Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

My First Post...

I decided to start this blog as an easy way to share recipes. So, for my first post I'll share the most versatile and the most recently asked for: vanilla buttercream frosting.

I'm a picky eater, but I love to eat. And cake is one of my favorite foods in the world. The problem is I'm just as picky about frosting as I am about anything else. Much to the horror of nearly everyone else in the world I am not a fan of cream cheese frosting (unless its very, very mild). Most of the time I just end up scraping the frosting off and eating the cake since that's my favorite part anyway. Other people like frosting though, so I've been searching for a solid 'go-to' vanilla frosting recipe. I found one via Pinterest a few weeks ago and loved it. Well, after a few changes. Apparently it's the recipe Sprinkles cupcakes uses. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I found it to be quite enjoyable regardless of whether that's true or not :)

I made the recipe as written the first time and thought it was a bit too thick, hard to work with, and believe it or not, too buttery. The second time I halved the recipe, but continued adding powdered sugar and milk s l o w l y until it was perfect. Unfortunately I don't have those exact measurements, but I figure everyone can tweak it to their liking anyway.

Here's the original recipe:

1 cup butter (softened)
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine butter, sugar and salt in a bowl. Beat until blended

Add milk and vanilla and beat another 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy

I added everything at once (except the vanilla) both times and it turned out great. 

It takes quite a while until this actual turns into something that resembles frosting. James peeked in multiple times and was quite concerned. But, I promise, it does eventually turn into frosting. I don't recommend microwaving the butter to soften it. I did that the second time I made this for ~10-15 seconds and just wasn't as happy with the texture and... fluffiness as I was with the first batch. Just sit the butter on the counter for a bit and then cut into smallish pieces. I found that when I microwaved it there was a bit of an oiliness to the frosting that I didn't want. Still just as delicious, though :)

I am interested to see if this recipe works with other flavors, too. Perhaps chocolate should be next... 

*When I halved the recipe I used 1/2 C butter, ~2.5 cups powdered sugar, several teaspoons of milk, just over 1/2 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt. I thought it still made plenty of frosting for a standard 8x13 cake, but I put a pretty thin layer of frosting on.