10 Ingredients That Will Transform Your Store-Bought Icing, According To Baking Experts

Icing a cupcake to the standard seen on "The Great British Baking Show" is tougher than it looks, but it's easier than you may think to elevate baked goods at home. If you've already perfected your icing or frosting recipe, then more power to you. But if you, like us, often find yourself pressed for time (or out of patience) when you're finally ready to top your cakes or cookies, there's nothing wrong with turning to store-bought products — especially when you know how to take them to the next level.

To be clear, we don't necessarily recommend haphazardly throwing a bunch of extra ingredients into your icing and hoping for the best. There are a select few ingredients that can go a long way in maximizing its flavor, texture, and appearance. To find out which bonus ingredients can give your store-bought icing a glow-up, we spoke to chef Yohann Le Bescond, Complex Executive Pastry Chef at Ocala's World Equestrian Center, and Odette D'Aniello, founder of Tacoma bakery Dragonfly Cakes. Both experts in all things sweet treats, they're partial to going down the DIY route when perfecting your bakes. However, they also know the best ways to jazz up a pre-made product in a pinch. Here are the ingredients that can take your store-bought icing from zero to 100.

While there's a huge number of brands jarring their own versions of chocolate-hazelnut spread, few do it quite as well as Nutella (something we unfortunately discovered for ourselves when we ranked and reviewed Nutella alternatives). You can find countless baking recipes out there that count Nutella as one of their primary ingredients, but if you haven't considered adding it into your store-bought icing, you may be missing out.

Chef Yohann Le Bescond counts Nutella as one of his favorite mix-ins for store-bought icing. Its job is to enhance the flavor, giving it a chocolatey edge that may otherwise be lacking in the product you pick up in-store. While it doesn't strictly have to be Nutella, Le Bescond does have one stipulation when it comes to using chocolate spread: It "has to be smooth."

If you're to make your icing more chocolatey but you aren't keen on hazelnuts, don't fret; Le Bescond has another suggestion. "For any chocolate flavoring, I would recommend melting semi-sweet chocolate," he says. Just remember that melted chocolate will likely thicken your icing or frosting, so be sure to go easy when adding it into the mix if that isn't your intention.

Vanilla gets a bad rap for being basic or boring, but there's a delicate yet complex balance to a high-quality vanilla that makes it a must for many bakers. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that vanilla is up there with chef Yohann Le Bescond's top recommendations of ingredients to improve the flavor of your store-bought icing.

Just remember that there's a difference between vanilla essence and extract. Vanilla essence is typically be more processed and artificial, while extract is primarily made with actual vanilla beans. If you want to give your store-bought icing a stronger, richer flavor, we recommend choosing an extract.

But don't reach for the vanilla just yet. In Odette D'Aniello's eyes, there's no need to add it to your store-bought icing — or, at least, most of them. "I wouldn't recommend adding more vanilla extract because store bought icings usually have a lot of vanilla flavoring already," she explained. Indeed, when you check out the pre-made icings and frostings available in grocery stores, a significant number are artificially flavored as a default, so bear that in mind before deciding to crack open the vanilla extract.

We feel passionate about the fact that peppermint is for more than just the holidays, with the flavor perfectly complementing rich treats like chocolate cake and brownies. Chef Yohann Le Bescond seems to be on our side as he counts peppermint extract as one of his top recommendations of the ingredients to add into your store-bought icing.

Peppermint extract tends to be extremely concentrated, which means a little goes a long way. After all, there's a big difference between putting a twist on the flavor of your icing and transforming it into something akin to edible toothpaste. We suggest starting slow, gradually adding in a drop at a time to gauge the final flavor (which, as an added perk, gives you an excuse to taste-test your icing while you bake).

This same logic applies to any other flavoring of your choosing. Whether you're a fan of almond extract or flavors like lemon or orange, now's the time to customize your bake to your personal preference. The world is your oyster (or your icing).

If you love a thick, indulgent icing or frosting, cream cheese is your savior — and it can work with more than just a red velvet cake. "For texture, I would recommend cream cheese or adding up to 10% of the total weight in sifted powdered sugar for a thicker texture," says chef Yohann Le Bescond, also adding that, "The more creamy ingredients you add, the softer the icing will be."

From a practical standpoint, adding something like cream cheese also provides the bonus perk of doubling up the amount of frosting or icing available, making it a handy tip if you find yourself short after baking. However, not all cream cheeses are built equal. Low-fat cream cheeses tend to contain more moisture, which may impact your icing's structural finish. That's why many experts advise against using it for the likes of cheesecake and why you may be better off doing the same to avoid a runnier icing.

Looking to give your icing a smoother, more cream cheese-like finish without the actual cream cheese? Odette D'Aniello has an easy hack that may also help your icing taste more homemade. "Fill a mixer to cover the holes of the paddle attachment, whip at high speeds for two minutes to incorporate air and reduce the low speed for about 10 to 15 minutes," she says. "This will help create a smoother and shinier finish." Simple yet effective.

Cocoa powder is one of the easiest ways to transform the flavor of store-bought icing. By sifting it into your product, you can take it from a plain or vanilla finish to something deep, rich, and chocolatey. It will also impact the texture of your icing, which may be a good or a bad thing, depending on your personal preference. "Any cocoa powder addition will have a drastic impact on the consistency and make it thicker," explains chef Yohann Le Bescond.

Again, like many of the ingredients on this list, you don't need to add a lot to make a big difference. Cocoa powder is made with what's left of roasted cocoa beans once the cocoa butter has been extracted and, unless it's sweetened, is an extremely potent product flavor-wise. While this means that it can make a real dent in the sweetness of your icing or frosting — something that may be extremely welcome if you find store-bought icing too artificially sweet — adding too much too quickly has the potential to leave it tasting bitter. Go slow and conduct the odd taste test to avoid accidentally making your store-bought icing worse.

Peanut butter can work wonders on both taste and texture. With that in mind, it's no surprise that it takes pride of place in chef Yohann Le Bescond's list of the recommended products to add into your store-bought icing.

Whether you prefer yours smooth or crunchy, tossing peanut butter into the mix will thicken up store-bought icing significantly, as well as adding a new dimension of flavor to your baked good. Once again, you don't need to add heaps to make a difference. Even just a spoonful of peanut butter can add a subtle improvement in flavor. However, if you're after a rich, salty-sweet peanut butter frosting, you may want to add as much as a quarter cup of peanut butter for every can of store-bought frosting or icing. The same is true of any other nut butter, with the likes of almond, cashew, pistachio, and pecan spreads all worthy candidates to give your store-bought icing a makeover.

Fruit preserves aren't the most obvious thing to add to icing, but you may be surprised at how much of a difference they can make to flavor. In fact, adding fruit preserves is one of Odette D'Aniello's top tips for upgrading store-bought icing. "Add fruit preserves or extracts to change the flavor and customize it to your particular cake," she says. "Just mix the added flavorings well so it's evenly distributed."

As for which fruit preserves you should consider, that's up to you. Whether you're a fan of strawberry, apricot, blackberry, or peach, let your tastebuds lead the way. Alternatively, you may also want to try incorporating actual fresh fruit or a jam, jelly, or marmalade (yes, there is a difference), all of which can have similar success in elevating store-bought icing. As with the majority of suggestions shared so far, we recommend adding all of these extra elements to taste before icing your sweet treats. Nobody wants to go through all the efforts of baking, only to realize you've accidentally sabotaged the final product at the last hurdle.

Speaking from experience, Odette D'Aniello knows how much butter can improve store-bought icing. "I actually did just improve on store bought icing for a small cake we made in Arizona," she says. "I added heavy cream and melted butter and whipped until fluffy."

From a consistency standpoint, adding butter to pre-made icing gives it a smoother, more buttery finish (shocking, we know). This finish may leave it closer to buttercream – a kind of frosting that can be notoriously difficult to make from scratch — and make it easier to spread. "Creaming butter and adding it to the frosting will help with the stability [and] texture," explains chef Yohann Le Bescond (who also points out that if you're going to go to the effort of creaming butter, you're not far off just making the entire thing from scratch).

Texture isn't the only aspect of store-bought icing to benefit from butter. D'Aniello stresses that the latter can improve flavor, especially if you want to tone down the saccharine aftertaste that often comes with store-bought varieties, as it "may help reduce the sweetness by adding volume."

As previously mentioned by Odette D'Aniello, heavy cream can work hand-in-hand with butter to improve pre-made icing. By whipping it into your icing, D'Aniello claims that it can "improve the flavor and consistency" as well as help to bring down the sweetness by again adding volume to the product. Talk about a multitasker.

The important thing to bear in mind when adding heavy cream is that you will need to mix it in thoroughly to get the right finish. For better or worse, heavy cream — like any kind of liquid — has the potential to thin out store-bought icing. Go slowly, but if you do accidentally add too much and make the icing too thin, you can always gradually incorporate confectioner's sugar to restore some of that lost volume.

This isn't the only kind of cream to consider. Some people prefer to add whipped cream to store-bought icing and frosting, which can give it a richer flavor. Alternatively, there are those who recommend simply using milk to give icing a thinner consistency.

Hot water may not sound like the most exciting addition in the world, but it can serve a vital purpose. As per Odette D'Aniello, while heavy cream or melted butter may be superior options, adding hot water to store-bought icing can also "help reduce the sweetness by adding volume."

Caution is key here. Drowning your icing in hot water and diluting it are two very different things. To nail the latter, go in with a light hand and stir after every few splashes. However, D'Aniello emphasizes that this tip is best used only "in a pinch." Unlike cream or even milk, hot water won't boost the richness of flavor, with the only purposes served being reducing sweetness and making the consistency of stiff or overly thick icing more manageable or glaze-like. If that's your goal, perfect, but if you're hoping to enhance your icing in other ways, a dairy-based alternative may be a better choice.