Frosting!

My sister Carly's birthday last week inspired me to try a new frosting.  Her favorite cake is funfetti cake with the rainbow sprinkles frosting, so I was hoping to be able to recreate such a thing.  I didn't.  The reason I couldn't recreate the funfetti cake and rainbow sprinkles frosting is those flavors are fake flavors!  Real vanilla doesn't taste like that; real butter doesn't taste like that.  So, although I didn't recreate Carly's favorite cake, I did make a tasty vanilla cupcake that looked like funfetti cake, and I topped it with a beautiful (albeit too buttery) Italian Buttercream frosting.  I'm sharing the frosting recipe, although I am going to adjust it next time and make a sweetened meringue before adding the simple syrup.  This particular one came from Sprinkle Bakes.

Also, if you want to create the look of a funfetti cake, all you have to do is make your favorite vanilla cake batter, then just before baking, fold in 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup sprinkles.  That's it!  It really does turned out to look like confetti!

Italian Buttercream (from Sprinkle Bakes)

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup water

4 large egg whites

6 sticks softened butter (yes, six!!!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

To make a small batch, I did:

1 1/2 c sugar

1/2 c water

3 large egg whites

4 sticks softened butter

3/4 teaspoon vanille

Dissolve the sugar and water over medium heat and bring to a boil until it registers 240 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites (and sugar...see note) until they are foamy.  Once your simple syrup is 240 degrees, slowly add it in to the foamy egg whites and mix on low to cool the mixture.  KAF said not to add the butter until the mixture is below 100, so I did do that, although few recipes required that step.  

With your paddle attachment, add in the butter one piece at a time.  Add in your vanilla.  It will look curdled, but just keep mixing!  Soon, it will smooth out to a lovely buttercream that tastes just as it sounds -- butter and cream (and a bit of sugar, of course).

Next time, the only difference I'll try is adding 1/3 cup sugar to the egg whites so that the frosting is altogether sweeter.

I have a couple other frosting recipes that I've come to love, so I thought I'd share them again.

Swiss Meringue Chocolate Frosting (from ATK)

1/3 c sugar
2 large egg whites
pinch salt
12 T unsalted butter, softened and cut into 12 pieces
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to between 85 and 100 degrees
1/2 t vanilla

Combine sugar, egg whites, and salt in bowl of a standing mixer, then place over simmering water.  Heat, whisking gently but consistently, until it registers 150 degrees.

Using the whisk attachment (or a hand-mixer whisk, which I did because mine didn't seem to fluff up enough), beat on medium speech until it looks like shaving cream and is slightly cooled, a couple of minutes.  Add the butter, one piece at a time, until smooth and creamy.

Add the cooled melted chocolate and vanilla and mix.  Increase speed to med-high and beat until light and fluffy.

One more Buttercream Frosting, the strangest recipe I've ever found, but my favorite!

2 sticks butter, very soft
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 t vanilla

1.  Over med high heat on the stove, carefully and consistently mix together the flour and milk.  Do this by placing 1/2 of the milk in the pan, then sifting in flour with while hand and whisking with the other.  You don't want any lumps, so the sifting helps tremendously!  Add more milk as you need to.  It will look like glue.

2. Let it cool, whisking occasionally so it doesn't stick to the pan.

3.  With the mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add cooled milk/flour mixture and beat until thick and creamy.

4.  Add flavoring.

Note: This frosting may be slightly grainy at first, but the sugar dissolves quickly.  If possible, make it a couple hours before frosting, so that the sugar has time to dissolve.