Pillsbury White vs. Vanilla Frosting: Differences & Which One to Use?
Pillsbury is a brand that produces frostings of more than 12 different tastes, but it is known that nothing beats the most classic taste: vanilla. So maybe you are curious if Pillsbury is a good interchange for vanilla frosting, which are the differences between Pillsbury White frosting and vanilla frosting, as well as which is better.
Today I will help you define which is better among different frostings, their similarities, and differences. The focus will be on Pillsbury White Frosting, Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting and regular, homemade vanilla frosting.
Comparing Pillsbury White Frosting and Vanilla Frosting
You won’t find many differences between Pillsbury White Frosting and Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting. Still, I made a list of the key things that differentiate these two products, so you will easily decide which one to choose.
If you don’t need a big amount of frosting, you may be glad to find out that Pillsbury Vanilla comes in two sizes: 10 oz and 16 oz. On the other hand, Pillsbury White comes in only one packaging size: 16 oz.
In addition, their flavors are not the same. As you can guess, Pillsbury Vanilla has a mild vanilla aroma, while Pillsbury White has a more neutral flavor. This means that you can’t be wrong if you opt for Pillsbury White because not everybody likes vanilla. In addition, the neutral taste of White Frosting allows you to add your favorite extract to it. Be it almond, vanilla, or any other flavor.
Vanilla Frosting has an ivory color, while White Frosting is white. This means that you can easily add any food color to Pillybury White and make the perfect frosting for your dessert.
Both products are spreadable and the best to work with after being whipped.
Pillsbury White Frosting and Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting are the industrial frostings produced to be directly consumed by consumers. Unfortunately, these are not organic products, and they contain a lot of preservatives and modified and artificial products. You can easily notice that on their ingredient lists.
The base of Pillsbury White and Pillsbury Vanilla are sugar and palm oil. The taste is good, but all ingredients show that the quality is not the best compared with homemade vanilla frosting. The mixing of all additives will give you the idea of manufactured frosting.
Both White Frosting and Vanilla Frosting have the same amount of calories in the serving size of 2 tablespoons – 140 kcal. Although Pillsbury White has 1% more fat than Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting. [1] [2]
On the other hand, homemade vanilla frosting is prepared with butter and ice sugar and is much more buttery. Also, sometimes you can feel the sugar in your mouth. Another difference is having each of those products—Pillsbury White and Pillsbury Vanilla both cost around $1.5 per container. So, if you prepare the vanilla frosting yourself, it will cost a little more.
The uses of all frostings are the same. It is maybe easier to say that their uses are endless. So, use them on the cakes, brownies, cookies, cupcakes – any way you want.
Another same thing about Pillsbury White and Pillsbury Vanilla is that they are both kosher and gluten-free.
Is Vanilla Frosting the Same As White Frosting?
Vanilla frosting and White Frosting are pretty much the same if you look at the ingredients, but their flavors differentiate. This is if we talk about Pillsbury frostings.
If we are talking about homemade vanilla frosting, the base is fat and sugar in both cases. Only that vanilla frosting has vanilla flavor added. Of course, depending on the recipe you are following, you may find other adjustments, but the final taste won’t be that much different, and there is a good chance that people who don’t cook won’t even notice.
Which Is Better, Pillsbury White Frosting or Vanilla Frosting?
According to the reviews on different webshops, White Frosting has a better rating. Therefore, Pillsbury White Frosting can be considered better.
Pillsbury is a good product that you can buy to decorate your cakes in-home, with a good taste, but still, you can feel that it is not a fresh frosting, and this may be a little turn-off if you are a lover of desserts and want the best results.
Vanilla frosting made in the home feels completely different, as you control the quality and the proportions of ingredients used.
The texture is also better as you control how thick or thin you want to prepare it. You can decide on the quantity you will prepare, and also, you can adjust the recipe according to your taste: you can add peanut butter, jams, Nutella, or anything else.
What Is the Difference Between Buttercream and White Frosting?
Two other products that can be mistaken are buttercream and white frosting. Are they the same, and if not, which is the difference?
The essential ingredients are the same: oil and ice sugar, but those two ingredients do the magic in more than one way. Buttercream and White Frosting difference are only in the proportions. You need to use oil and ice sugar to prepare each of those.
Overall, White Frosting is thicker and softer; the color is also whiter and is used to fill the cakes from the inside. On the other hand, Buttermilk is the best suit if you want a more buttery cream.
It is ideal for decorating cakes, muffins, or other desserts, as it is thinner. However, if you prefer to create decorative elements, go for Buttermilk.
Which Pillsbury Frosting Is the Best?
Another hard decision has to be made when deciding to use Pillsbury frosting. Which taste of their selection is the best. It’s not that Pillsbury offers four or five different flavors but twelve.
The first option I would eliminate is the fruit tastes, from lemon to strawberry, and coconut. Those packages contain some natural flavors but also have artificial flavors. Besides the flavor, artificial color is also added. From my experience, those elements affect the taste that feels a little fake and do not transmit the freshness that a frosting made out of fruits should give.
In the case of chocolate tastes, they also contain artificial color but not taste, so in this case, the taste of Pillsbury may feel more natural and close to the homemade version. The same philosophy is applied to flavors like vanilla and buttercream; they are more authentic.
Although you can trust your gut and choose the one you think you or your kids will like more. Another factor in deciding which is the best is knowing the purpose of using it. For example, will it just decorate cupcakes or cover your layers of the cake.
The fruits’ tastes can work nicely for decoration, but the chocolate or vanilla flavor is best to fill a cake.
Comparing Pillsbury Frosting and Betty Crocker Vanilla
Both those brands offer different types of frostings. Pillsbury frosting is creamier, and you can taste a lot of vanilla flavor. On the other hand, Betty Crocker Vanilla is sweeter and sometimes a little too much.
Betty Crocker Vanilla is a gluten-free frosting, which makes it perfect for lactose intolerant. This also means that you can use it in vegan carrot cakes without worrying and have an extra result.
Betty Croket Vanilla is also cheaper oftentimes. Overall, I am a bigger fan of Betty Crocker as it’s a more established brand than Pillsbury, but that is only a personal preference.
Let’s sum up this article. White frosting has a more neutral taste, so it is easy to add color or different flavors. Vanilla frosting has pretty much the same ingredients as White frosting, only it is ivory in color and has a mild vanilla flavor. Their prices, textures and uses are the same. It is cheaper to choose Pillsbury, but the homemade vanilla frosting is the tastiest option.
What about you – which store-bought frosting is your go-to option?
