Best-Ever Cream-Cheese Frosting
I decided upon this recipe after a little bit of trial and error a few weeks ago. My dearest roommate, Virg, was the last one of our seven roommates to join the 21 club, so naturally I made her a dessert as a gift. I thought long and hard about what to make her, and since her birthday landed on cinco de mayo, I decided on churro cupcakes.
The first time I made this icing, I kept the butter and cream cheese at room temperature, thinking the icing would come together more smoothly this way. Though it was a smooth icing, trying to pipe it onto cupcakes was nearly impossible. Since it was a room-temperature icing, it ended up being slippery/didn't hold its shape well.
We had company over for a "taco-night" earlier in the week and decided to tackle the icing again, yet this time leaving the butter and cream cheese in the fridge so the icing was stiffer. PERFECT!! It piped so easily, but still had a smooth finish.
The great thing about this recipe is that it's very simple/basic, so you can make it different for any specific kind of baked good you want to make. For the churro cupcakes, I added a tablespoon of cinnamon to the icing. If you like the flavor of almond extract, feel free to add some of that in there. As long as you have the general technique and base of this recipe down, you can modify it to fit your recipes!
Note: the picture I used was from the first time I made the frosting (I got too eager to try the cupcakes and forgot to take a picture of the new one....so let's pretend I did).
BEST-EVER CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING
INGREDIENTS
1 stick butter, cold
1 package of cream cheese, cold
3 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
1. Begin by adding the cold butter to a large bowl and beating it with an electric mixer on high. You want the butter to become creamy, but still be cold, so whip for a minute or two.
2. Once the butter is thoroughly whipped, add the package of cream cheese. Beat on high to incorporate, about two more minutes.
3. Add one cup of powdered sugar at a time, beating slightly after each addition. Add the vanilla after you have incorporated the powdered sugar.
4. Spread using a spoon for a more rustic look or fill an icing bag and make a pretty pattern on top of your cupcakes or cake!
