I need cupcakes - STAT!

Tonight, my son had a strings performance at his school. He played 2 songs - the Can Can and a Folk song. He did great - of course I am a bit biased. At about 3:30 this afternoon, he informed me he needed something to take to school to eat after the performance. Seeing as I am cooking at home more, I did happen to have things available. He said I could just go and buy something. Oh no, not me. I do not buy pre-made food. So, I looked around gathered my ingredients and made made ... cupcakes. I will confess, I did use a box of mix for the cake part. I was low on time and I keep mixes around for the cake decorating class I teach. However, I did make my buttercream frosting from scratch.  I was inspired to make the cupcakes because of my new job -- which I will go and observe and learn tomorrow -- at the super awesome Bloom Bake Shop. Local, sustainable and tasty! Anyway... back to the point, cupcakes & homemade buttercream.

Next time you make a cake, make your own buttercream. Let me tell you my recipe. And I will be honest, I don't measure. Like at all. Ever. It just works. It's hard for me too. My students in my classes really struggle with their frosting consistencies, and they follow the directions to the "t". But I have found, like so much cooking, it's not about following the recipe to a "t", but to get it taste good - and in the case of butter cream, make it easy to use.

My basic recipe for a single batch of butter cream. For a 8" cake you will need a double batch. With a Kitchen Aid you can double it at one time - even quadruple it if need be. Don't do a double batch or quadruple with a hand mixer. You'll see smoke, then the mixer will die.

1 cup of butter. Good quality. Not the generic stuff. Local, if possible. Room temp, ideally.
vanilla - as much as you feel you need
1lb powdered sugar
milk, water or cream (keep in mind the need to refrigerate things like milk & cream) - about 2 tbsp

Cream butter and vanilla together until they are nice and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix. It will look dry and nothing like frosting. Add the liquid and mix. Now it should look nice and creamy. Add small amounts of liquid (milk, water or cream) until you have the consistency you need. If you are frosting a cake you need nice, thin frosting. Flowers & such need  stiffer consistency. Add less liquid if you are piping flowers.

Try different things. Experiment. Almond extract make people say "Wow". You can also make chocolate butter cream by using less vanilla and adding some dutch processed chocolate. I like Penzey's Stuff.

I did learn one important lesson tonight. Children like colors and sprinkles. Almost no one ate my last minute cupcakes. Someone else brought blue cupcakes with sprinkles. My children chose those cupcakes. FAIL.