recipe | Buttercream Frosting

I'm going to let you in on a little secret...I rarely bake a cake or cupcake from scratch! Why you ask? Well when all anyone ever talks about is the fabulous frosting then I started to think it didn't matter. And quite honestly I don't think anyone even suspects, that is until  now...

Anyway, you might wonder what is this fabulous, make you want to eat way too much cake frosting I speak of? Well I'm now going to let you in on another little secret...

My Buttercream Frosting Recipe!!!

It did start off from a tradtional, simple and pretty good recipe found in a book but over time I've tweaked it to something rich, creamy and oh so great!

So go ahead whip up a boxed cake mix and then try it yourself...

you won't be disappointed...

Step 1:
Beat together until fluffy...
1/2 Cup Butter (softened)
1/3 Cup Cream Cheese

(Just 2/3 Cup butter can be used if no cream cheese is available)

Step 2:

Add each a little at a time and blend well until creamy and smooth...

4 Cups | Powdered Sugar

6-10 Tablespoons | Half & Half

Step 3:

1 Teaspoon | Vanilla

Step 4 (optional):

Tint with your favortie color...mine is a pale pink of course!

Oh and did you notice the vintage platter I had my cake on? It's one of my new favorite finds! The handles lock down the lid on either side to keep it fresh and makes it easy to take on the road for birthday parties and such. So fun!

Happy Baking!

Vintage Doughnut Fail

I recently ran across a 1954 recipe for cake doughnuts in a magazine.

"Oh, how fun it would be to make doughnuts from a vintage recipe!" I thought to myself.

My cousin stopped by one evening so we put on our vintage aprons and got busy!

We mixed, we melted, we laughed, we cried (ok not really, at least not yet) and we had such fun...then it chilled.

The rest was up to me the next day so I went to work rolling out, cutting, deep frying and then sugar coating what turned into nearly 6 dozen doughnuts.

Ok, so maybe I overdid it when I doubled the recipe but I had to share a batch with the neighbors, send some to work with my dad and deliver a platter to my aunt and cousins.

I was feeling so proud of myself and quite domestic...

that is until the next morning when I grabbed one to have with coffee.

Those doughnuts were so dry and thick I couldn't choke them down!

Guess I owe some people a better batch of goodies...what must they think!?

Lessons learned:

1. Don't double the batch unless you know you love the recipe.

2. Don't share your goodies with people you hope to stay on good terms with unless you are absolutely sure they are good.

Sugar Cookie Goodness

With coffee, with tea, with milk, with cocoa, or just because...I love sugar cookies! They are such an elegant and old fashioned cookie. Nothing fancy about them as far as ingredients or looks goes but take one bite and the melt in your mouth goodness will have you grabbing for a second...and a third...and quite possibly a fourth.

Now enough drooling over mine...go make some for yourself!

Per my favorite cookbook 'The Complete Book of Baking' by Pillsbury

No-Roll Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
4½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp. salt

In large bowl, cream both sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add oil, vanilla and eggs; mix well. Stir in flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt until well blended. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.* Heat oven to 375ºF. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar.
Bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until set, but not brown.
Makes 7 to 8 dozen cookies.

*Or if you're impatient like me stick your first batch in the oven and then refrigerate the rest of the dough while you're enjoying the first dozen! ;0)