Finding a buttercream recipe that tastes good is not difficult.  After sampling a few recipes, you will realize what you like and what you don’t like.  Some are made with all butter, some with shortening, and some with a mixture of both.  Some are whipped until they’re light and fluffy and some are more dense.

Taste is a matter of preference – and that’s why I decided to try a new buttercream recipe.  I found a recipe from “Kittencal” over at Recipezaar.  The recipe received rave reviews.  It claims to be “the best frosting”.  How could I resist?   And since I was anxious to try the CIA technique for making “cupcake bouquets” , I decided to give it a try.

The icing was really easy to mix and pulled together well.  It has a great consistency in the bowl and was very easy to color/tint.  I pulled some out to keep white (see pic above).  I decided to go with yellow for the flowers.

And here’s what I got…. a floppy flower…

Lessons Learned:

• Not every buttercream recipe is great for cupcake decorating.  I think the shortening in the mix made is too “limp”.  The petals flopped instead of being perky as in the video.
• If an instructor from the CIA gives you a recipe – USE IT! 
• Yellow food coloring quickly goes from pale yellow to bright yellow!

The recipe from “Kittencal” was great to spread but not great to pipe.  It would be a nice recipe for wedding cupcakes if you do not intend to pipe any decorations.  I will probably make it again in the future but will probably use it for a birthday cake or for some quick iced cupcakes.

(photo courtesy of Southern Accents, Becky Luigart-Stayner)

The gorgeous arrangement above features a variety of cupcake wedding cakes and other small desserts.  The wedding cupcakes are placed on tiered cupcake stands (which can be used again after the wedding).  Bouquets of flowers and colored napkins help fill out the table.

This table arrangement can be recreated for the wedding cake table…

or you could place one a tiered cupcake stands in the center of each table, allowing your dessert to serve as the table decoration.   This could be a true budget-saver as it would cut back the cost of your table arrangements and you may save on the catering bill as the staff would not have to serve dessert!

These will be gracing our Easter dessert table! If you would like to see a “get started with cake decorating” video, sign up for our newsletter in the top right of this page.

video courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America

If that doesn’t get some ideas rolling, take a look at this cake…

Wouldn’t that be cute for a Bridal Shower?

There are 31 cakes over at the Parenting.com site.  Don’t dismiss them due to the fact that they are primarily meant for a child’s birthday celebration.  There are some great DIY cupcake and cake decorating ideas over there that may be used for other occasions too (like unique wedding cakes, mini wedding cakes, or cupcake wedding cakes).

I was really anxious to try these out as “Recipe Girl” does some mighty fine cookin’. So here’s my take this Chocolate Cupcake Recipe.

I loved that it is made with buttermilk, especially because I had a full quart ready to go bad in the fridge.

The recipe went together quite simply.. until I got to the cocoa mixture.  The recipe says to cover the cocoa and boiling water and set it aside while you make the batter.  I wasn’t sure why it needed to be covered (but I did so using a plate over the top of the bowl).  I don’t know whether that made it turn to chocolate glue or not… but that’s what it became.  When I had to incorporate the cocoa mixture, I had a hard time.  It just would not mix into the batter.  And talk about thick and adhesive-like!  It was hard to clean the darned bowl afterwards!  Thick chocolate glue I tell ya’.

You’ll see that they bake up quite nicely.  I would NOT recommend making these without the liners (the whole chocolate glue thing).  The tray above is headed to the freezer for a “flash freeze”.  I put the pan (uncovered – exactly as you see it) in the freezer for a few hours.  I then removed the cupcakes and put them into gallon sized Ziploc bags.  This is a great way to make your Cupcake Wedding Cake in advance.

Here’s a shot of the inside of the cupcake:

These babies were good – still not my favorite though.  The search for the perfect Chocolate Cupcake Recipe continues!

CHOCOLATEY CUPCAKES DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE GANACHE
adapted from www.RecipeGirl.com

CUPCAKES:
¾ cup boiling water
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 ounces butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup buttermilk

1. Prepare cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with liners (or not)- your choice.

2. Whisk together boiling water and cocoa; cover and set aside.

3. With a mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Add eggs, one at a time, and continue creaming until light and fluffy.

4. Sift together flour, baking soda, & baking powder and add this mixture, alternately with the buttermilk. Add cocoa/water mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Scoop into cupcake pans (fill half full) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

5. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Yield: About 36 cupcakes

Recipe Source: Adapted from Food Network