we are running through the rest of the day

[musesfool]

I'm staring down the barrel of another long, long week. Meh.

It's been a busy evening. I went grocery shopping when I got home, and since then I've made brown sugar ice cream (possibly a little too brown-sugary for me, but good otherwise), and whipped cream cupcakes with coffee buttercream frosting.

Comments

[musesfool]

*sends you cupcakes*

Buttercream is just way too sweet for me. I know there has to be a way to get good frosting that doesn't make my teeth fall out of my head. I just haven't found it yet.

[cindergal]

Yummy!

Maybe cornstarch for thickening?

[musesfool]

Yeah, some addition of cornstarch and subtraction of sugar, I guess. It's just a question of how much.

[secretsolitaire]

Very cool idea for a poem.

And now I really want a cupcake. :-D

[xaara]

If you're making chocolate frosting, you can substitute unsweetened cocoa for most of the sugar, which makes a nice bittersweet touch. And I've heard of (though never tried) substituting cornstarch for some of the powdered sugar. It seems like it would work.

The frosting recipe I use consistently that isn't saccharine is cream-cheese based, though I have to add the disclaimer that I have only tried it with vegan cream cheese/margarine:

8 oz cream cheese
4 tbsp butter, softened
1-3 cups powdered sugar (it's pretty forgiving, so you can adjust to taste)
1 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring)

Just whip it up like you would a buttercream, adding powdered sugar until it reaches the sweetness or fluffiness you desire. It's super-flexible; I've had success using more or less butter, using pudding mix when I ran out of powdered sugar, and once, when I was really in a bind, using maple syrup and cornstarch to sweeten and thicken respectively.

The cupcakes look deliiiicious.

[shayheyred]

I read your posts and see the yummy pictures and can't help imagining your kitchen as some sort of fanciful "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" wonderland.