Tricks Of The Frosting Trade By Heather Saffer

Hey-o cupcake lovers!

I’m so psyched to have Cupcakes Take The Cake as the first stop on my blog tour for The Dollop Book of Frosting that I can barely contain myself! This very website was my go-to source for all things cupcakes when I first began my trek into baking about six years ago. Not a single day went by that I didn’t scroll through these pages seeking inspiration. So it’s pretty fitting that the first stop on my book blog tour would be the virtual birthplace of my cupcake curiosity. Never did I imagine as I perused this very site all those years back that today I would be the author of a frosting cookbook!
It’s insane. Really. But hey, it just goes to show you that anything can happen. Are you going to be the next Cupcakes Take The Cake reader-turned-cookbook author? It could happen.

Alright, enough of the gushing; let’s get down to frosting business.

Today I’m going to arm you with 5 tips to making the perfect buttercream frosting.I’ve seen all kinds of advice out there such as to use salted butter, add heavy cream, and use granulated sugar. I don’t do any of those things and yet I don’t know one friend/customer/Cupcake Wars judge who doesn’t like my frosting.

Tricks of The Frosting Trade

1. People ask me all the time how to keep frosting from melting. Having catered hundreds of weddings and outdoor events this was always a concern at my cupcake bakery. Using butter flavored Crisco adds stiffness if the frosting needs to sit outside. You won’t find any use of shortening in The Dollop Book of Frosting but if you MUST make “outdoor buttercream” then I suggest using a 2:1 ratio of butter to shortening. For example, my “outdoor buttercream” consists of 2 cups of unsalted butter and 1 cup of butter flavored shortening. 
2.  Use unsalted butter. You want to be able to control the amount of salt in your frosting and the only way to do that is to use unsalted butter and add the salt in yourself. 
3. Sift your 10x sugar. If the sugar is lumpy when you add it to the butter it will remain lumpy and you will end up with lumpy frosting. You don’t want this. Nobody wants this. Once all of the ingredients are in the bowl, whip them long and fast. I’ve kept my frosting whipping for up to 7 minutes before, which feels like an eternity. The ideal whipping length of time is 4-5 minutes. This “whip long and fast” rule is the real secret to perfect buttercream frosting so you’ll want to obey this one. 
4. Now let’s talk cream cheese frosting for a moment. You want your cream cheese frosting to taste spectacular, don’t you? Then you must make this fresh and frost your cupcakes, cakes, or cookies only right before serving. Ignore the “whip long and fast” rule for the cream cheese frosting (there are exceptions to all rules) in order to keep the frosting from melting from the heat of the mixer and refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it.
5.  Unfortunately, good cream cheese frosting is not an “outdoor frosting”. It’s just not. Once you can accept this you will be able to thoroughly enjoy that freshly frosted red velvet cupcake to its fullest. 

I can’t wait to hear how these pointers work out for you! You’ll find a few more tips and tricks in The Tricks of the Trade chapter of The Dollop Book of Frosting along with 45+ frosting recipes, each accompanied by a unique baking recipe and additional fun uses for each frosting. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of The Dollop Book of Frosting, share with me your thoughts, and follow along on the remainder of this blog tour! I have some really great stops planned for these next couple of weeks.

Many Thanks to Cupcakes Take The Cake, to Nichelle, and to you there reading this!
Heather Saffer, Dollop Gourmet