Icing and Frosting

These are my two basic frosting/icing recipes. I don’t usually measure the ingredients but here is a basic method:

Cream Cheese Frosting

 About 400g cream cheese, softened
 4 cups sifted icing sugar mixture
1 cup (about 230g) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

 Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

 Buttercream Frosting

 250g butter, softened
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Icing sugar mixture

 Beat butter with electric mixer until soft and whipped.
 Add vanilla.
 Add sifted icing sugar mixture 1 cup at a time and mix until well combined. Keep adding icing sugar until you get the consistency and taste you like. If it gets a little dry add some milk.

 

Pink Ribbon Day Fundraiser

Coconut cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting

On November 8th I will be running a 10km fun run to raise money for the Breast Cancer Network Australia. Today is Pink Ribbon Day so at work I organised a fundraiser with proceeds going to the BCNA. I made kitchen sink cookies, coconut cupcakes , vanilla cupcakes and cookie dough truffles. (Info on the truffles coming soon) My co-worker Eve made beautiful orange and almond cupcakes. We sold them for $2 each or 3 for $5 and raised $100. Better yet, my boss is going to match the amount we raised! Thank you to my co-workers for alway supporting my fund-raising efforts.

More Birthday Cupcakes

Happy birthday Jess, may this one be a happy one!

Super Bowl XLIII

Brownies with buttercream frosting ‘grass’.

Koala Cupcakes

Seven poor little un-iced white chocolate mud cupcakes sitting in a container feeling unpretty. What to do? Turn them in to koalas of course! The directions are in the current issue of New Idea magazine, but the basics are grey buttercream frosting, coconut, marshmallows, black jelly beans and brown mini M&Ms.

Cupcakes gone wrong

Update: I think the problem of the not-right cupcakes was that I was overfilling the cupcake patties. Dilemma solved!

Yes, sometimes baking goes wrong in Katie’s Kitchen. Sometimes, for reasons unknown! My mission was to make gluten-free cupcakes and regular cupcakes for my cupcake-themed 27th birthday party. In attempt one at these gluten-free vanilla cupcakes, I forgot to add the baking powder. I ended up with an un-risen mess of half-baked cupcakes.

In attempt two, all was going well, or so I thought, until I went to get them from the oven and found the cupcakes again were an un-risen mess! I knew I had added all the ingredients this time so I was baffled. I gave up on making gluten-free cupcakes, my gluten-intolerant friend Leonie would have to have store-bought gluten-free chocolate biscuits instead. 

I tried making another batch of the cupcakes, this time with self-raising wheat flour. Still no good! The cupcakes didn’t rise properly and some spilt over the edge of the pan. Off to the store I went to get fresh eggs, baking powder and self-raising flour, with three hours to go until my guests were to arrive.

No more trying to make vanilla cupcakes this time, I went straight to my trusty Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook and made white chocolate cupcakes. Success! No disasters this time, they all rose well. I didn’t halve the ingredients this time, I made the full recipe – and ended up with about 40 cupcakes.

Some of the cakes were used in a cupcake decorating contest at my birthday party, some cupcakes were eaten at my good friend Michelle’s baby shower, and some cupcakes are now iced in pink buttercream frosting, ready to be taken to my co-workers tomorrow.

The aftermath of the cupcake decorating contest at my 27th birthday party

(yes it was a cupcake-themed party)

This is Michelle’s niece stealing the Jaffas and M&Ms from the tops of the white chocolate cupcakes at the baby shower

Pink buttercream frosting on top of the white chocolate cakes for my co-workers.

St Patrick’s Day Green Velvet Cupcakes

No, I’m not Irish, I just love any excuse to bake! Would you eat green velvet cake?

Carrot Cupcakes

This is my old faithful carrot cupcake recipe. There is a lot of butter in it, I think it would still work well with less. Sometimes I top them with buttercream frosting, sometimes cream cheese frosting and other times I leave them plain. Walnuts are optional, I didn’t use them this time. The recipe makes 6 Texas-size cupcakes, 12 small cupcakes or 1 cake in a 20cm long loaf tin. They took almost 30 minutes to cook through. I believe the recipe is originally from an Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook, however come across the recipe when I was in high school – in my Food Technology class. I think these won over my now father-in-law a week before I married his son. Thank you cupcakes!

Carrot Cupcakes

Combine 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and two grated carrots.

Mix in 185gm melted butter and 3/4 cup of brown sugar.

Stir in 1 cup self-raising flour, 1 cup sultanas (golden raisins) and 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.

Pour into tray – a lined loaf tin, 12-hole cupcake tray or 6-hole Texas size cupcake tray.

Cook for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius for small cupcakes, or 30 minutes for whole cake or large cupcakes. Test with skewer.

Birthday Cupcakes

White chocolate mud cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

Vanilla Ice cream and Chocolate Mud Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

Update: And the winner is…

Q: What do you do with a chocolate mud cupcake that is just a little too crumbly?

A: Mix it with vanilla ice cream, top with peppermint buttercream frosting and enter it into December’s Cupcake Hero contest!

Cupcake Hero is a monthly cupcake baking competition, with a different key ingredient each month. Read about December’s theme here.

I decided to enter this month, however my poor chocolate mudcakes where just too crumbly for me to be happy. So I whipped out some vanilla ice cream and Voila! Chocolate and ice cream and peppermint and buttercream, er, cupcakes!

1. Take cool cupcakes and crumble into pieces. Mix the pieces with soft (but not too soft) vanilla ice cream.

2. Spoon ice cream mix into ramekins or small bowls.

 3. Make buttercream frosting with a dash of peppermint essence and a tiny dash of green food colouring.

4. Pipe frosting onto the top of your “cupcake” and eat with a spoon!