buttercream frosting Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Meaghan Barry on October 27, 2014

Soft Sugar Pumpkin Cookies 1

Wow- it is utterly amazing to me that it’s already the last week of October! I can’t believe Halloween is this Friday! Halloween is the beginning of a very busy few months in our home- T’s birthday comes up next, followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, etc. It all seems to come in such rapid succession each year. I always struggle with enjoying the moment when things get busy, but I try to set aside a little time each day to enjoy a relaxing activity.

Today I made one of my favorite cookie recipes of all time and changed it up just a bit for Halloween. I took K’s recipe for Soft Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting and altered them just slightly to make Soft Sugar Pumpkin Cookies! You don’t even need a cookie cutter to make this super soft, buttery cookies. I love how each cookie turned out to be a slightly different shape and size- just like pumpkins!

soft sugar pumpkin cookies

This month I have been trying International Delight’s French Vanilla flavored cream with my coffee. It was just perfect with my afternoon pumpkin cookie treat! I’m feeling pretty confident the kids and my husband will enjoy these soft sugar pumpkin cookies for their treat tonight as well.

Soft Sugar Pumpkin Cookie with ID

Soft Sugar Pumpkin Cookies

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

Cookies:

4½ cups AP flour
4½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (1½ cup)
1½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:

5 cups confectioners’ sugar
⅓ cup (5⅓ tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7-8 tbsp. milk (plus more, as needed)
Food coloring
Sprinkles

Instructions

Line baking sheets with silicone non-stick mats or parchment paper. In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Next in a large bowl or the bowl of your electric mixer combine butter and sugar, Mix on medium–high until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined. Next mix in vanilla extract being sure to scrape down the sides to combine everything. Gradually add in dry ingredients on low speed until combined, then cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using the large cupcake scoop or a ¼ measuring cup scoop out portions of dough and roll into balls (reserve a small amount of dough to make the pumpkin stems._ Flatten each dough ball with hand and place cookies 2-3 inches apart from one another on baking sheet. Take reserved dough and roll out tiny dough balls and attach to top of large, flattened dough balls. Pinch each "stem" to resemble a pumpkin stem. Bake for 10-12 minutes until set. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes then move over to a cooling rack.
In the bowl of the mixer with a whisk attachment add in 5 cups of confectioners’ sugar. Add in melted butter, vanilla and milk and whisk at low speed until smooth. Continue to whisk for 1 minute. Reserve a small amount of frosting in a small bowl and add a couple drops of green frosting for the stems. Add in orange food coloring to the large mixing bowl at this time and mix to combine. When cookies are completely cool, frost the round part of the cookies orange and the stems green. Leave cookies out at room temperature until the frosting hardens on top. Place the cookies in an airtight container and place wax paper between the layers.

Source– adapted from Annie’s Eats

International Delight is currently offering everyone who signs up for their Member Delights program gets a free instant coupon towards I.D. This month, they are also giving away a DSLR camera to a lucky Member Delights participant!

sister m signature

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on March 29, 2013

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Since Easter is usually timed with the start of spring, it is often associated with bright and pastel colors. Oh, and of course bunnies and chicks! I was trying to think of a cupcake that could be Easter-themed. I know I could have gone with a carrot cake cupcake, but truthfully my all time favorite cupcake is vanilla with buttercream frosting.

Funfetti Cupcakes

Homemade funfetti cupcakes have been on my list of recipes I have been wanting to try for awhile. After finding the cutest Easter egg cupcake liners at Target- okay, I may be a little obsessed with Target- I decided to give this recipe a try. A fun way to top these colorful cupcakes is with a bright-colored marshmallow peep. My favorite peeps are the yellow ones of course! Make these cupcakes for your Easter weekend!

Easter Funfetti Cupcakes

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Funfetti Cupcakes

1 + ⅔ cup AP flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp.baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 Stick)
1 egg
¼ cup sour cream
¾ cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup sprinkles

Buttercream Frosting:

½ cup butter (1 stick)
3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
¼ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Sprinkles, for topping
Peeps, for topping

Instructions

Funfetti Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners.
In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until combined.
In the bowl of your mixer add butter and sugar. Mix until fluffy.
Add in eggs and mix together.
In a measuring cup mix together sour cream, milk and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients into mixer bowl in 3 parts alternating with sour cream/milk mixture.
Mix until smooth. Gently fold in sprinkles into batter with a rubber spatula.
Divide the batter into the 12 cupcake pans. Place in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes

Buttercream Frosting:

Cream butter in bowl of mixer, add in 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla on medium speed. Beat until smooth and creamy, making sure to scrape down the sides to incorporate all of the ingredients. Gradually add in remaining confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. Beat on medium high speed until light and fluffy, making sure not to over beat.

Assembly:

Once cupcakes are cooled, prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip. Fill with frosting and swirl onto cupcakes. If you don’t have pastry bags or tips, glob a spoonful of frosting in the middle of cupcake and take a knife and smooth around. Top with sprinkles and peeps.

Source: Cupcakes adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction, Frosting is a 2 Sisters 2 Cities original

Home Easter Funfetti Cupcakes
sisterk (2)

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on March 10, 2013

Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

My boyfriend’s birthday happens to fall around the same time as our dating anniversary and Valentine’s Day. I usually feel the need to make something over the top and special for this span of special events. I thought a really long time about what cupcake I would make him for his birthday. In the past I have made our favorite vanilla on vanilla cupcake so I wanted to try something new. His favorite type of ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. I searched and searched for an existing Chunky Monkey cupcakes recipe, but I couldn’t find one. So, I thought it would be the perfect time to create one. I had several stipulations that I wanted to follow:

1. No banana extract because that just sounds gross to me
2. Use a basic vanilla frosting, not a chocolate or banana frosting so I could use toppings
3. I wanted it to be a banana chocolate chip cupcake, not muffin.
4. I didn’t want to put the actual ice cream in the cupcake. Yeah, I found a recipe that had the melted ice cream in them…gag!

Chunky Monkey Cupcakes Unwrapped

I found a recipe for roasted banana cupcakes in my Martha Stewart Cupcake cookbook to start off the recipe. I added mini chocolate chips and toasted walnuts to this recipe. When they came out of the oven, I couldn’t wait to rip into one to see what it tasted like. At first I was a little disappointed because I didn’t think it would all come together to taste like the ice cream.

I let the cupcakes cool and started to make the frosting. I frosted the cupcakes with a vanilla buttercream frosting with an open circle tip. I then used a small offset spatial to scoop out a well in the top of the frosting. Then, I let the frosting set for a bit while I prepared the ganache, candied walnuts, and chopped banana chips. Once these were ready, I took the homemade chocolate ganache and drizzled the chocolate on top of the cupcakes. It was an amazing chocolate-y mess. I then filled the wells in the frosting with a pinch of candied walnuts and a pinch of chopped banana chips.

Plate of Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

I couldn’t wait to try them so I grabbed my boyfriend and made him try one with me at the same time. The results?? We both shouted with a mouthful of cupcakes, “oh my god- they taste just like the ice cream!” It seriously couldn’t get any closer to the taste of the ice cream. I have to say it was one of my most triumphant baking moments. I am extremely excited to share this recipe for Chunky Monkey Cupcakes with you today.

A bit of a Chunky Monkey Cupcake

Chunky Monkey Cupcakes

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Serves: 16

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

3 ripe bananas
2 cups cake flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated
½ sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup mini chocolate chips
¼ cup toasted chopped walnuts.
1 tsp. cake flour

Buttercream Frosting:

½ cup butter (1 stick)
3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
¼ cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Ganache:

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate , chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. butter

Toppings:

½ cup banana chips, topped
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp. brown sugar

Instructions

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place three whole unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast bananas for 15 minutes. The peels will turn brownish/black.
While bananas are roasting sift together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Once bananas are roasted, let cool before peeling. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.
In the bowl on a mixer, cream butter on medium-high until fluffy. Add in egg yolks, one at a time until mixed in. Scraping sides of bowl down in-between eggs.
Add roasted bananas into the mixer.
Mix in dry ingredients in three parts alternating between sour cream (1/4 cup twice).
Beat in vanilla extract.
In a small bowl mix together mini chocolate chips, roasted chopped walnuts and 2 tsp. of cake flour.
Move batter to a large bowl, and clean mixer bowl (If you are not using a stand mixer, just get out another bowl and you don’t need to transfer batter). Add on whisk attachment to mixer. In clean bowl, add in egg whites and whisk until soft peaks form
In the large bowl with batter lightly fold in chocolate chip and walnuts. After the chocolate and nuts are incorporated fold in egg whites in two batches.
Scoop batter into liners, putting about ¼ cup of batter or a cupcake scoop in each lined tin(it should be about ¾ths full). It should make about 16 cupcakes so make sure to fill the empty muffin tins halfway with water for even cooking. lf you have a 12 muffin pan, cook one pan at a time.
Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool.

Buttercream Frosting:

Cream butter in bowl of mixer, add in 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla on medium speed. Beat until smooth and creamy, making sure to scrape down the sides to incorporate all of the ingredients. Gradually add in remaining confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. Beat on medium high speed until light and fluffy, making sure not to over beat.

Ganache:

Placed chopped chocolate in small bowl. Place cream in small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Pour cream on chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. Mix in butter stir until incorporated. Let cool slightly so ganache thickens.

Candied Walnuts:

Take chopped walnuts and place in sauce pan over medium heat. Stirring occasionally and watching so they do not burn. Once walnuts are starting to toast up add in a tablespoon of brown sugar. Stir until brown sugar starts to melt and covers the walnuts. Add in a couple drops of water if the brown sugar isn’t sticking. When walnuts are glazed place on a paper towel and let cool.

Assembly:

Once cupcakes are cooled, prepare a pastry bag with an open circle large tip. Fill with frosting and swirl onto cupcakes. If you don’t have pastry bags or tips, glob a spoonful of frosting in the middle of cupcake and take a knife and smooth around.
With an offset spatula or butter knife, scoop out a small well on in the middle of the frosting.
Take a small whisk, dip in ganache and move back and forth over cupcakes to drizzle with chocolate.
In the well of the frosting add in candied walnuts and chopped banana chips. Enjoy!

Source: Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes, frosting and toppings are a 2 Sisters 2 Cities original

Delicious Chunky Monkey Cupcakes
sisterk (2)

Posted by 2 Sisters 2 Cities on February 11, 2013

Cutout Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

As M and I have said previously, I have a freakishly good memory of my childhood, especially when food is involved. What can I say…I have always been a foodie! My family likes to play this game with me and quiz me on what I had to eat at specific times in my life.

I had a cup of Kool-Aid in my cabbage patch mug before my third birthday party. Then, when I was nine my mom took us to Friendly’s and I thought I was too old for the kids menu. I really wanted to order from the adult menu so I could get the slice of their watermelon ice cream cake that came with the meal. My mom had me split a BLT with her and then also split the watermelon roll. For my 10th birthday, we were in Annapolis MD because M was going to a lacrosse camp and I had popcorn shrimp and chocolate chip cheesecake at a nice restaurant near the water…. Need I go on?

Buttercream Frosted Heart-Shaped Sugar Cookies

When I think of Valentines days, I automatically think of two things. One, chocolate covered potato chips that my dad use to bring home for us…. mmmm. Two, the heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink buttercream frosting and red sprinkles that my mom would make for us for when we got home from school that day.

I love all the variations of sugar cookies that are out there now. We have the soft sugar cookie with buttercream frosting and then the cut-out sugar cookie with the beautiful royal icing. Although my royal icing skills are getting a lot better and I was able to teach my sisters how to decorate cookies with royal icing over Christmas,I have to say that I am a little piped and flooded out. Plus, I made four batches for a baby shower in August. I have been meaning to show you how they turned out:

Baby Shower Cutouts

So I decided to make cookies like my mom use to and boy were they amazing. I actually ate them instead of drinking wine for the whole weekend and worked out extra to eat more. Now that’s a special cookie because I love my wine and don’t really enjoy working out. So with that being said, you need to make these cookies because they are delicious and super easy.

I Heart Buttercream Frosting
Plus, if you have children they will remember them forever and get a little weepy when thinking of how much they miss their mom across the country. Oh yeah, I went there. Happy Valentine’s Day Ya’ll. Also, I am thinking about everyone back East without power still from the storm (M being one of them Sad smile ) . Hope you get your power back to so you can get your house heated up and make these cookies, exactly in that order.

Cutout Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

A delicious buttery cutout cookie with buttercream frosting.

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies:

2 stick of unsalted butter (1 cup), at room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
1½ tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp of salt
2½ cup of flour

Frosting:

½ stick of butter (1/4 cup), at room temperature
1½ –2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract.

Instructions

Cutout Sugar Cookies:

In a mixer bowl, beat the butter until smooth.
Add powder sugar and continue to mix. In a separate small bowl, beat egg.
Mix in beaten egg, both extracts, salt, and flour until combined.
Make dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap, and then flatten dough to a disc (this will help it to chill faster in the fridge.) Place dough in the fridge until hard.
Preheat the 375 degrees.
Once the dough is ready, place on a well floured surface and roll out to ¼ inch thickness.
With cookie cutter, cut into shapes and place them on a greased sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes until set, do not allow to brown.
Place cookies on wire rack to cool.
This makes around 20-24 cookies.

Buttercream Frosting:

Cream butter in bowl of mixer, add in 1 cups of confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla on medium speed. Beat until smooth and creamy, making sure to scrape down the sides to incorporate all of the ingredients. Gradually add in remaining confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is a good spreading consistency. Beat on medium high speed until light and fluffy, making sure not to over beat.
Add in food coloring to make desired color.
Spread frosting on cooled cutout cookies with an offset spatula or butter knife.
Sprinkle with your choice of sprinkles.

Source– Cookie adapted from Annie’s Eats, and frosting is a 2 Sisters 2 Cities’ original

Heart- Shaped Sugar Cookie with Buttercream Frosting
sisterk (2)

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 19, 2010

I was a busy girl tonight and also made cupcakes for one of my friend’s birthday tomorrow. I don’t like to make boxed cupcakes because I don’t think they taste as good. Depending on how much time I have I either make them from scratch and or make what I like to called the “souped-up version of boxed batter” My mom found this cookbook a couple of a years ago called The Cupcake Doctor by Anne Byrn. The recipe I use repetitively from this cookbook is call “Birthday Cupcakes” and it makes the best yellow cupcakes. I frost them with either a butter cream frosting or chocolate. The frosting recipe I like to use is the butter cream frosting recipe from the side of Domino Confectionary Sugar package (yeah I know how obvious is that.)

Birthday Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 box of golden or yellow cake mix
½ cup of sugar
4 eggs
1 8oz package of low fat cream cheese
½ cup of water
½ cup of vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Combine and stir all ingredients together until well mixed. (This is easiest to do when cream cheese is room temperature)

Line 24 cupcake pan (or two 12 cup) with baking paper and pour in about ¼ cup of batter into each cup.

Cook in the oven for 24-27 minutes. To check if done, stick a toothpick in one and if it comes out clean, plus the center bounces back when you touch it, they are done. Let cool on wire rack before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
1 – (1 lb.) pkg. Domino® Confectioners Sugar (approx. 3 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup – butter or margarine, softened
3 to 4 tablespoons – milk
1 teaspoon – vanilla

Instructions

Combine in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, confectioners’ sugar, butter, milk and vanilla.

Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.

Makes enough to fill and frost 2-layer cake, 13x9x2-inch sheet cake, or 24 cupcakes.

*Note- If you are an awful froster like me I highly recommend the Wilton’s 12-Piece Cupcake Decorating Set (from Bed Bath and Beyond or Michaels). I used the Star Tip 1M, and it doesn’t say this on the package but you need to put the larger coupler to use the larger tips.

Enjoy! ( I sure did)

-K