The Jealous Crumpet

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Frosting Cupcakes: The Lineup

4mug

I’ve been framed!

So the plan was to learn how to frost a cupcake.  I had never done it before, but in my complete naiveté I thought it be the easiest thing in the world… I was wrong.

The first thing I did was go out and buy the frosting paraphernalia: small frosting tips, triangle-shaped bags, little plastic cuffs to keep the tips on the bags, etc.  The second thing I did was watch YouTube videos about how to frost a cupcake.  On the very first video the instructor says, “Don’t bother buying the small frosting tips, as they are rubbish.”  Of course, I had already purchased the small frosting tips.  Not the most promising start but I pressed on.frostingI watch several videos of professional bakers effortlessly frosting cupcakes and assumed I too would be an expert.  If they could frost a cupcake in ten seconds the looked like a greek sculpture, I surely cup frost a cupcake in 30 seconds that was half decent.  So I started with a naked cupcake, fully expecting baking greatness to flow from the frosting bag.

1Y2B5016With my frosting bag placed over the nude cupcake, I gently squeezed  the bag and waited for the frosting to spring out and create a masterpiece, but nothing happening.  It was a pretty sturdy butter cream frosting, so I squeezed a bit harder, and still nothing.  So I furiously squeezed, bursting the bag, and catapulting  frosting across my kitchen and self.  Despite the butter cream explosion not one speck of frosting landed on the cupcake.  I hadn’t bought many frosting bags, so I had to duct tape the bag together.

1Y2B5033At this point I got a glass of wine and sat down to watch a couple for YouTube videos.  With my duct-tapped frosting bag, 8 or 9 frosting videos under my belt and a slight wine buzz I felt ready to give frosting a second attempt.  I’ll admit that though I managed to get frosting to come out the of tip, rather than the side of the bag, my first few cupcakes were terrible.   I have included photographic evidence of my progression.

1Y2B5024I then practiced with each tip (the small tips ARE rubbish) until I was pretty satisfied.  I intended to have sleek-looking videos to show how to frost the cakes, but there was far too much swearing, tears and wine drinking to be acceptable for the general population.  Here are some stills of the start of the cupcakes with various tips instead.

1Y2B5123In the end I had 4 distantly different looking cupcakes, which I was perfectly happy with.  It retrospect the wine may have helped with my satisfaction level.  About an hour after I finished the cupcakes I also noticed that I had managed to get large amounts of frosting on the back of my head.  Not really sure how, just one of the many joys of baking.

1Y2B5092The recipe for the butter cream frosting is very simple, but probably shouldn’t be consumed if you have trouble with sugar as it has 6 cups of sugar in it.

1Y2B5043Butter Cream Frosting

2 cups (1 lb) unsalted butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons milk

Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Spread or pipe onto cake.

Enjoy!!!1Y2B5052