Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I made these cupcakes with St. Patrick ’s Day in mind, with their beautiful, green cakes and a light vanilla buttercream frosting. I have been craving this frosting since I bought the green velvet cake mix (yes, craving something other than chocolate, surprising!).

As I was making these cupcakes, I realized the best part is the vanilla buttercream frosting. The delicate taste of this creamy, buttery, vanilla frosting upon these miniature green mounds was quite yummy! Vanilla buttercream frosting for breakfast….is it my birthday already? {smile}

If you haven’t gotten around to making your own buttercream frosting yet, you have got to try this recipe! Not only is it easy to make but it only calls for five ingredients – butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and half & half. As I’ve said before, it taste so much better than store bought versions. This recipe is adapted from Alice Currah's  Classic vanilla buttercream frosting recipe.

To be honest with you, this is the first time I’ve used my Kitchen Aid mixer that I got for Christmas! I know, I don’t know what took me so long to use it, but I absolutely, positively LOVE it <3

I’ve always mixed everything by hand growing up and just found it easier than bringing out a mixer…until today! I don’t know how I ever did without it! I found a little place on the counter for it so now it’s more readily accessible than sitting in that box in my bedroom!

So if you too are using your stand mixer, this frosting should take only five minutes to whip up and makes a serving size of 2 and half cups of frosting or 12 cupcakes. This vanilla buttercream frosting is great for decorating cakes and cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature *texture should be like ice cream*

2-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons half & half (can also use heavy cream)

2-4 drops food coloring  *optional*

Directions

Place butter in mixing bowl and beat for a couple minutes with the paddle attachment on medium speed.

Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar to butter and mix on lowest speed (otherwise your powdered sugar will blow everywhere) until sugar is creamed thoroughly with butter.

Turn off mixer and add your vanilla, salt, and 2 Tablespoons of half and half. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

*If you want thicker frosting, add remaining cup of sugar.

*If you want thinner frosting, slowly add remaining tablespoons of half and half until you achieve desired consistency.

*I also added a little food coloring to give my frosting a hint of green color for St. Patrick’s Day. You can add other colors too if you want colored frosting.

All content and images are property of Sweet and Spicy Monkey. Please do not reprint this content without my permission. If you wish to include this recipe on your site, please re-write in your own words and use your own photographs and link back to this post for original recipe.       

 

Shamrock Rainbow Mint Fudge

It’s already March! The birds are singing, the trees are starting to bloom, and St. Patrick’s day is just around the corner. Before we know it, we will have the hot, sweltering days of summer once again! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s enjoy the mild, sunny days of spring while they are here (even though it is still winter).

As luck would have it, when I went to gather some clover for the pictures out of my front yard, I actually found 2 four leaf clovers without even looking for them! That's them in the pictures above and below. I sure could have used them last week!

In celebration of St. Paddy’s day, I made this Shamrock Rainbow Mint fudge, a creamy, melt in your mouth white chocolate, all dressed in green, with a hint of peppermint and chocolate M&M’s…a perfect mouthful of mint and blended chocolates, like your own little pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! The M&M’s add the rainbow effect with their multiple colors and are the perfect balance of chocolate to the creamy vanilla and mint taste.

You would be surprised with how easy it is to make this fudge, and in only about 15 minutes, which is a whole lot quicker than making cupcakes! The only thing you have to be consistent about in making fudge is to keep on stirring because if you don’t, it might burn, which will ruin the whole batch. So if you can stir, you can make your own fudge!

So let's create some magic in the kitchen for your family and friends with this Shamrock Rainbow Mint fudge. They are sure to be magically delighted!

Shamrock Rainbow Mint Fudge

Ingredients

1 and ½ cups granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup green candy melts

1 and  ½  cup marshmallow fluff (approximately ¾ the container)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 cup chocolate M&M’s

Directions

Prepare an 8 x 8 dish by spraying with a non-stick spray, wiping off excess with a paper towel.

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, and butter. On medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and butter is melted.

Once it comes to a rolling boil, continue to stir constantly, and cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove from heat and stir in marshmallow fluff, chips, candy melts, vanilla, and peppermint. Mixture will be hard to stir, but continue stirring until ingredients are melted and smooth.

Once this is done, gently fold in M&M’s and blend throughout mixture.

Spoon into prepared dish and let cool. Once cooled, cut into desired pieces.

*Helpful Hints*

- If mixture becomes too difficult to stir when adding marshmallow, chips, candy melts, vanilla, and peppermint, simply return pan to burner and turn on lowest setting to help melt ingredients together.

- Remove from burner and follow directions as indicated. Do not have pan on burner when adding M&M’s. You want M&M’s to stay whole and not melt or break apart.

All content and images are property of Sweet and Spicy Monkey. Please do not reprint this content without my permission. If you wish to include this recipe on your site, please re-write in your own words and use your own photographs. Or you can link back to this post for the recipe.