Chocolate Cupcakes & Butterceam Frosting

Back in June, I shared my all time favorite chocolate cake/cupcake. I cannot say enough good things about this recipe - it is so easy to put together and it tastes great every single time. Well back in June, I neglected to provide icing options for these cupcakes, so that is what I'm doing today! I can promise that there will be more to come because this cupcake is such a great base for so many different icings. Today I'm sharing my go-to buttercream frosting recipe & how I frosted these cupcakes.

First, you can find my chocolate cupcake recipe HERE! One of the reasons I love this recipe so much is it transitions so well - I have used it for cupcakes, cake pops & just plain old cake and it works out great every time! If you follow the recipe I posted, you will end up with 24 cupcakes or 2 full 9" cakes.

I usually make my cupcakes the night before I need them so they have ample time to cool over night. I always ice the cupcakes on the same day that they will be eaten so that everything is as fresh as possible! I make the icing by whipping together 1 cup of softened butter*, 4 cups of icing sugar, 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1-2 tablespoons of milk or heavy cream with an electric mixer.

*It is key that the butter is softened and not melted because this will greatly affect the consistency of the icing. I soften butter by pouring some boiling water into a bowl, allowing the water to sit for a minute, pouring out the water then placing the butter in the warmed bowl.

Once the frosting is light and fluffy, I prepare a piping bag with a larger star tip. I am not very adventurous with piping tips, I tend to stick with what I know. I love the result the star tip gives - I love that it's easy and consistently looks presentable.

I piped the frosting on in a circular motion, then I added some sprinkles and they were good to go! This icing also works great dyed - I have dyed it several times using Wilton's gel dyes but I have never used a liquid dye on this icing so I don't know how that would turn out. 

Happy Monday!