Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

     I attended the last staff meeting of the season this morning. It was very long, but we had a nice pot-luck brunch to keep everybody focused. For my part, I made some cupcakes, which one of my fellow employees said was 'atrocious!' (I say, 'cupcakes for brunch, why the hell not??') Despite that one person's objections to eating dessert at 10am, the cupcakes, especially the frosting, seemed to go over well.

      Personally, I wasn't happy with the way the cakes turned out; it was a recipe I found online, and I thought they came out too dense. I was lazy and didn't sift the flower, so perhaps that was one of the problems. Also, the batter was very thick and I like a more liquidy sort of batter, because it's much easier to divide evenly between the cups. I do like the idea of sweetening the cakes with maple syrup and brown sugar alone, because a less sweet cake is a nice juxtaposition to the SUPER sweet frosting, but the recipe needs tweaking so it's one which I will have to revisit sometime in the future. Either way, here are some before and after shots for your viewing pleasure:

 

 



      Anyway, the frosting turned out much better and; Corey actually claimed it was my best ever! I ended up with much more than I needed for 24 cakes, but I didn't use too much because it was VERY sweet! Half-ing the recipe might be the thing to do, but then again, having some extra frosting laying around isn't exactly the worst thing in the world! Anyway, here's what I did:

Maple Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

      Ingredients:
1. c. Unsalted Butter (softened)
4-5 c. Powdered Sugar
6 tsp. Milk
~ 1/2 c. Maple Syrup
~ 1/4 c. Light Brown Sugar
~1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
('~' indicates approximate amount)

      Method:
           Firstly, make sure the butter is soft, as in you poke it with your finger, and your finger easily makes an impression. The best way to do this is just by leaving it out for a few hours, but if you microwave it make sure you only soften it, and not melt it. Next, using an electric beater, cream butter and 1 c. sugar until smooth. Add 2 tsp. milk, beat until smooth, and repeat that whole process like so: add 1 c. sugar, beat until smooth, add 2 tsp milk, b. u. s., 1 c. sugar, b. u. s., 2 tsp. milk, b. u. s., 1 c. sugar, and b. u. s. Mixing the sugar and milk with the butter alternately keeps the texture smooth, and avoids that chunks of buttery sugar in milk suspension texture, which just doesn't look as nice! Also, keep in mind that its always best to end with sugar.
           That's your basic buttercream, so now it is just a matter of flavoring it how you like it. What I did was this: add about 2 tbls. maple syrup and the vanilla, b. u. s., add 1/2 cup of sugar, b. u. s., add 2 more tbls syrup, b. u. s., add about 1/4 cup brown sugar, and B. U. S! At this point you can add more of which ever ingredient to achieve your desired flavor, and texture. If it's not thick enough or it tastes buttery, add more powdered sugar; if it's too dry, add more milk. If you want more of a maple or brown sugar flavor, add more of those... you get the picture. Just make sure you beat after each new addition, and it is always best to alternate wet with dry ingredients, ending with dry! Then you just make sure your cakes are completely cool, frost, and garnish with brown sugar. Here's how mine came out:

 



     They were very tasty, next time I think I'll garnish each with a strip of bacon! :)