Vanilla Frosting Recipe
Put the icing sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Use the back of a wooden spoon to work the sugar into the butter. This will take around five minutes.
Add the vanilla extract to the milk and add a few tablespoons to the icing sugar and butter mixture.
Once the mixture all comes together, use an electric whisk to get a smooth consistency.
If using supermarket bought colouring, add your food colouring now, before the rest of the milk mixture until you are happy with the colour. If using Sugarflair colour, add a small amount with the end of a toothpick until you are happy with the colour.
Add the milk mixture a splash at a time until it reaches a soft peak consistency, taking into account the amount of colouring you used. This will avoid a runny mixture.
This recipe is a take on a Hummingbird bakery vanilla frosting, which I have adapted to get the best consistency. I have doubled the book's quantities and I use Sugarflair Claret.
Some people don't sieve their icing sugar as they believe that it doesn't make a difference. I tried this and it does! The finer the sugar (American's refer to it as confectioner's sugar)
The longer you whisk frosting, the fluffier it gets. I've invested in a good handheld mixer by Breville but i've burnt out three in my time! A larger mixer with paddle attachment will work well on high speed but remember to use a rubber spatula to encorporate all the butter from the base of the dish.
The recipe suggests unsalted butter. Some lightly salted butters are a suitable alternative, as you may have bought this for your cake recipe. The end result will not be bitter due to the ratio of sugar to butter. Always use room temperature butter and never margarine. Your frosting would be greasy and will not hold any shapes which you pipe.
Invest in a good bottle of Vanilla extract. I use extract instead of essence. This gives you a deeper flavour and is made from natural ingredients.
If you have made my chocolate cupcakes from my blog, you will have enough frosting from this recipe for these and enough to keep for emergencies. Do as Nigella does and keep it in the fridge for a sweet hit at nighttime, or freeze in an airtight container with cling film under the lid for up to a month. Defrost and re-whisk for a few minutes to get a perfect consistency.
500g Icing sugar, sifted.
160g butter, at room temperature (this is important)
50ml Whole milk (semi-skimmed works if that's all you have)
A couple of drops of vanilla extract
Put the icing sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.
Use the back of a wooden spoon to work the sugar into the butter. This will take around five minutes.
Add the vanilla extract to the milk and add a few tablespoons to the icing sugar and butter mixture.
Once the mixture all comes together, use an electric whisk to get a smooth consistency.
If using supermarket bought colouring, add your food colouring now, before the rest of the milk mixture until you are happy with the colour. If using Sugarflair colour, add a small amount with the end of a toothpick until you are happy with the colour.
Add the milk mixture a splash at a time until it reaches a soft peak consistency, taking into account the amount of colouring you used. This will avoid a runny mixture.
The Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Hints and Tips:
- One way to reduce time when baking, is to use the handheld electric whisk, but I find working by hand with a wooden spoon is fine too.
- It describes the milk to be used should be full fat but semi skimmed works fine. I've tried both and I don't notice any difference.
- This recipe is enough for 15 cupcakes, to be baked in muffin sized cupcake cases. My favourite are Morrison's brown for these but metallic gold work well for a more celebratory look.
- You can use salted butter and leave the pinch of salt out of the recipe if you need to.
Recipe:
Dry ingredients:
200g Plain flour
40g Cocoa Powder (Cadbury's Bournville if you can find it is best)
3 level tsps of baking powder
A pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients:
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature. This is very important.
240ml Whole milk
2 Eggs
1/2 a tsp of Madagascar Vanilla Extract. (Extract gives a richer vanilla flavour, whereas essence uses more manmade ingredients)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F) Gas 3. Adjust for fan assistant ovens (usually 10 C lower is fine)
Put the dry ingredients and the butter ina bowl and work with a wooden spoon until the butter has been encorporated into the dry ingredients until you reach a sandy consistency.
In a seperate container ( I use the jug that i have used to measure the milk into ) whisk the milk, eggs and vanilla extract for a moment.
Slowly pour half the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until combined, using a rubber spatula to swipe any mixture on the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer up to full and whisk for a moment to get rid of any lumps.
Slowly pour in the remaining wet ingredients with the mixer on low, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.
Do not over mix.
Use an ice-cream scoop to evenly measure the lovely brown mixture into the cups. I sometimes use two soop spoons which you give you the same outcome. Making sure each cup has a similar amount in each. If you want a really even batch, put one small scoop in every cup, then return adding small amounts at a time until the mixture is gone.
Lick the bowl. =D
Bake for 20-25 minutes in the middle of the oven, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted into the cake after 20 minutes which comes out slightly wet needs another five minutes.
Cool in the trays for ten minutes then place on a wire rack.
Storage:
Allow to cool completely before putting the cupcakes into airtight containers to avoid moisture affecting the batch.
Freeze cupcake for up to one month in baking paper, wrapped in foil, in an airtight container ideally. Defrost thoroughly before frosting.
