Buttercream Frosting for the Win

Have you ever made frosting?  I'm embarrassed to say it, but I have been trying for years!  But now I know that I had been trying to make the wrong kind of frosting.  Since my mantra is Simple Is Best, I had shied away from any kind of frosting that seemed fussy, and in doing so, missed out on the most surprisingly simple yet wonderful tasting thing.

Buttercream.

My cousin slathered heavenly buttercream on our wedding cakes a year ago, and I thought there was no way to compete.  It was so decadent, I was convinced it was most likely the most complicated thing in the world.  Even when she told me the ingredients, I was not convinced.  

A year-ish later, I was commissioned to make a cake for my parents' 35th wedding anniversary.  I looked through my cook books and found a recipe for buttercream.  I saw the photo and thought "It's time".

Luckily I had just bought a giant bag of powdered sugar, because even though I halved the recipe, it still took four cups!

The recipe I ended up with is as follows:

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup softened butter

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup of milk

First you beat the butter and sugar together.  All of the sugar.  And it goes everywhere, like it's snowing.  Aprons are handy if you happen to wear a lot of, oh let's say, navy blue.  Butter and confectioner's sugar don't cream together the same way butter and granulated sugar do- it's not grainy.  And it's not the same as butter and flour either- it doesn't clump.  It truly looks like it shouldn't work: it's still very powdery.  I had an urge to add more butter right away, but I thought better of it, and it's a good thing I did.

After you've combined the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and about 1/4 cup of milk.  See how it looks, and then add more milk if needed.  I urge you to start with 1/4 since the full recipe was 1/2, and go from there.  I ended up needing 1/3 cup.  

And like magic, you have frosting.  It's so very simple, and so. damn. good.  My husband is a frosting connoisseur, and he couldn't get enough.

 The cake is vanilla too, because yum.

This ended up being enough to frost an entire 9" round cake, including a thin layer between the two cake layers and a bit extra for licking:)  It would be tasty with fig jam (or any other kind of your choosing) in the middle as well.

And there you have it!  A perfectly simple, rustic, tasty vanilla cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

I hope this inspires you to try that recipe you've always wanted to try.  You should.  It will be amazing.

 

Happy anniversary mom and dad!