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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Recipe for Cupcakes and Butter Cream Icing!

              Okay, so I was asked about a recipe for cupcakes, so todays post will cover just that! :)

           So first things first, you need to draw out what your going to do.  Decorating or designing a cake with multiple colors of icing in different patterns is a whole lot different than slapping icing on a cake.  You need to draw out what the cake or cupcakes will look like and what colors you will need.  We will refer to this later in the post.
So to be honest, mostly all I use is...*shifts eyes around sneakily*  
               A box mix for the cupcakes!  Terrible I know, but hey I am mostly a decorator not a chef lol
But here is a helpful tip for baking on a budget, I buy these cupcake boxes that make 12 cupcakes, and guess how much they are? 1$!  You can buy them anywhere, wal-mart, target, dollar tree.  They are smaller boxes than regular mix but they work great!  I usually buy two, one chocolate and one vanilla and that makes 24 cupcakes, perfect for a cupcake cake!
           Now for the icing, I do actually mix up my own.  If you have ever tried to make a nice looking cake but used store bought little tubs of icing, you know it for some reason doesn't work out so well.  Well heres the thing, decorating icing has to be alot thicker than that super creamy silky stuff that you buy.  Which is why you should just whip up your own batch!  It's alot easier than it sounds!  And it tastes great too!  Not to mention it just sounds cool to say you made your own icing ;)
Okay so here is the recipe I normally use. 

  • 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
  •  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
  • 2 tablespoons milk
          Okay so pretty much this is the Wilton recipe for butter cream icing.  I love anything Wilton, they are amazing! But I have to say, I like to also add:
A drop of Almond extract
1/2 teaspoon of CLEAR butter flavoring.

        I think these add a nice flavor more than just straight sugar flavor :)
By the way, the icing recipe above almost NEVER makes enough icing for what I need so I usually double or more likely triple it.  Its always nicer to have way to much icing than have to stop what your doing to make more.
        Okay so after you have mixed up your icing, (which I suggest you do with a mixer because your arm will be dead by the end)  then you need to look at your paper that you drew of the design and figure out best you can how much icing you will need for each color.  Say you,for some reason,are drawing a sky and grass and a sun on a cake.  So you know the majority of your icing needs to be blue, so you leave it in the big bowl.  A tiny little bit will need to be yellow, so you take out a spoonful or two and put it in a separate bowl.  The grass might take up a forth of the cake so you scoop out a forth or so of the icing and put it in a different bowl.  And if you want to get really fancy with different shades of the colors, its the same process.  
                  Now it's time to actually color!   I use the Wilton icing coloring,
                           I bought a whole kit that had all the basics (tips, piping bags, spatula, and colors) for $40 at walmart, it's really a great deal.  Remember when using coloring, you want to start out very light and work your way darker, literally, you can stick the end of a toothpick in the yellow and then into the icing, and it will turn your whole batch of icing bright yellow!  So just start slow.  Anyways, after you have colored and thoroughly mixed your icing, it's time to put it into the piping bags with the tip you have chosen and time to start your masterpiece!  Thanks for reading!

63 comments:

OC-STEVEN said...

i actually am nota fan of any kind of icing but i do love me some cake :)

Pandor42 said...

Wonderful tips on icing. What kind of tips can you offer for using fondant on cupcakes?

tortacular said...

Great post. Keep it coming.

Lewis Chan said...

i love icing

thatangelokid said...

yummy

Willow said...

.....I.....luv......you.....TO much sugar....mmmmm diabetes time!

MC said...

thanks for the new recipe to try!

anontcotrol said...

oh yum!

Acou said...

the icing is the best part of any cupcake, and that's a fact! :D will have to try this out next time i'm baking something ^^

Anonymous said...

You have some awesome stuff here! I enjoy cooking, but I'm not much of a baker. Even still, this stuff makes my mouth water uncontrollably. <3

Igloo said...

mmmmm im super hungry now haha.

Jehabbi said...

Ohh boy! Yummy!

jeanjean said...

I'm not sure if it's healthy to colour your food.

thecatzpajamas said...

i have this right now

Anonymous said...

Oh nooooooo... I swear, hearing the words Butter and Creme juxtaposed makes me think of all kinds of lardnastiness. Yuck!

Engelhart said...

Ooooh, sounds delicious.

Barnacle said...

Your posts ALWAYS make me hungry :)

yuyiuyi said...

Cupcakes! <3

richie said...

Yummy, i'm hungry too!

Anonymous said...

very nice post man thnx

supp u mate

Emanuel said...

Great stuff here, keep it up Bro !

Totalitarian said...

Thanks for reminding me that i must eat! hehe

Flippy said...

That icing sounds delightful. I'm definitely sending my gf that recipe. Maybe if she makes it, you'll be seeing an update someday with a shoutout to your recipe! :D

Discerning Gentleman said...

You've made some interesting points... I also have some points (actually bubbles) on Enhanced by MS Paint :)

The King of Crap said...

Just make sure your Wilton coloring is being used on cool products. Otherwise the dye may bleed into your dessert.

Quinn Electronics said...

yum.. I want to eat that for dinner

Savage Nugget said...

Duncan Hines Special recipe. :o

Lizard said...

i recommend putting some mashed up banana in the yellow mix one. trust me it'll come out 100x better.

kmartsmartsuperstar said...

I'll have to try this out. Maybe my wife and I can work on it together! Nums!

Aspect said...

Delicious. I've always wondered how butter cream is made.

jester said...

I could def use some pics of the finished product, sounds really good!

RonNiebOy said...

great tips, ill def try the icing recipe soon

Kid C said...

Ugh! I'm trying to be on a diet! And everywhere I turn is candy, cinnamon rolls and cupcakes!

Jehabbi said...

Please post more goodies!

OneFourSeven said...

I had just forgotten about how hungry I was and how much the sweet tooth was in control

but now this

lol

Following, supporting both your blogs

VidyaBlogBan said...

" If you have ever tried to make a nice looking cake but used store bought little tubs of icing, you know it for some reason doesn't work out so well."

This is so true. It always has the same taste too and could be a little less dense :P

Tip Junkies said...

Gonna try to make it some day

The Greater Spartan said...

Im hungry now i want some skittles XDD

kabello said...

wow i never know that

RJ said...

mmm sounds so good

Bambi said...

Hey great blog and thanks for the support. Following both your blogs :) keep it up.

nick said...

wow now im hungry

iAtheist said...

will try that, thanks

Michele said...

Cool post bro!!

Anonymous said...

is the nice pics man thnx supp u mate >:D<

ikatashi said...

who couldnt use a good icing recipie :+

TSFan said...

oh my

James Italli said...

That recipe is similar to my wife's, its a good one!

infostation said...

Great post, and don't be ashamed that they aren't completely homemade, it's what you do with them that counts!

Anonymous said...

great!
supportin!!

Light Weight Baby! said...

I can't wait to see your next post!

Katie Greene said...

holy crap i want some cupcakes now.

Anonymous said...

awesome post! supporting you friend- and thanks for visting my blog!

Discerning Gentleman said...

nice work here... btw, I have Hayden Panetierre bubbled on Enhanced by MS Paint :P

nick said...

wow another great post

tortacular said...

gr8 poast!

tortacular said...

gr8 poast!

Jimmy Volmer said...

awesome, I have to agree here!

D.T Halloway said...

yum!!

The Loon said...

too many calories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slumph said...

looks delicious =D

Unknown said...

Ohhhh it sounds so yum, but so unhealthy! Maybe as a rare treat...

crose0689 said...

this isnt fair.. im on a no calorie diet :(

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