The Genius Trick To Double Your Canned Frosting Without Buying Extra

If you need to bake up a batch of cupcakes in a hurry, you buy a box of cake mix and a can of frosting and hope that the latter is enough to cover the former — simple math, right? Or is it another case of that ridiculous hot-dog-to-bun ratio where you need to buy multiple packs of both to even out the equation? Well, it probably depends on how heavy-handed you are with the frosting (or how much of it you eat as a lagniappe), but if you do run short, here's a handy way to get a little more mileage out of what's left in the can: In the immortal words of New Wave pioneers Devo, "Whip it. Whip it good."

Actually, whipping the frosting makes the kind of sense that even us non-science-y types can understand. If you take the frosting and dump it in a bowl or stand mixer, then turn on the beaters, the whipping process will incorporate air which can pretty much double the amount. (If you prefer a low-tech approach, you can also whip it with a whisk — this will give your arm a real workout, but it's how cooks got things done in the pre-electric days.) As a bonus, not only will you double the amount of frosting you get, but it's also lighter and more fluffy in texture. What did we tell you, genius, right?

Now, there's no shame whatsoever in using canned frosting rather than making it — in fact, here are a few of our favorite brands of store-bought frosting – but, like boxed cake mix, it's all the better for a little tinkering. Some additions to the former can also do double duty, not only helping to make the frosting taste more like homemade, but also bulking it up to cover more cake.

Dairy, be it butter, cream cheese, whipped cream, or Cool Whip, is a pretty obvious choice for an add-in since most canned frostings are of the buttercream variety. Peanut or another nut butter would work just as well, although these would, of course, impact the flavor so they might work better with, say, a chocolate cake than a lemon chiffon. One benefit of all of these different options is that they will also tend to make the canned frosting taste less sweet.

You could also add flaked coconut or cookie crumbs as a frosting stretcher, as these would boost the texture as well as increase the volume. Again, however, you could cut down on some of the sweetness by opting for a savory mix-in like pretzels or chopped nuts.