Butter Cream Frosting

I made this frosting for my sons' 3rd birthday and I'm making it again for a surprise birthday party for my niece. This is my Aunt Connie's recipe that is in our family cookbook. My Aunt Anna-Maria and her son Michael used to make it as well and I remember having it at their house several years ago and liking it. This pairs really well with the Hershey's 5-Minute Chocolate Cake. I prefer to make my cakes in a 9x12 rectangular pan and this is the perfect amount of frosting for that size.

Butter Cream Frosting                                                                                                      

This icing will not mix if milk is cold.  Milk must be at least room temperature or heat slightly until warm.

CREAM:

1 stick butter or margarine

AND

½ cup Crisco

 

ADD (slowly, beating as you add sugar) *REALLY SLOW*:
1 cup granulated sugar

 

THEN ADD:

3 Tablespoons flour

 

NEXT ADD GRADUALLY:

2/3 cup warm or room temperature milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Beat a long time until smooth.

Refrigerate the frosted cake before and after serving it.

 

NOTE: This icing must be made slowly and beaten for a long time and completely after each addition.  When you are finished it should not feel grainy – if you have beaten it long enough it will be very smooth – no sugar grains.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I just bought a new ice cream maker and the first recipe I made in it was this one. I prefer simple flavors and eggless recipes, also known as Philadelphia style (as opposed to custard or French style which contain eggs).

I've always used vanilla extract in my ice cream before but decided to try Vanilla Bean Paste and I loved the results.

I also used some half & half in place of some of the heavy whipping cream, mostly just to see if it made any difference since whipping cream has been so expensive. I thought it tasted great so I will likely use it in more recipes, but if you don't have it or don't want to use it, use 1 cup of whole milk and 2 cups of heavy whipping cream - or any combination of milk and cream to equal 3 cups.

My sister Maria lowered the sugar to 1/2 cup when she makes her ice cream, but the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup. You can adjust the sugar to your liking.

This is the perfect base recipe to add various mix-ins to (chocolate chips, crushed Oreos, peanut butter cups, cookie dough, etc.) or just have it as plain vanilla! 

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

 

1 cup whole milk, very cold

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup to ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 cup half and half, very cold

1 cup heavy cream, very cold

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

 

In a cold bowl, whisk together milk, salt and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Stir in half and half, heavy cream and vanilla bean paste.

 

Optional: Refrigerate mixture for at least 4-6 hours or overnight for better results (using a quart-sized mason jar works well to store this amount of mixture).

 

Pour cold mixture into ice cream maker's freezer bowl. Let it run for about 20-25 minutes or until ice cream is thick and done.

 

If adding something extra, mix for 15-20 minutes and then add 1/4 cup (or up to 1 cup):

·      Mini chocolate chips

·      Oreos

·      Snickers

·      Reese's cups

and mix for 5 more minutes.

Transfer ice cream to a container and place in the freezer for about 2 hours to completely firm up.

Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake

This vanilla cake recipe is the same as the vanilla cupcakes that I just posted. I've never found a vanilla cake recipe that I liked enough to make it again. I'm hoping this cake comes out as good as the cupcakes because they were not dry at all and were so good! I'm not making this full recipe today though - I'm just making the vanilla cake, but I wanted to post the full recipe because it sounds delicious! I love berries and mascarpone so this is definitely my kind of cake!

This vanilla cake recipe is for 3 8" round cake layers. You could also make it into 2 9" round layers or a 9x13" cake instead, which is what I made today. You just have to adjust the baking time.

The whipped mascarpone frosting sounds delicious, but unfortunately I don't have any mascarpone and it's snowing pretty heavily so I can't get to a store today. I'll be pairing my vanilla cake with this whipped frosting that I've made before and already have the ingredients for. It has cream cheese instead of mascarpone, but the general idea is the same. It's a light frosting that is so good paired with fresh fruit. Even though I'm making this in the winter, this recipe sounds perfect for spring or summer!

This is one of the easiest cakes to make. It doesn't have butter in it so you can make it last minute without waiting for butter to soften. The batter comes together so easily. I used my hand mixer for it, but you could even just use a whisk and spatula.

The bake time for my 9x13" cake was about 40-42 minutes. My cake had a big crack in it - I'm not sure why, but it will be covered with frosting anyway so it doesn't matter.

Update - I brought this to a big family celebration and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I think I've finally found a vanilla cake recipe that I will keep making!

Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake

Recipe from “Life, Love and Sugar” Website

 

This Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake has layers of fluffy vanilla cake, fresh berry filling and mascarpone whipped cream frosting! It’s light, fruity and perfect for spring!

 

VANILLA CAKE:

2½ cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup water

 

BERRY FILLING:

1½ cups mixed berries (I used strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)

3 Tablespoons water

¾ cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

 

WHIPPED MASCARPONE FROSTING:

2½ cups heavy whipping cream, cold

1½ cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

16 ounces mascarpone cheese, chilled

 

 

CAKE LAYERS

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare three 8 inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper in the bottom. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit, so I strongly recommend the parchment paper in the bottom.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.

Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Remove the cakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit so jiggle them a bit to loosen from the sides of the pan before turning the cakes out to cool.

 

BERRY FILLING

To make the berry filling, add the berries and water to a food processor and puree until smooth. You should end up with about 2/3 cup puree.

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Stir in the berry puree.

Cook over medium heat, stirring consistently until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.

Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Refrigerate and allow to cool completely.

 

FROSTING

Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.

Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and whip until stiff peaks form. It will happen fairly quickly.

 

ASSEMBLY

To assemble the cake, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes.

Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate or a cardboard cake round. Pipe a dam of frosting around the outside of the cake. I use Ateco tip 808 for the dam so that it’s tall.

Spread half of the berry filling evenly on top of the cake layer, inside the dam. It should fill the dam about half way full.

Add some additional mascarpone frosting to the top of the berry filling and spread into an even layer to fill in the remaining dam space.

Add the second layer of cake and repeat the filling layer with the remaining berry filling and additional mascarpone frosting.

Add the final layer of cake on top, then smooth out the frosting around the sides of the cake.

Frost the outside of the cake, then use an icing decorator (I use an Ateco Icing Smoother) to add a striped pattern to the sides.

Finish off the cake with some swirls of frosting and fresh berries.

Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Cake is best for 2-3 days.

 

Yield: 12-14 Slices

Combine wet & dry ingredients separately

Mix together

Add water, mix again

Pour in greased & floured pan

Bake

Frost & enjoy!

Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

My niece Emma has become quite the baker and made these delicious vanilla cupcakes a few times. I finally tried them out myself for my twin sons' 6th birthday earlier this week. I have always made them a birthday cake in the past, but it was just going to be our family of 4 eating it on their birthday, so I did not want a big cake. I made half of this cupcake recipe (12 cupcakes) and it was perfect for just us. We enjoyed them over 3 days and they tasted great each day!

The buttercream frosting was just OK - it's been a while since I've made buttercream and I was rushing to get it made before my boys returned from sledding with my husband. Next time I will try a different frosting.

These were so good that today I'm making the same recipe as a 9x13" cake for a larger celebration with more family tomorrow. I'll post that recipe separately since it has a different frosting, which I think would taste a lot better than the buttercream. This recipe comes together quickly and no mixer is needed - you can easily use a whisk.

Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe from “Life, Love and Sugar” Website

 

These Moist Vanilla Cupcakes are super easy to make and so moist – for days! They are my new favorite vanilla cupcake!

 

VANILLA CUPCAKES:

2½ cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup water*

 

VANILLA FROSTING:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2–3 Tablespoons water or milk

Pinch of salt

 

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare two cupcake pans with liners.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.

Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined. Please note that the batter will be very thin.

Fill the cupcake liners about three quarters full and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

To make the frosting, beat the softened butter in a large mixer bowl until smooth.

Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of water or milk and mix until smooth.

Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Add remaining water or milk, as needed, and salt and mix until smooth.

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844.

 

Yield: 24-26 Cupcakes

 

 

NOTES:

*Some people report having issues with these cupcakes. If that happens to you, you could try leaving out the water entirely.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Now that I have two toddlers and always have an abundance of whole milk in the fridge, I recently began making vanilla ice cream again in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. This vanilla ice cream recipe is great on its own or to use as a base - you can add in other things like Oreos, brownies, cookies, chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chocolate chips, etc. Just pour between 1/4 cup to 1 cup of the add-in into the ice cream after it has been in the freezer bowl for 20 minutes, then let it run another 5 minutes before transferring the ice cream to a container in the freezer.

I personally love vanilla ice cream on its own so I make this recipe more than any other. Since there are no eggs in it and nothing needs to cook and then be refrigerated, this recipe comes together very quickly! I always keep my ice cream maker bowls in my freezer so I can make ice cream whenever I want (they need to be in the freezer at least 24 hours before making the ice cream). I also love the consistency of the ice cream right after it's made - it's like soft serve!

This recipe makes about 1.5 quarts of ice cream - you can increase the whole milk to 1.5 to 2 cups if your ice cream maker holds more. You can also use some half and half if you prefer. Any mixture of whole milk, half and half and/or heavy cream that equals 3 cups total will work!

My sister Maria lowered the sugar to 1/2 cup when she makes it, but the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup. You can adjust the sugar to your liking.

Vanilla Ice Cream

 

1 cup whole milk, very cold

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

½ cup to ¾ cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream, very cold

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 

In a cold bowl, whisk together milk, salt and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla.

 

Pour into the ice cream maker's freezer bowl. Let it run for about 20-25 minutes or until ice cream is thick and done.

 

Transfer to a container and place in the freezer for about 2 hours to completely firm up.

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

A few weeks ago my sister made vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting for a birthday party for two of her daughters. I love icing, and this was one of the best icing recipes anyone in our family has made (in my opinion at least). Pictured below are the cupcakes she made. She found the recipe here (she used milk). I hope to try this recipe soon!

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Classic American Buttercream frosting. This recipe uses powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk. This is a great recipe for decorating and piping on cupcakes and cake.

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted, ideal texture should be like ice cream)

3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon table salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (use clear vanilla extract if you have it)

Up to 4 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk, 1 tablespoons at a time.

Photos by JoJo