This icing is highly recommended for red velvet cake, but can be used for other cakes, too. The icing can be adjusted to a chocolate, lemon, or strawberry flavor as well! And best of all, can be made dairy and gluten free.
Good to know ahead of time: This is not the best for piping. This is a dolloping icing because of its feathery texture that doesn’t hold a firm shape.
It’s light, airy and delicious and often referred to as a $300 icing as a result.
Family Tradition
I fell in love with Grammy’s red velvet cake at a very young age. It began as a tradition to bake for MY mom, then soon the tradition continued with me! Now, we find excuses to make it on other holidays, such as Christmas and even St. Patrick’s Day!
I grew up believing all red velvet cake was the best cake out there. Turns out the best was just Grammy’s…
That’s because every time I had red velvet cake that wasn’t made by Grammy, I couldn’t help but feel like something was off. And it was: It was the icing!
What does ‘Waldorf’ refer to?
Most red velvet chocolate cakes today have a cream cheese frosting. This frosting is not that. This frosting harkens back to the original 1930’s version first marketed by the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, then later sold in imitation as a baking kit in grocery stores by the Adam’s Extract company.
Side note: if you’re reading the Adam’s recipe above and wondering whether it’s worth trying, I highly recommend skipping and jumping to the end to use Grammy’s recipe below.
Is there another name for this icing?
Made with a milk and butter base; Grammy’s icing is made with ingredients you already have laying around the kitchen! This icing is essentially a roux and also goes by other names like:
- flour buttercream because it looks like a traditional buttercream frosting
- ermine icing since it’s fluffy like an ermine coat
- miracle icing due to its magical process of becoming fluffy
- and $300 icing! That’s because it tastes like a million dollars (which is what $300 probably felt like back when the recipe was invented).
It’s a light yet creamy texture. The flavor is distinctive with a subtle sweetness that pairs perfectly with red velvet cake without overpowering it.
Side Note on Red Velvet Cake
The cake itself has a quite interesting history, which you can read more about at Cheryl’s Cookies. I was surprised to learn 3 things:
- The 1930’s version is not the first red velvet cake, but is the first to use red food coloring.
- The first red color, originally referred to as a mahogany cake, came from the unique combination of unprocessed cocoa power, vinegar and buttercream that causes a chemical reaction turning the cake a reddish hue.
- Red velvet cake is NOT chocolate cake. It calls for far less cocoa powder. It also calls for vinegar which creates a unique texture you don’t find in chocolate cake.
Now back to the icing!
Icing Ingredients
Five ingredients total:
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of real butter (two sticks)
- 1 cup of milk; I’ve learned any milk works, including plant based milks, but the fattier, the better. My personal favorite to use is oat milk!
- 4-5 tablespoons flour; I’ve experimented with gluten free flours and they work too! For gluten free flour, use approximately 8-10 tablespoons.
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Icing Directions
1. Dissolve flour into a thick paste with some water.
2. Cook milk and flour paste in heavy small pan on low heat until flour is dissolved. It’s easy to get lumps at this stage, so don’t get discouraged. Keep cooking and stirring.
3. Let the flour and milk mixture cool. Grammy picks out any big lumps at this time. You can also strain.
4. Add butter, sugar, and vanilla into a mixer and cream. Then add the chilled milk mixture, whipping vigorously for 5-7 minutes. If you try to do this hot, the butter will melt.
5. Make sure you refrigerate the cake before you ice the cake. Even if it’s just warm, the icing will melt. Ask me how I know… see the second image below.
Luckily, it still tastes the same!
Waldorf Icing Recipe
Bonus: Grammy’s Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Interested in seeing Grammy’s other recipes?
See my post on Grammy’s secret ingredient for a Thanksgiving turkey (spoiler alert: it’s tomato juice!).
Bonus Image
I scored an image of Grammy when she first began making this cake!
Starting in the 70’s Grammy worked as a hair dresser in Dale’s Hair Salon. This place was awesome to visit as a kid as there was always candy. On one half of the building was a super swanky fast paced salon, while the other half was, of all things, what appeared to be an abandoned dusty frame shop. Both halves were open to each another and owned by a couple named Sandra and Dale. I can still remember the smell of frosted hair chemicals mixed with wood dust.
In all my childhood, I never did see the fame shop used, and now as an adult have to wonder, “what was that really about?” Could it have been a cover for buying “fine art” because they did acquire a collection of things that were too off color to show in public. (They were literally hidden in their home basem*nt and I can remember our family being given a private tour that weirded me out… I digress!)
Anywho, I learned the cake tradition began when Grammy’s client at the hairdressing salon brought in a cake. From there, Grammy ordered a few cakes for my mom’s birthday, and eventually got the recipe! And the rest is history. With some history we may not want to know the answers to.
