You’ll find variations on this frosting throughout this book, but here’s the classic version. There’s no finer topping for our Carrot Cake, Simple Chocolate Cake or your favourite cupcakes.
MAKES: about 2 cups
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pkg (8 oz/250 g) brick-style cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 to 4 cups icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS:
- 1. In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- 2. Beat in the icing sugar, 1 cup at a time, until the frosting is the consistency you like (you may not need all of the icing sugar).
- 3. Beat in the vanilla extract until well blended. (The frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before using.)
SWEET HISTORY
- The first recorded sugar factories were in Venice in the mid 1300s. In these so-called sugar houses, the sugar was formed into cone shapes and then sold across Europe. The production techniques developed by the Venetians were considered so important that the laws of Venice made it a capital offence to reveal their details. Needless to say, Venice’s sugar-making secrets got out and, within a century, sugar houses had been established in all the capitals of Europe.
