Frosting - Buttercream - Quick KA - w/Cherry Opt

By mariannefeldman

**NOT CRAZY ABT THIS ONE

King Arthur Flour


This quick buttercream uses a bit of meringue powder to create a silky texture that holds its shape well, without the extending beating time a cooked buttercream takes. You may use all butter, but using non transfat vegetable shortening makes a frosting that will be a little firmer in warmer temperatures. This amount of frosting is fine to frost the top of a 9 x 13-inch cake. If you're frosting a layer cake, double the recipe to have enough frosting to pipe decorations.

To make cherry frosting, make our Quick Buttercream Frosting, substituting 2 tablespoons cherry juice concentrate for 2 tablespoons of the milk.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter or non-transfat vegetable shortening (we used 1/4 cup of each)
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon meringue powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups (10 to 12 ounces) confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
• 2 to 4 tablespoons (1 to 2 ounces) milk

Details

Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cream together the butter and/or shortening until fluffy. beat in the salt, meringue powder, and the vanilla. Add the confectioners' or glazing sugar, 2 tablespoons of the milk, and beat well.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Adjust the consistency of the frosting as needed by adding more confectioners' sugar or milk. If you're not going to use the frosting right away, keep it at room temperature, covered, to prevent it from developing a dry crust.Yield: 2 1/2 cups.