This Hack Will Make Your Store Bought Icing So Much Better

While there's nothing quite like crafting the perfect silky smooth Italian Meringue buttercream and encasing your cake in a perfectly frosted layer, sometimes, you just want a quick and easy solution to top that baked good. Perhaps you'd rather prioritize making the homemade cake layers and buying the icing. Maybe you want a quick addition to your tray of cookie bars or brownies. Or maybe you're making a fun dip for fruits and other tasty treats, and after all the chopping and slicing and dicing, you don't have the energy to whip up homemade icing. Whatever the occasion, there's absolutely nothing wrong with turning to the convenience of store-bought icing. However, there's one simple hack that will totally transform that store-bought icing.

Rather than simply scooping the icing from the can and slathering it all over your baked good, take the extra minute and whip the icing mixture with your electric mixer or stand mixer (via Country Living). Incorporating that extra bit of air will add some volume to your icing, meaning you'll have even more velvety frosting to cover your baked good, and it'll also make the texture luxuriously smooth and silky. Yes, this step will require dirtying your mixer and a bowl, but it makes a major difference when it comes to the taste of your icing.

While you can certainly just use a can of store-bought icing right from the container, it can also be a great base for your own culinary creativity. Perhaps you don't want the stress of crafting a smooth and silky buttercream from scratch, but you'd still like to add your own twist to that simple French vanilla frosting — there are plenty of options.

One easy tip is to add some other type of flavoring to take the icing beyond your basic canned flavors (via Lifestyle of a Foodie). A few suggestions include adding some vanilla extract to give a bit more depth to the flavor, or to mix it up entirely with a bit of orange extract for a Creamsicle frosting, a shake of warming spices such as pumpkin pie spice for a spice cake, or even a hint of espresso for an affogato-inspired layer cake. The more unique icing flavors will give your cake a little something special.

Additionally, while whipping it is key, adding a bit of another base ingredient such as cream cheese or heavy cream can make your icing seem much more luxurious, as it cuts some of the sweetness of canned icing while simultaneously changing the texture and adding some richness. You can also enhance the flavor even more by incorporating just a hint of salt (via Foods Guy).