2 Minute Quick Thick Vanilla Glaze (for cakes)
This vanilla glaze comes together in just 2 minutes and instantly makes any dessert look fancy. It’s sweet, smooth, and packed with cozy vanilla flavor—the kind that makes you want to lick the spoon (no judgment). Drizzle it over a vanilla bundt cake, dip some donuts, or pour it on anything that needs a quick little glow-up. You can make it as thick or as thin as you like!
This vanilla glaze is the quickest and easiest way to dress up any cake or dessert that needs a little some extra. It has a sweet vanilla flavor and is absolutely divine over bundt cake recipes!
What I love about glaze icings like this is that you really dont have to measure the ingredients. You can always make the glaze a little more thick by adding more powdered sugar, or make it a little more thin by adding extra milk! You can see specific directions in this post on how to thicken icing quickly.
Honestly as a trained pastry chef, most of the time I don’t even measure glaze recipes. But, I wanted to give specific measurements in case you want them! Also, after making these types of icings a few times, you wont have to measure either!
Top this glaze over this Italian Hangover Cake, a banana coffee cake, or mini bundt cakes.
Only 3 ingredients needed
Seriously, only 3 easy ingredients! All you need is powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract. If you use milk the glaze will be more liquidy, and if you use cream it’ll be slightly thicker. I prefer to use cream because then the glaze has less of a chance of dissolving into the cake.
You can totally use milk though! To make this dairy free actually you can also a non dairy milk or even just water.
How to make a quick glaze
Measure ingredients: Measure out the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk and add to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Whisk until smooth: Using a whisk, combine the ingredients until smooth and velvety making sure there are no lumps.
Adjust the consistency: Add more milk one teaspoon at a time if you need to thin out the glaze, or add more powdered sugar one teaspoon at a time if you need to thicken it.
Drizzle over desserts: Once your cake is completely cooled, drizzle the glaze over it and allow it to set before serving. Enjoy!
Cool the cake first
Before drizzling this over your cake, make sure its cooled completely, otherwise the glaze can seep and melt into the cake. Its super disappointing when this happens because it looks like its not even frosted.
To frost, I recommend pouring the glaze into a measuring cup and then drizzling over your cake.
Recipe tips
- Sift the powdered sugar before measuring it to ensure a smooth and lump-free glaze.
- Adjust the amount of cream or milk based on your desired consistency.
- Allow your cake or coffee cake to cool completely before drizzling the glaze. If the dessert is still warm, the glaze may become too thin and runny, resulting in a messy appearance.
No storing
I do not recommend you store, freeze, or make this recipe ahead. This icing hardens fast so it’s best to make it right before you want to glaze the cake.
You can definitely pour the glaze on the cake if you’re making the cake in advance, the glaze will harden and then you can serve it the next day or whenever you plan on serving the cake.
2 Minute Quick Thick Vanilla Glaze (for cakes)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup (150 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) cream, or milk
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla
Instructions
- Combine the 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1-2 tbsp milk, and ½ tsp vanilla extract in a small bowl.
- Whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle over cooled cake like vanilla bundt cake.
Made a pineapple cake , drizzled this on top & wow just added that extra nice sweet taste ! I did add some shredded coconut to the glaze & it didn’t change the texture
Easy & simple recipe to follow
This will be my go to !
Thank you Donna! Adding coconut is such a great idea, thank you so much for letting me know and for the 5 star review!
Delicious icing on a vanilla banana Bundt cake. I did have to add 2 tablespoons of milk instead of one. But it was very good.
Thank you so much for making this recipe!
The frosting was delish. I used it to pour on my pound cake (loaf). The whole family loved it.
Thank you,
JP 🙂
YAY Judy! I’m so glad your family loved it. Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know! You just made my day!
I tweaked the icing sugar (or powdered sugar as you Americans call it ☺️) & milk to get the exact consistency I wanted, this acted as a great base recipe. I put it on banana loaf, they taste great together.
This sounds so YUMMY! Making a note to try this on the next of banana bread I make for my family. Thanks Kelly!
Easy recipe. A little sweet, but not overpowering. I will need to
play with it as the 1 tbsp of milk left me with a big ball. Adding more looked good but thinned out more than I would have liked. Left a nice glaze, but not a pretty white frosting like the picture. I might try a spatula instead of a whisk.
Ooooh Yes Mary! Definitely keep experimenting. Sometimes a spatula gives you more control too as you’re combining everything together which might help too!
When I tried it, it was certainly tasty but turned out kinda clumpy in appearance (almost like curdled milk) but it sure was delicious on my Pistachio Bundt cake!! Today I’ll try whisking it longer B4 the drizzling. Lol. Thanx for the easy base tho.😋
Hi Amber! Yes definitely whisking longer will help break up the clumps more, it will also make it thicker because then the sugar will blend better with the liquid. You could also sift the powdered sugar to ensure you dont have any clumps!
Made this and it was perfect. Although I didn’t use measurements I just sifted sugar into bowl and added little milk at a time to make the consistency I wanted. Big big hit with family. Thanks a bunch.
Also used this on my butter cake glazed it then added strawberry cream drizzle on each serving and omg it was so amazing thanks again for sharing
Hey Mimi! To tell you the truth I never measure this anymore either! I just eyeball it too! So glad you and the while family liked it! Thank you so much for the 5 star rating!