Frosting is one of life’s little delights. Few people will pass up the opportunity to make any cake or cupcake even more glorious. Not only is frosting wonderful, but it’s also easy to make. Gild the lily with these recipes.
A Simple Glaze
A glaze is the lightest coating imaginable. Glazes are meant to bring in just that little bit of extra. Think of the glaze as your own personal version of baking bling.
Simple glazes work well on nearly any baked goods. They’re particularly elegant if you’re going all the way and making your own homemade donuts. Take that blueberry, mocha, Nutella, German chocolate in a whole new direction. It’s even good on a plain cupcake if that’s all you’re planning for dessert by yourself.
Bring out a cup of powdered sugar. Then you can bring out three tablespoons of water. You can use milk instead of water if you want something that’s richer. You’ll want to flavor this one with your own personal extract preferences. Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract is good. Add in food coloring if you’re feeling fancy.
Add the water or milk to the powdered sugar, food coloring and extract. Stir the whole thing with a fork so it’s well blended. At this point, you should have a nice thin glaze ready for use.
Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate is another option. This one is right for a basic cake when you want to take it to the next level. You’ll get frosting that is easy to use. Make this one in advance for when you’re planning on doing lots of baking. You can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it all.
For this one, you want a fourth of a cup of butter without the salt, three teaspoons of the best cocoa powder, a fourth of a cup of milk, two cups of powdered sugar, and a teaspoon of almond extract for lots of flavor.
Melt the butter. Add cocoa powder and mix it really well. As you’re mixing it, now is the time to bring in the sugar. The whole thing should become stiffer and ready for any cake.
Buttercream Frosting
Buttercream is another kind of frosting that’s endlessly versatile.
Take a cup of powdered sugar along with half a cup of butter. Then bring in a tablespoon of milk, a tablespoon of vanilla extract and just a pinch of salt to keep the whole thing in place.
For this one, you want to beat the butter and sugar at the same time until well blended. Then bring in the milk to help remove any lumps. Add in the extract and the salt. The entire mixture can be blended until you’re totally satisfied with the results. You want a finished product that will go smoothly over the surface of the cake when you’re done.
The frosting is one of those tiny pleasures that makes such a large difference. Learn how here to make three wonderful variants for your baking needs.