How to make buttercream frosting
How to make buttercream frosting
BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
This Buttercream Frosting recipe is so delicious, and so easy, this will become your go to recipe anytime you need to make Frosting. Whether it’s a layer cake, a single layer cake, cupcakes, or cookies, this recipe will never let you down. You can use Food Coloring Gel, and turn this into beautiful pastels, or bright shocking colors, and it will hold it’s shape, and allow you to pipe it in any design you need. You can even do big dollops on top of Cheesecakes, and dress them up gorgeous for special occasions. No matter what you use this Frosting to decorate, you’ll be glad you did. Make sure to keep this one in your favorites!
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:
FOR THE FROSTING:
1 stick of Butter – softened
8 ounces of Cream Cheese – softened
1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla
1 32 ounce bag of Powdered Sugar
Any color of Food Coloring Gel you choose
HERE’S WHAT YOU DO:
In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add the softened Butter, and Cream Cheese, and blend to combine. Add the Vanilla, and mix well.
Add the Powdered sugar a little at a time, blending after each addition, until the Frosting is smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the mixing bowl, and blend again until thick, and smooth. At this point, your Frosting is mixed, and you can add as many colors as you need.
Here are some tips: If you need several colors, divide the Frosting into as many bowls, as colors you need; i.e., if you need 5 colors, you need 5 bowls. I usually decide which color will be my main color, or the color I need the biggest amount of Frosting for. For instance, if I’m Frosting a layer cake, and I want my cake pale pink, with yellow, purple, hot pink, and green flowers and stems, then I would place my Frosting in 4 bowls, and add as much as I need for the 4 colors, and leave the amount I need for the layer cake in the mixing bowl. Then, you’d mix the pale pink color in the mixing bowl, and mix the other colors in the bowls, to decorate your cake. You might make Flowers, or shapes from the other colors, or do a ribbon Frosting design around the edge. But, no matter what you decide to do, this Frosting will work well.
How to pipe buttercream frosting
Using Plastic wrap (Glad wrap) tear off a piece about 12 inches wide, and place the Frosting length-wise in the middle of the plastic wrap; it will look like a long ribbon of Frosting. Then, roll the plastic wrap around the Frosting, making sure to keep it long, or length-wise like a long ribbon. Snip the end off of the Plastic wrap, on one end only, and place it in your Pastry bag with the Tip. Pipe the Frosting onto the cake, cupcakes or cookies. You can get tips to make Flowers, or big dollops, and, by placing the Frosting in plastic wrap, you can just remove the plastic wrap, and remove the tip if your changing designs, and simply insert another color of Frosting that you’ve wrapped in plastic into the Pastry bag, with a new tip, or use the same tip if desired.
HOW TO FROST A LAYER CAKE:
You start by placing the bottom layer on a Cake Plate, or Cake Stand. Place a small dollop of the Frosting on the cake plate, or stand, and smear it a bit, then place the bottom layer on the stand. Frost the top and sides. Lay the Second layer on top of the bottom layer, and if it looks a little wobbly, you can help secure it with large wooden skewers, or long toothpicks. Once secure, Frost the second layer. If the Skewers or Toothpicks stick up above the top of the cake, that’s fine, because you’ll set the top layer on those, securing the top. If you only serving a 2 layer cake, you’ll need to make sure the toothpicks or skewers don’t stick above the top of the cake, and you might need to break them to make them fit. You can buy cake supplies that will help at Craft stores, where they carry cake pans,etc. Michael’s or Hobby Lobby would have those. Once you have the top layer on the cake, Frost the top layer, and the sides, making sure to fill in all the places you may have missed. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 3 hours, to set the Frosting. Remove the cake from the refrigerator, and Frost the cake again, making it smooth and even. The first layer of Frosting is known as the crumb layer, and the second layer finishes the Frosting on the cake to the smooth layer. Once your Frosting has been place on the cake, you can proceed to decorate the cake as needed.
This recipe makes approximately 6 cups of Frosting. You need about 4 cups of Frosting to frost a 3 layer cake, about 3 cups of Frosting to frost a 2 layer cake, and about 2 cups of Frosting to frost 12 cupcakes. So, if you’re Frosting, and decorating a 3 layer cake, I would double this recipe to have plenty of Frosting for different colors, and especially if you’re making Flowers, such as Roses, or big Flowers for the top of the cake. Also, you’ll need Frosting for Piping to finish the bottom, or sides.
