Easy Poured Frosting

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Easy poured frosting – how too microwave store-bought canned icing and pour it over a cake for a smooth fondant like finish!

easy poured frosting recipe

This trick to hack your hack- the best icing trick ever– is one post you’ll need to save for later and share with all your friends!

You can get a sleek, professional looking cake in just minutes with a can of store bought icing!

I’ve had so many new followers lately, I have been meaning to reshare one of my absolute favorite posts of all time- and one of my top viewed posts!

This is one of the best tips you will find online- it saves so much time when decorating cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and petit fours!

canned frosting being poured over a cake

Ever want a delicious, beautiful cake but don’t have a ton of time to make it?

Take a bunch of Cake Decorating Classes, but don’t love the amount of effort you have to put in to make a beautiful cake?

Or read about pourable fondant or how to smooth icing to look like fondant- but you just don’t have the time to pull it off before a big event?

It’s time to learn how to frost a smooth looking cake with pourable faux fondant in minutes!

I have the most awesome trick in the world for you- you can get a smooth cake that looks like poured fondant in minutes.

And the best part?

You will be using store bought icing, so you can do it in any flavor in just minutes!

This is the perfect way to get a professional looking finish for birthday cakes, baby shower cakes, cake pops, brownie pops, shaped cakes, petit fours and even wedding cakes!

To Pour Frosting You Need:

-A cake, cupcake, bundt cake, or cake pop

-A can of store bought icing (2 if a particularly large cake- more than 1 box worth), I use Pillsbury Creamy Supreme because it has a great flavor and sets well

-A microwave

-Cooling rack

-thin, flexible cutting mat

-sprinkles or other decorations, optional

How to Pour Frosting

First off, set your cool cake on a cookie rack over a flexible cutting board. 

This will help catch leftover icing that you can scoop up and re-use if needed. 

Next, microwave your frosting for two 15 second bursts- it should be completely melted but not hot. 

Let it sit for a minute or two to cool a bit (you want it still liquid- just no warmth). 

Then, in a circular motion, pour over your cake.

Once you have used about 1/4 the can of icing and it looks pretty covered, let it sit and firm up for about 10 minutes. 

Microwave the icing again, for 15 seconds. 

Repeat the icing step to get a thicker, more even layer. 

Repeat once more if needed after cool. 

Once cake has set, slide it off cooling rack and onto clean cake plate. 

Decorate with sprinkles, fondant shapes, etc. Enjoy!! 

For a slightly tweaked version to get picture perfect faux fondant poured icing cupcakes everytime, please check out this post:

the easiest way to frost a cupcake EVER- faux fondant poured icing cupcakes! These are GENIUS!

And for a pourable home-made icing, please visit this new post.

A couple of tips and tricks if you run into problems: -if your cake looks lumpy, take a knife or offset spatula and gently smooth the icing.

Then add a thin layer of icing that is slightly warm over the cake -if your icing runs like crazy, it is too warm.

Let it set up for a minute – if all else fails, sprinkle that bad boy up.

Sprinkles are instant beauty for cakes and kids love sprinkles!

Wait a couple of minutes before adding sprinkles or decorations.

In the photo below, you can see a few of my sprinkles sunk into the frosting because I was a bit excited and added them too early.

the easiest way to frost a cake ever..

Smooth Poured Frosting

If you get lumpy areas of frosting, you can take a paper towel or a piece of parchment paper and softly rub across cooled frosting for a fondant like smooth look.

This just makes the icing spreadable, like a petit four.

For a perfect result you will have to be sure your cake is level and not super lumpy just like any other cake you decorate.

Easy Poured Frosting Recipe

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Easy Poured Frosting Recipe

Easy poured frosting – how too microwave store-bought canned icing and pour it over a cake for a smooth fondant like finish!
Course Desserts
Cuisine American
Keyword baking, cake, desserts, icing, poured frosting
Prep Time 4 minutes
Cook Time 2 minutes
cooling Time 15 minutes
Total Time 21 minutes
Servings 1 cake
Calories 333kcal
Author Courtney O’Dell

Ingredients

  • 1 box cake mix baked to package directions
  • 1 16 oz can store bought icing
  • ¼ cup sprinkles

Instructions

  • First off, set your cool cake on a cookie rack over a flexible cutting board. 
  • This will help catch leftover icing that you can scoop up and re-use if needed. 
  • Next, microwave your frosting for two 15 second bursts- it should be completely melted but not hot. 
  • Let it sit for a minute or two to cool a bit (you want it still liquid- just no warmth). 
  • Then, in a circular motion, pour over your cake. Once you have used about 1/4 the can of icing and it looks pretty covered, let it sit and firm up for about 10 minutes. 
  • Microwave the icing again, for 15 seconds. 
  • Repeat the icing step to get a thicker, more even layer. 
  • Repeat once more if needed after cool. 
  • Once cake has set, slide it off cooling rack and onto clean cake plate. 
  • Decorate with sprinkles, fondant shapes, etc.
  • Enjoy!! 

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Sodium: 387mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 43g
can of icing being poured on a cake with iced cake decorated with sprinkles

About Courtney

Courtney loves to share great wine, good food, and loves to explore far flung places- all while masting an everyday elegant and easy style at lifestyle blog Sweet C’s Designs. Sweet C's devoted to finding the best food and drinks you'll want to make or find, around the world!

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21 Comments

  1. I have been pouring store bought frosting on sugar cookies for years. It’s a great (quick, tasty and beautiful) solution for them, too!

  2. I abhor normal cake frosting. It’s just too thick for my taste. I have been doing this “trick” with my frosting for over 40 years now. The invention of the microwave sure has made this easier then the old days when I had to float the can of frosting in hot water.
    As a tip for some, whipped frostings (store bought) can be used as well. They will look funny when microwaved but just beat them, with a butter knife or spoon, for a few seconds and then pour onto your baked goods.

  3. I feel like I did this wrong. Was working with Bundt Cake, which is probably a harder cake to work with anyway. First coat was really uneven. I let it set a bit, and then smoothed with a wet offset frosting spatula.

    Going to open a second can of frosting and try to smooth it up a bit.

    BUT……. it still looks 1000 better than any Bundt Cake I have ever tried to frost conventionally.

  4. To make an even cake I sprinkle a light layer of regular sugar on each layer. Prevents uneven layers. Bakes perfect, no domes
    It’s a great hack!

  5. I wonder if this would work with homemade frosting…. I live abroad and don’t have access to store-bought and don’t have time to make fondant!

    1. Melirae,

      I do have a pourable frosting recipe – its not the same, and you definitely have to make more layers, but it’s similar to anything you’d pour on a petit four. You can also make a ganache with white chocolate.

  6. Great tip. This is going to save me so much time and hassle.
    If you want level layers for cake decorating, here’s a tip I learned in Home-Ec:
    Take a strip of fabric like a piece of a dish towel about 1 1/2 inch wide and long enough to go around the cake pan. Soak it in cold water.
    Wrap it around the cake pan and safety pin the ends together.
    Do this for each cake pan (layer)
    Put in your cake batter and bake as usual.

    It helps the heat distribute more evenly so you don’t get a high spot in the middle.
    .
    Long live cake hackers!!

  7. Definitely pinned. I will totally be trying this out for my daughter’s birthday cake in a month. Thanks for sharing!

    I stopped by from Cook it! Craft it! Share it!

  8. This is so awesome. I can’t wait to try this trick out. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for linking up at #HomeMattersParty this week. I hope you will link up again next week.