Soupy Frosting

I am almost ready to give up on baking in the summer. It is entirely too hot. Cakes don't bake correctly, frosting's don't stay firm as they should, and transportation: forget about it.

I was baking all morning, with no anticipation that anything would go wrong, after all this is my go-to: red velvet w/ cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes baked correctly (maybe slightly more dense than usual) and the frosting whipped up beautifully, it wasn't until I arrived at Gern's for the Fourth Festivities that things started to veer slightly off path!

I let the frosting firm up after the car ride and by the time I went to fill my piping bag, my worst fear had come true. It wasn't firm enough yet. And by not firm enough I really mean it was almost like a thick cake batter consistency. Horrified doesn't quite describe the feeling that had overcome me. The refrigerator I had left the bowl of frosting in was the refrigerator that was being used for most of the other dishes that were being served, so it was being opened and closed and things were being taken out every 2 minutes, so a proper cooling temperature could never be reached.



After I rallied up a few people to help me, we sifted a few things in the freezer and my frosting was saved! Well, almost! After I remembered that this was a family affair and they understood the dramatic weather conditions were conspiring against me; I relaxed a bit! Even though the cupcakes were very well received and raved about, I was still disappointed with the presentation. You win some, you lose some... All things considered this was a success!

You cant really go wrong with food, fun, friends and family... even if you have soupy frosting!

Chocolate Frosting

I'm not a fan of chocolate...THERE, I said it. Yes, I know, to utter such words is considered a sin by many, but my palette has refused to be open minded. Chocolate candy bars, chocolate ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fondue, chocolate cake... none of these things have ever sat well with me.

I decided to give in and give myself a nudge, after all... if I am going to pursue this little baking dream of mine, then I might as well bite the bullet and start making some badass chocolate pastries.

I started small; baby steps, you know! Today's mission: chocolate frosting. I wanted a creamy, buttery, but not too rich frosting... boy did I hit the nail on the head. The frosting tastes like chocolate cake batter but with a buttercream texture. It's incredible!

Chocolate Frosting
6 tbsp butter
5-6 tbsp milk
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

The only drawback: To reach the desire texture, you have to whip for 2-3 minutes and this causes the frosting to lose some of it's rich chocolatey color. (I guess I could always cheat and use some brown food color!)



That's all for tonight! Someone please come over and eat these damn things. I've already had 3... =/