Am…musings

I’m digging these food posts, but typically don’t cook anything terribly worthy except around the holidays so I’m going to make the most of “early Easter.” (It was last Saturday, but I’m just getting around to posting this one.)

I had grand visions of gorgeous, froofy cupcakes. First, topped with edible flowers … but couldn’t find them in the Lou. Then, with some elegant sprinkles … but nothing floated my boat at Michael’s, and the cake stores around here apparently only cater to professionals or stay-at-home moms because their hours are a little lean.

To complicate the problem, the cupcakes themselves turned out a little odd. I mixed them in my beloved stand mixer according to the directions for four minutes and ended up with really fluffy batter and cupcakes, although they tasted good. I had planned to try to a new buttercream recipe, but decided I needed a lighter icing to complement them. Thankfully (and I think perhaps a bit subconsciously), I forgot the main ingredient of the light frosting, but had everything for the buttercream.

I’ve called it “superhero” in the title of this post because it definitely saved the day, transforming my not-so-pretty cakes into masterpieces that still don’t look so great upon close inspection (my fault not the frosting’s), but taste absolutely, positively amazing.

I actually found the recipe because I was searching for a frosting that didn’t use shortening. (It’s the main ingredient in most “butter”creams. And although Crisco says “transfat-free” on the label, I don’t see how after reading the ingredients … but I digress.) I follow @cupcakeproject on Twitter and decided to peruse her similarly named blog. Her Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe sounded truly delightful and definitely did not disappoint. Stef was also very helpful, answering a bunch of questions and providing suggestions when I was looking for a lighter frosting alternative. If you’d ever consider making homemade frosting (and this isn’t at all difficult) or just want to make your mouth water, take a peek and the recipe, as well as the rest of the blog.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 at 8:41 pm and is filed under uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.