How to Make 1 Minute Lemon Frosting

Freshly squeezed lemons give lemon frosting its distinctive and delicious flavor.

Lemon frosting is a delicious topping that can be added to pastries, cakes or breads. Making the frosting is a simple cooking project that anyone can successfully undertake. While the recipe for simple lemon frosting is well-known and includes only basic ingredients, a more experienced or adventurous chef can mix flavors and spices into the frosting to give it extra kick. If you have a suitable preparation area and all the ingredients on hand, making a tasty lemon frosting takes only one minute.

Things You'll Need

• Mixing bowls and spoons
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Grater
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 6 tbsp. butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon rind
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Sea salt

Instructions

1. Clean and organize the area where you will be cooking. Good cooks always clean their space before attempting a recipe so that they don't get confused when combining ingredients. Set out a large mixing bowl along with smaller bowls, a mixing spoon or egg beater, measuring cups, measuring spoons, fresh lemons, butter and confectioner's sugar, also known as powdered sugar. Take out vanilla extract, if desired, or any other kind of flavored extract you wish to add to your one minute lemon frosting.

2. Cut a fresh lemon in half and squeeze out the juice into one of your smaller bowls. Measure out 2 tbsp. of lemon juice and add to your larger mixing bowl. Make sure that you don't pick up any seeds with the lemon juice. Add 6 tbsp. of butter -- a little less than half a cup -- to the mixing bowl. Stir while slowly adding 3 cups of powdered confectioner's sugar.

3. Grate off some of the rind from the lemon you squeezed previously. Add 1 tsp. of finely grated lemon rind to the mixing bowl and stir. Taste the result and add more lemon rind or lemon juice as needed. The lemon juice and rind give the lemon frosting its distinctive flavor, so make sure that the mixture tastes sufficiently lemony.

4. Measure out 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract or other flavored extract into a small measuring spoon and add to the mixture while stirring. Add 1 to 2 tsp. of water if the lemon frosting feels too thick. Throw in a pinch of sea salt and give the mixture a final few stirs.

Tips & Warnings

• Drizzle the lemon frosting onto a pastry immediately, or place the mixing bowl in the refrigerator for later use. Remember that chilled lemon frosting usually tastes better than room temperature frosting.

• Use store-bought lemon juice if your lemons are too old or aren't sufficiently flavorful.

References

• Food: Luscious Lemon Frosting
• All Recipes: Lemon Icing
• Cooks: Lemon Glaze