Frosting Recipes

Green Your Plate has a great story of their struggles with making a fluffy textured chocolate frosting.  As you know, it’s not just the quality of ingredients you use that makes a great frosting.  It’s also knowing how and in what order to combine the ingredients so they reach the desired texture.  You work to bake a light, even cake, so you don’t want to ruin it with a heavy, gloppy frosting.

What really took this frosting from glop to great is careful sifting of flour and “awakening” the cocoa powder with the right amount of water.

Here’s Green Your Plate’s Chocolate Frosting Recipe.  Be sure to check out the full article and photos after the jump.

Fluffy Chocolate Frosting
Adapted from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor

This recipe makes 1 1/2 cups, enough to frost a 2-layer 6 inch diameter mini-cake.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 T. boiling water
4 T. (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Pour the boiling water over the cocoa powder and stir it together to combine. Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes to cool down, then add the butter and mix on low speed until it is combined (this takes less than a minute).

Then, add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix on low speed for another minute so that the powdered sugar is incorporated into the mixture. Turn the speed up to medium and beat the frosting for a couple more minutes until the mixture lightens in color and turns fluffy. The longer you beat it, the lighter it will get.

Green Your Plate: It’s the frosting, stupid!.

We love coffee frosting, and came across this fabulous recipe from Jamie of all Trades.  It combines Starbucks Via instant coffee, coffee liqueur, egg whites, butter and sugar, and check out her beautiful presentation.

Coffee frosting is more versatile than you think.   It’s fabulous with flavors like cinnamon, chocolate, mocha, vanilla, caramel and walnuts.  For a cake or cupcake garnish, chocolate-covered coffee beans, chocolate shavings, or candied walnuts are always a hit.

coffee frosting with starbucks via – jamie of all trades.

Let’s face it.  Kids like the frosting the best, so try having your kids make this simple frosting recipe.  It doesn’t involve eggs or the stove, so kids just measure and mix the ingredients and start cookie or cake decorating.  You can split the recipe into several batches to make different colors.   If they’re ready, you may have them try using a pastry bag.  Otherwise, an offset spatula or butter knife works great for spreading.

Ingredients

1 stick butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. milk
Food coloring

Directions

Cream 1 stick of softened butter and 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk, then cream until smooth. Add desired food coloring.

Recipe from:

Cookie Frosting Kids Can Make – and More Great Family Fun Recipe Ideas.