Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws and Buttercream: What to Check
A plain way to check whether buttercream is allowed where you bake.
On this page
What to remember
- Frosting rules can be separate from cake rules in your state.
- Connecticut does not allow buttercream frosting in cottage food products unless it is store bought or commercially prepared frosting, shelf stable frosting, or fondant only.
- New Jersey puts extra restrictions on icings, frostings, and fillings because they are added after baking.
- Maryland cottage food businesses are not licensed, but county and city laws still apply.
- Check the exact wording before you quote a price on a frosted cake.
It helps to read the frosting rules next to the butter rules, because both are dairy and both get looked at closely. If you are still working out what your state allows in general, start with cottage food laws and butter and then come back to frostings.
Why buttercream gets its own set of rules
New Jersey’s cottage food rules say icings, frostings, and fillings have additional restrictions because they are added after the baking process. That is the whole idea in one line. A cake comes out of the oven hot enough to be safe. The frosting goes on later, by hand, in your kitchen, and then the cake sits and travels.
Michigan’s cottage food rules were developed to protect the health and safety of state citizens and to reduce the risk of foodborne illness, and only some foods are allowed for sale under the law. Frosting is one of those places where a state decides what counts as allowed and what does not.
What Connecticut and New Jersey actually say
Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection has issued guidance on buttercream frostings and fillings, and lists which ones are generally acceptable for use in cakes made under the state’s cottage food law. The short version for Connecticut is narrow. Buttercream frosting is not allowed in cottage food products unless it is store bought or commercially prepared frosting, shelf stable frosting, or fondant only.
New Jersey takes a different route. Icings, frostings, and fillings have additional restrictions because they are added after the baking process, and New Jersey’s Cottage Food Project reviews each application carefully to make sure each product sold under a Cottage Food Operator’s Permit is as safe as possible and carries minimal risk of developing disease-causing organisms. In practice that means the person reviewing your list of products is looking at your frosting too.
How to check your own state before you frost a cake
Find the frosting section
Open your state’s cottage food page and look for the part that talks about frostings, icings, fillings, or toppings. Do not stop at the list of allowed baked goods.
Read the exact wording
Words like commercially prepared, shelf stable, and fondant only change everything. Copy the sentence down as written rather than your memory of it.
Check whether your product is on the allowed list
Michigan’s rules allow only some foods for sale, and New Jersey reviews each application. If your frosted cake is not clearly on the allowed list, treat it as not allowed until you confirm.
Ask about local rules too
Maryland cottage food businesses are not licensed but must comply with all applicable county and municipal laws and ordinances regulating the preparation, processing, storage, and sale of cottage food products. Your county may add something your state did not.
Write it down and keep it with the recipe
Keep the answer next to the recipe you use for that cake, so you are not re reading the rules in the middle of a busy week.
If your state allows only part of what you bake, it also helps to see how other bakers handle limits. Cottage food law restrictions walks through what home bakers can and cannot do, and cottage food law requirements covers what to check first in your state.
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Common questions
Can I sell cakes with buttercream frosting from my home?
It depends on your state. Connecticut's cottage food guidance does not allow buttercream frosting in cottage food products unless it is store bought or commercially prepared frosting, shelf stable frosting, or fondant only. Check the frosting section of your own state's rules before you take an order.
Why do frostings and fillings get extra rules?
New Jersey's cottage food rules say icings, frostings, and fillings have additional restrictions because they are added after the baking process. The cake is baked, then the frosting goes on afterward.
Does anyone review the products I want to sell?
Some states do. New Jersey's Cottage Food Project reviews each application carefully to make sure each product sold under a Cottage Food Operator's Permit is as safe as possible and carries minimal risk of developing disease-causing organisms.
I am in Maryland. Do I need a license to sell a frosted cake?
Maryland cottage food businesses are not licensed, but they must comply with all applicable county and municipal laws and ordinances regulating the preparation, processing, storage, and sale of cottage food products. Check your county as well as the state guidance.
Is homemade buttercream ever allowed in Connecticut?
The Connecticut guidance names store bought or commercially prepared frosting, shelf stable frosting, or fondant only. Homemade buttercream is not one of the versions that guidance lists as allowed for cottage food products.
Sources
- Connecticut General Assembly report on cottage food buttercream frostings and fillings
- Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: Buttercream Frosting FAQ
- New Jersey Department of Health: Cottage food prohibited products
- Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: What can I make under cottage food
- Maryland cottage food guidelines 2025
This is general information about cottage food rules, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and by county and they change, so confirm with your own state or local health department before you sell.