Chocolate buttercream & Peanut butter cream cheese frosting

Making frosting is a very messy process, especially when you are the proud owner of a possessed hand mixer. The settings on the mixer range from 1-6. Now one would assume that 1 would be a nice slow speed and 6 being cement mixer speed. My hand mixer has a system all to itself, most likely due to the fact that it is possessed by some angry baking spirit.




Setting 1 – Whoa! Your flour just went all over the counter!
Setting 2 – Seriously, you wanted your ingredients to stay in the bowl?
Setting 3 – Similar to setting 2, but with a nice burning smell
Setting 4 – Considerable burning smell, insane mixing velocity
Setting 5 – Off
Setting 6 – Still Off

It would seem that my mixer tires itself out by setting 4, and decides it’s not going to try anymore after that. By then you haven’t got any ingredients left in your bowl, so why would you need a fifth or sixth setting. However, after considerable fighting with the hand mixer, delicious frosting was the result. Enjoy my hard won battle and go make yourself some frosting for those cupcakes you made the other day.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Adapted from Elinor Klivanis – Cupcakes!

1.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate (chopped)
1 ½ sticks butter (room temperature)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup heavy cream

. Melt chocolate (I like to use the microwave at half power), set aside to cool slightly
. Mix together powdered sugar and cocoa powder
. Mix in butter until smooth (about 2 minutes using possessed hand mixer)

. Add Chocolate and mix until evenly colored
. Add vanilla and heavy cream, mix until light and fluffy and frosting has lightened in color

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

2 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup heavy cream

. Mix together cream cheese and peanut butter
. Add in powdered sugar and mix until smooth
. Add vanilla
. Slowly add heavy cream 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved.

(This is a smoother frosting than the chocolate buttercream. I piped a chocolate buttercream retaining wall on the top of my cupcakes, then filled them in with peanut butter frosting.)