Recipe: Buttercream Frosting

This simple recipe makes box cake extraordinary, so extraordinary that I've probably gotten more rave reviews from people who ate it (and called friends to come over and eat them) than any other dessert I make. And so extraordinary that my old roommate, who I don't think baked once in the 9 months we lived together, recently called me to get the recipe  to share the sensational taste with her boyfriend. Growing up, my mom always made the frosting from recipe on the back of the Domino powdered sugar box. 

I like to use the frosting to top chocolate cupcakes made from a box then add a fancy touch. For Easter I add food coloring and make green, yellow and pink icing topped with speckled chocolate eggs. And for other special occasions such as I-feel-like-making-cupcakes or, in this case, Colleen-is-going-to-ace-her-CPA-exam, I sprinkle them with chocolate shavings. (In the photo, my friend Colleen displays the beloved with her number-crunching hand.)

Buttercream Frosting

1 lb. (3 3/4 cups) powdered sugar

1 stick butter, softened

3-4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients with an electric mixer for one to two minutes or until creamy. Add milk if you want a thinner consistency. Spread on cake (or cupcakes).