bug or the caterpillar’s eyes.
how to make bugs cookie or cupcake toppers
These bug cookies are topped with frosting clay bugs that are very similar to these fondant bugs.
Bake circle cookies with this cut-out sugar cookie recipe.
For the worm, I tinted the clay with Electric Green, rolled pieces into different-sized balls, and added two dots for eyes with a black food coloring pen.
For the lady bug, I colored the clay Red Red and Black, rolled the two balls and added black dots.
For the flowers, I rolled out the Electric Pink, Sky Blue, and Yellow clay. I used little cutters to cut out the flower shapes and circles, and gently pressed the pieces together.
For the grass, prepare regular buttercream frosting, tint Leaf Green, and assemble a decorating bag with the grass tip. Pipe green grass on your cookies or cupcakes and arrange the fondant clay bugs. Let set well.
FROSTING CLAY: Turn buttercream frosting into a delicious alternative to fondant. Sculptable frosting for cake and cookie decorating.frosting “clay”
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 431Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 11mgCarbohydrates: 110gFiber: 0gSugar: 108gProtein: 0g 
Denise says
Can you make toppers ahead and freeze?
meaghanmountford says
I haven’t tried to freeze them, but it may be worth testing. Buttercream frosting tends to freeze quite well. I’d be a bit concerned about the condensation and moisture. For cookies, I let them thaw totally in their container before opening to help prevent condensation.
Haidee says
Hello. I’m wondering if this will work with a sugar free sweetener like erythritol. Do you know if anyone has done this?
meaghanmountford says
Hi Haidee, I’m not sure! I think as long as it has the same texture (powdery, not grainy) it is worth trying.
Rebecca Birkin says
I loved this recipe! My daughter wanted a cake with frogs and lily pads, and I didn’t want to make or buy fondant. I had fun making the frog, lily pad, and flowers. This was so great–a bit like fondant but it tastes good, and the frog looked adorable! Thank you
meaghanmountford says
That’s wonderful, thank you so much Rebecca!
Chase says
I was thinking of using this to make a little nameplate and stick to the side of a round cake. I’ve use this recipe before to make cupcake toppers, but I’m wondering if you’ve tried sticking it to a vertical surface and if it stayed in place after it dried a little bit.
meaghanmountford says
Ah, good question. I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. It’s no heavier than fondant, I don’t think. Maybe roll a bit more thinly?
Saskia says
Please could you clarify what the issue is with covering a whole cake? Is it that it doesn’t “drape” like fondant, or is the problem that large pieces are difficult to handle (e.g. it tends to fall apart)? I was hoping to cover my daughters cake with this as she hates fondant, the plan was that I wouldn’t be draping it over the cake, but cutting it to size and applying it to the top and sides (it’s a Minecraft cake so it’s all very square!), do you think it would work for this?
Thanks!
meaghanmountford says
Hi Saskia! I have a feeling that rolling out a large piece and yes (like you said) draping along the side would be a headache because it would fall apart. I do think if you’re just making it for the very top AND adding decorations on the side, you would have better luck. If you have the time before, maybe a test batch would be a good idea so you can get a feel for how it rolls out? Another option is to frost the cake with frosting and use the clay for the Minecraft decorations. Good luck!!!! (I have a Minecraft loving daughter, too.)
Saskia says
Thank you very much for your reply! Inspired by your advice I have come up with what I hope is a solution, I’m going to cover the whole thing in buttercream, then use the clay to make pieces to stick on top of parts of it, hopefully this will be a lot easier! It’s the classic “Minecraft cake” (as in, the actual cake that appears in the game, which just looks like a pixelated cake) that I’m making so it should be fairly straightforward, as most of the top half is just white, so it’ll look fine if it’s just buttercream.
meaghanmountford says
this sounds great! I think it will be an awesome cake! I’m sure you’re already on top of this, but I’m guessing you’ll have to have black frosting clay? If so, I recommend Americolor Soft Gel Pastes. You’ll need a LOT of food coloring to get black, and I find Americolor is the most efficient with this.
Maria says
Great fondant alternative, thank you! Do you think these would work as accents (Eyes, hats, arms, etc.) on a chocolate covered cake pop? And if so, could they be wrapped in a baggie without it affecting the frosting clay accent?
meaghanmountford says
Hi Maria, I do think that would work. I’d let it set well (maybe a dab of corn syrup to adhere). I also think if it sits out long enough to “harden” it will be fine in a baggie as long as the cake pops aren’t stacked tightly.
Kathy Reed says
Can frosting clay be used on royal icing?
meaghanmountford says
Hi Kathy, great question! You can. A couple options: If you’re adhering frosting clay decorations on royal icing that has been left to dry overnight, use a dab of light corn syrup to attach. If you’re adding the decorations to wet royal icing, they should stick that way, but be careful not to move around or mess up the royal icing.
Barb says
Hi There
I am looking for an alternative to fondant since neither me or hubby likes it, even in little portions.
What I would like to do, is use Fondant Molds. Put the Frosting inside the mold, FREEZE until firm, then (hopefully) Unmold and attach (with dab of frosting) the piece to a cookie as an accent piece.
I have a small Dove mold that I would like to put on top of Heart shaped Chocolate Valentine cookies.
Also if it does come cleanly out of the mold, freeze them until ready to use.
Think something like this would work? Would the piece lose it’s shape and sort of soften into a blob? Of course being cream cheese, the cookies will be refrigerated until serving time!
Thanks!
meaghanmountford says
Hi Barb, that’s a great question, and I haven’t tried what you’re suggestions, so I can only guess. Buttercream does freeze quite well, so it might be worth trying. It’s firm enough it should hold it’s shape. The trick would be getting it out of the mold cleanly. I would love to know if you do it and if it works!
Lisa says
HI Meaghan
What a cool recipe! I can’t wait to try it! Quick question, how far ahead of time can the frosting clay be made. I would store it in the refrigerator once made.
Many thanks,
Lisa
meaghanmountford says
I Lisa, It should last at least 3 days!