Perfect Buttercream

I’m not much of a buttercream kind of person. They’re always too sweet. I’ve tried several and have been equally disappointed every time. Then I found this new recipe. Guess what’s different…nothing. Still all the same ingredients, but used in a different way. This knowledge has changed my life!! Ha. Well maybe not my life…but it’s changed my cupcake life:) So follow these simple rules to the greatest buttercream your lips have ever tasted!!

Before you start, here’s some tips for the fluffiest, richest buttercream:

* REALLY whip the butter. Whip it with your whisk attachment and whip it till it’s white. Pay super close attention to the color. Butter is yellow to start, but by the time you’re done whipping, it should be white or very, very pale.

* Use heavy cream. Cream makes it creamier and whip up fluffier.

* Use salted butter. People might say I’m crazy, but salted butter cuts the sweetness of the frosting. No one wants a frosting that hurts their teeth it’s so sweet. Don’t EVER EVER EVER use margarine in your frostings!! Make sure it’s REAL butter!!

* Don't overdue it with the vanilla, add no more than 1 1/2 tsp. If anything reduce the amount. The beauty of the flavors of the buttercream comes from the butter. By whipping the butter so long, it makes it basically taste like ice cream. This is the flavor you want to shine through, not the vanilla.

* Take the time to whip it more once you’ve added the cream. Whip it for at least as long as directed. This is what makes it so decadent and fluffy…almost like the consistency of a whipped cream.

Buttercream:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T heavy cream
1 1/2 t vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the whisk attachment whip butter on high speed until nearly white and very fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes, frequently scrapping down the sides of the bowl. Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 - 6 minutes, frequently scraping down the sides of the bowl. Immediately spread over cooled cake or cupcakes.

**If you want an alternate flavor of frosting, coconut or almond extract would be a great substitute for the vanilla extract, just add it to taste.
* From Cooking Classy

Banana Bars with Brown Butter Frosting

I always have over-ripe bananas. Does this only happen to me? I don’t eat the things anyway. The kids and hubby love them, but if I get an off batch…they are left to rot. So I’m always looking for new banana recipes. These are by far the best things I’ve ever made with bananas! The thing that makes them so delicious is the brown butter frosting. Sweet and a little salty, with a deep, dark flavor. DELICIOUS!! The frosting would be to die for on a cake – that might be my next adventure:)

So if you have over-ripe bananas, try these!! You won’t be disappointed!

Banana Bars:
1-1/2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1-3/4 (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt

Brown Butter Frosting:
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk (I use buttermilk)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and flour 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.  For the bars, in a large bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, butter, and eggs until creamy.  Blend in bananas and vanilla extract.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and blend for 1 minute. Spread batter evenly into pan.  Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until top springs back.

Meanwhile, for frosting, heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until boiling.  Let the butter turn a delicate brown and remove from heat immediately. Butter can go from browned to burnt VERY fast.

Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk to the browned butter.  Whisk together until smooth (it should be thicker than a glaze but thinner than frosting).  Using a rubber spatula, spread the brown butter frosting over the warm bars (the frosting will be easier to spread while the bars are still warm).

*From Life’s Simple Measures

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

These little babies gave me my first paid cupcake job:) I made them, someone tasted them and then asked me to make them for a birthday party. I filled a few with the lemon curd, then decided they were better topped with the curd because the blueberries made the cake so moist.

And plus, the cupcakes don’t rise so much, so fill those babies full! The whole batter should fill a 24-cupcake tin.

But see how pretty and summery they are?! Perfect for a non-chocolate option. Then top them with my new absolutely favorite fluffy and delicious whipped cream cheese frosting. I’m loving the frosting because it’s still cream cheesy, but it doesn’t have butter so it holds up REALLY well at room temperature and isn’t as heavy.  The end result is a pretty heavenly cupcake! The tang from the curd, the moistness from the blueberries, the lightness of the frosting…who wouldn’t pay for these?!

Lemon-Blueberry Cake
2 cups plus 6 T flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
3 cups fresh blueberries (reserve 24 blueberries if you want to use them for garnish)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
2 t vanilla
1 t lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare muffin tin with cupcake papers.  Sift dry ingredients into medium bowl. Transfer 1 T flour mixture to larger bowl. Add fresh blueberries and toss to coat them with flour. Set remaining flour mixture and blueberries aside.

Stir whole milk, sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest in small bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar, until pale yellow and very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, until well combined. Mix in flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter equally among cupcake cups.

Bake until toothpick inserted into center of a couple cupcakes comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pans on racks for about 10 minutes, then put onto racks until completely cool. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Lemon Curd
*If you’re going to fill the cupcakes, I suggest doubling the recipe. But if you’re just going to top them with the curd, one batch is plenty.
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of one large lemon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 t cornstarch
pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and zest.

Mix together the sugar, salt and cornstarch and add it to the pan.  Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth and return to heat. Cook over medium-low heat for roughly 10 minutes until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil.

Once thickened, strain the mixture though a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. Allow to chill in the refrigerator completely before using. Stir before using.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
16oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream, cold

Beat the cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks. Fold the whipped heavy cream into the cream cheese mixture. Do not over beat. Pipe onto cupcakes topped with lemon curd. Enjoy!!

*PS: I added about 1-2 t of lemon juice to this frosting for this particular recipe. It gave it a hint of lemon, without overpowering. You don’t want to add too much because the lemon curd is VERY lemony.

*Cake and curd adapted from theregoesthecupcake.com
*Frosting from Not So Humble Pie

Marshmallow Fondant

I’m not a huge fan of fondant. Although fondant is a lot prettier than regular frosting, it doesn’t compare taste-wise to me. I especially refuse to use the store bought…YUCK. When I want to make a beautiful fondant cake for a special occasion I like to make my own. And it’s made from marshmallows…A LOT yummier than regular. This recipe makes enough to cover a regular sized 2 tier cake with decorations. It’s just as easy to make as it is to head to the store and buy it and it tastes SOOO much better. I also opted to frost the cake with cream cheese frosting instead of a stiff buttercream because I think vanilla buttercream is yuck. This combo was AWESOME. It’s result was a SUPER moist cake and delicious frosting. I definitely suggest doing this.

16 oz mini marshmallows
2 lbs powder sugar, sifted
4 T water
1 t Vanilla
Shortening

Grease a large microwaveable bowl very well with shortening. Pour in the mini marshmallows and water. Microwave the marshmallows for 1-2 minutes, just until the top marshmallows are shiny and begin to puff. Remove from microwave and stir with a greased rubber scraper, add vanilla and stir again to combine.

Grease counter top with shortening. Pour powder sugar into melted marshmallows and stir with greased rubber scraper until it is too stiff to continue stirring. Pour marshmallow mixture onto greased surface and knead the fondant with greased hands until all of the powder sugar is mixed in and the fondant is smooth. If this process gets too sticky, add more powdered sugar. Shape fondant into a thick disc and store fondant in greased plastic wrap allowing the fondant to rest at room temperature for at least an hour before using. If the fondant is still too soft, put in the fridge to firm.

To color fondant, I recommend using coloring gels because they have better color. Just use a toothpick to get out the desired amount of coloring gel and place it in the center of the fondant. Then fold and knead until all the color is distributed.

Grease a flat surface with shortening and or sprinkle a large flat surface with powder sugar to roll out fondant. Be sure to move fondant around on surface to prevent sticking and to keep surface sprinkled with powder sugar or lightly greased.

Chocolate Marshmallow Fondant: Substitute 1/3 cup cocoa powder for 1/3 cup powder sugar for a lighter color and lighter chocolate taste. Substitute 1/2 cocoa powder in place of 1/2 cup of powder sugar for a "tootsie roll" taste and darker chocolate color. Also add 2 teaspoons more of water to fondant.

Tips for working with Marshmallow Fondant:
- Make sure that everything is well greased to that the fondant does not stick to your hands, bowls, spoons, surfaces, etc.
-Keep fondant stored airtight to prevent it from drying out.
- If after resting for at least an hour fondant is too soft, add a little more powder sugar to make it more stable.
- Microwave fondant for 5-10 seconds to make it a little more pliable if needed, but remember that microwaveing it can dry it out too.
-Knead the fondant to make it more elastic, but don't over do it or you will have a melted sticky mess.

*From The Open Pantry

Nutella Buttercream

I'm always VERY interested in anything that has Nutella in it. I usually don't like buttercreams, but this one...mmmmm. The Nutella gives it a whole new depth of flavor. And by whipping the butter for SO long, it almost dissolves instantly in your mouth. Buttery, airy, chocolatey, just pure delicious. Put it on a chocolate or vanilla cake - anything really! Or you can just be like me and eat it straight out of the mixing bowl.

1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), at room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
1 cup Nutella

Cream the butter in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, about 5 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and mix, gradually increasing in speed, until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes; you may need to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times.

When the buttercream is fluffy, add the Nutella. Whisk for another 5-8 minutes until the Nutella is fully incorporated and the buttercream is light and fluffy again.

*From Tasty Kitchen

Best Ever Chocolate Frosting

Now personally, I've never found a homemade chocolate frosting I love. Some are good here and there, but I haven't found the perfect one...till today. And you know it's gotta be good because it comes from our friends over at Our Best Bites. This is the definition of what a chocolate frosting should be. Deep, dark chocolate flavor and smooth, airy texture. It's basically a whipped ganache which makes it the epitome of chocolate flavor. It does take a bit to make, but oh boy is it worth it!

16 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 stick (8T) butter

1/3 cup granuated sugar

2 T light corn syrup (I used honey)

2 t vanilla

1/4 t salt

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan containing 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile heat butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted. Increase heat to medium, add sugar, corn syrup (or honey), vanilla and salt and stir with rubber spatula until the sugar is dissolved, about 4-5 minutes. Add melted chocolate, butter mixture, and cream to a clean bowl of a stand mixer and stir to thoroughly combine.

Place mixer bowl over and ice bath and stir mixture constantly with a rubber spatula until frostin is thick and just beginning to harden against the sides of the bowl, about 1-2 minutes (frosting should be cooled and aroun 70 degrees.) Place bowl on stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Stir with rubber spatula until completely smooth.

*If you find that after beating, your frostin is still too soft for your liking, chill in the fridge until it sets up a little more. I ended up stiring the frosting in the ice bath for a little longer than they said, until it was cold to the touch and thick, before I started whipping it. I feel like I got a great consistency from this and it definitely wasn't too soft. It was perfect...this recipe is perfection!

*From Our Best Bites

Chocolate Truffle Frosting

My mother-in-law bought me the greatest book. I LOVE IT. It's a chocolate book. It's slowly becoming my lifeline to sanity and pure chocolate bliss. There are numberless recipes that I know, in time, I'll try. We'll start it off with the best frosting ever. I don't know about you, but I've searched and searched for the perfect chocolate frosting. Well, it ends here. It's just incredibly delicious! You can also add almond extract instead of vanilla to give it a one of a kind, special flavor that you'll love.

2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 t vanilla
2/3 cup whipping cream
2/3 cup cocoa (optional see instructions)
3-5 cups powdered sugar

In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt the two chocolates and the butter for about a minute. Stir. Continue to melt at 30-second intervals until almost, but not quite liquid. Stir periodically until the retained heat melts the rest. To the chocolate mixture, add the vanilla extract and whipping cream. Beat on low to mix in, then switch to high for 30 seconds. Reduce speed. If using cocoa, sift it with 1 cup powdered sugar. (The cocoa will result in a darker icing. If you want a lighter chocolate icing, omit the cocoa.) Add the cocoa/powdered sugar mixture, mixing well on low speed. Gradually add more powdered sugar, beating after each addition, until you reach the desired consistency. A very stiff consistency - too thick to spread - can be used in a pastry bag to pipe truffle-style "kisses" onto the top of a cake or cupcakes, while a thinner consistency lets you spread the icing traditionally. Either way is delicious!

* From the book, "Chocolate Never Faileth" by Annette Lyon