Lemon Buttercream

Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
225g unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon

HANDY TIP: I find that most frostings are FAR too sweet for my liking, so I actually like to replace my icing sugar with icing powder instead. The reason for this is because icing powder is a mixture of icing sugar & corn starch, and the latter helps to provide bulk and thicken the frosting without as much sweetness as using pure icing sugar would.

1. Beat the butter till it is creamy, then add 3 cups of sugar, milk, vanilla extract, lemon zest & juice and beat at high speed for 5 minutes.

2. Gradually add the rest of the sugar, adding 1 cup at a time and beating for 5 minutes after each addition. Once all the sugar has been added, continue beating at high speed till the mixture is extremely pale, light and very fluffy. Use immediately, or cover tightly with cling wrap if you’re not ready to ice your cupcakes just yet.

3. Once you’re ready to ice your cupcakes, the quickest and easiest way to do so is to use a large piping bag with large piping tips. I have a plain tip and a star tip, and I find that between the two of them, they cover all my frosting piping needs.
Fill your piping bag no more than 1/2 full – the reason for this is that holding onto the mixture for too long will melt the butter in the bag, meaning that by the time the last of the icing in the bag gets to the cupcakes, it will have turned into a runny mess.

4.  Pipe your frosting onto the cupcakes with a slow, steady hand, making sure you keep an eye on the pressure you are using so that you try and use the same amount of frosting each time.
You can see here the ratio of cake to frosting that I like, as well as why I like to underfill my cupcake liners. By filling the liners just halfway with batter, they rise to just 2/3 the size of the liner, meaning that I can contain my frosting inside the liner as well – and that makes transporting and handling them MUCH easier!

5. Once you’ve piped your frosting on top, you can think about what additional decorations to do. Though I prefer using fontant and a mixture of royal and buttercream icing for my decorations, I keep a stash of various sprinkles for when I need to decorate in a hurry and I don’t have time to spend a few hours making 30-odd fondant bees!

6. Use the sprinkles of your choice (or a combination of them) and then distribute to any anxiously waiting family and friends to enjoy

Starting from the top left hand corner and rotating clockwise: Silver cachous in various sizes (I keep a number of different colours and sizes of these on hand), dried sugar flower sprinkles, hundreds and thousands, coloured sugar crystals.
Now, I’ll be featuring a huge ‘Beginner’s introduction to fondant’ post next week, so be sure to drop by then to pick up some easy fondant tricks and tips And yes, this will include a photo guide on how to make the fondant bees