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!