Stretch Your Store-Bought Frosting with This Simple Hack (2024)

You'd never believe the airy, delicious result came from a single can of frosting.

Katlyn Moncada is the associate food editor at BHG.com, sharing food news and tutorials on becoming better home cooks. She is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience in digital media, photography, and video production.

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Updated on October 4, 2022

It's hard to beat the joy of eating a giant slice of chocolate cake covered with homemade buttercream frosting or carrot cake slathered in rich cream cheese frosting. But when you're in a time crunch (or just really need to curb that sweet tooth craving), I'm all for the convenience of a can of store-bought frosting. Last year, I learned a super simple boxed cake mix hack to easily accomplish gourmet results without measuring a bunch of ingredients. And then recently, I discovered how to make purchased frosting stretch further with an equally easy hack: whipping it. Yes, the canned frosting hack is simply whipping straight-from-the-can frosting with your electric mixer. This isn't necessarily a new hack (this popular YouTube video is from 2013), but it's recently gained traction on TikTok with 1.5-million views and counting on the tag #frostinghack. definitely a trick worth it for the creamy, fluffy results. Follow along to try the magical trick for yourself.

How to Make Store-Bought Frosting Better by Whipping It

The thick, creamy stuff in the can is delicious as-is, but this canned frosting hack also allows you to spread that glorious frosting even easier. I used some creamy chocolate canned frosting, but this trick works with whatever favorite flavor you have on hand.

Empty the canned frosting into a large mixing bowl.
Whip the frosting using an electric mixer (either hand mixer or stand mixer) for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy and doubled in size.
It's ready! Decorate twice as many cupcakes, cakes, and cookies with ease thanks to this canned frosting hack.

How easy is that? The light and fluffy results are due to beating air into the frosting. It's the perfect budget-friendly dessert hack for achieving those home baking projects. You can use this trick on a boxed cake mix, but I'm thinking it would be an excellent trick for topping the easy-to-make Depression-era cake that requires no eggs, butter, or milk. While we're on the topic of canned frosting hacks, this delicious two-ingredient peanut butter fudge recipe is the perfect use for that can of chocolate or vanilla sitting in your pantry right now.

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