Happy New Years Eve! And a New Frosting Recipe

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Years Eve! And a New Frosting Recipe

In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t made many cupcakes recently. I don’t know if I just got burnt out or what, but I’ve been making more bars and cookies recently. Bars are especially low maintenance which makes them so much easier to make than cupcakes. But cupcakes will always hold a special place in my heart. And I’ll continue to make them.

I actually made these cupcakes earlier in the year for a weekend getaway to a friend’s family lake house. I thought these photos with the sprinkles were perfectly festive for New Years Eve! Hubby and I are off ringing in the new year in Las Vegas with a big group of friends!

Since it’s our first trip to Vegas, I’m sure we’ll have a bunch of fun and plenty of stories to share when we get home. But for now, lets talk more about cupcakes. For these cupcakes, I used a classic chocolate cupcake recipe but I decided to try a new frosting recipe.

I used the new neon colored cupcake liners that have been in the grocery store this year. I love them because in general, the Wilton cupcake liners that come in a bag at stores like Michaels are cute, but they always seem to be a bit off in size. The cupcake liners that I order online are great – vibrant colors and the perfect size – but they’re a bit pricey. By default, I mostly use the classic pastel colored liners that come in the round plastic container, but recently, they’ve had these neon colored ones that are great. I can’t get enough of them!

This frosting has a great bakery-frosting flavor. It’s very sweet and everyone really enjoyed it. It had a decent amount of stiffness that was perfect for piping onto cupcakes as well. I will definitely be making this frosting again.

Dawn's Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 cup Crisco
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons meringue powder

Directions:

Cream shortening, water and flavoring.

Add powdered sugar and meringue powder. Mix until blended.

Add additional water until you reach the desired consistency. If you want really white icing be sure to use a clear extract. Vanilla extract will make the icing off white.

Recipe from Cooking with Carrie

Cupcakes, Dessert, Frosting

13 comments »

13 Responses to “My first Operation Baking Gals!”

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1

Amy Kingman — February 20, 2009 at 3:29 pm

That’s really cool! Thanks for sharing the info. 😀
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Carrie — February 20, 2009 at 4:26 pm

I did OBG last fall and enjoyed it I need to sign up again.
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3

Jess — February 20, 2009 at 4:42 pm

thank you so much for doing this, my husband just got back from 15 months deployed!

A have a quick tip for ya- since some of the soldiers are a ways out and their mail takes sometimes 4 weeks to get there, put a piece of bread (i wrapped mine in parchment paper) in with the cookies to keep them from going stale!
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4

Jen — February 20, 2009 at 5:03 pm

Thanks for the tip Jess. I followed the instructions on the OBG website that said that bread can sometimes mold, so instead use some apple peel. So I put some apple peel between the paper towels on the top and bottom of each container.
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~Kimberly — February 20, 2009 at 5:36 pm

Great post! Thanks for sharing all the info! I hope you join us again next round! I checked with my husband about the condition of the cookies he’s been receiving. It’s been taking about a week or so to get them, and he said they all have been so fresh! They have a “community” table in the hallway and he says the homebaked goodies disappear in a flash! They are all very appreciative! Thanks again for baking! I’m craving your cookies right now!!!
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Joelen — February 20, 2009 at 5:50 pm

How thoughtful of you! Your cookies all look delicious and I’m sure they will appreciate all the effort you put into them!
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Jen — February 20, 2009 at 5:58 pm

Thanks! I definitely plan on doing it again. Next time I probably won’t send quite as many cookies. It did end up costing quite a bit more than I expected. That’s what I get for sending 20 dozen cookies I guess…
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Sara Therese — February 20, 2009 at 9:32 pm

What a great way to show your support and share your talents. High five to you!
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Suzy — February 20, 2009 at 11:14 pm

How thoughtful of you! I used to do this for Desert Storm, and would pack it in popcorn. Just a thought.
Keep it Sweet,
Suzy
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Laura P. — February 21, 2009 at 12:29 am

just wanted to thank you for doing this…my husband served in Iraq for 16 months (yes you read that right). He said that receiving packages means the world to them. It will be much appreciated!
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DeborahSW — February 21, 2009 at 2:54 am

What a wonderful thing to do! I bet the lucky soldier will appreciate a little sweet treat from home. 🙂
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Soli Deo Gloria — February 21, 2009 at 6:00 am

You have such a generous heart! I am sure these lovely cookies will be appreciated! 🙂
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Stephanie Wagner — February 22, 2009 at 5:45 pm

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!