Buttercream Frosting

The basic yet very important ingredient for most cakes and cupcakes is buttercream frosting. It is super easy to make at home. Delicious, fresh, and in my case, reduced guilt for both my health and my wallet. Its outrageous how expensive a single cupcake has gotten, and buying the store ready packs taste extra sweet yet stale. Even further the ready made container of frosting is hard to pipe on to a cupcake.

There are so many recipes out there and it can get overwhelming which to choose. To make it straightforward, all you need is softened unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and tiny pinch of salt. Other recipes call for cream, heavy cream, etc, but honestly milk is an everyday essential item and should already be in your refrigerator. Why stock heavy cream just for it to expire before you need to use it again?

The recipe sounds easy, but make sure pay attention to these tricks that can save you a lot of heartache later. First trick, make sure the butter is softened, even after letting it set room temp for a while if the weather is cooler, the butter wont get as soft, so I like to defrost mine in the microwave for 15 seconds or so. The next trick, sift your powder sugar. A velvety frosting free of sugar clumps is a game-changer, preventing clogs as you pipe your cupcakes. YI recommend using a fresh bag of powdered sugar every time.

The beauty of homemade buttercream frosting is the ability to add a drop or two of food coloring and match it with any color scheme you need.