Cupcake Bakeshop – All About Frosting

Chockylit at the Cupcake Bakeshop shares with us some recipes and tips for the best frosting and features: Chocolate Ganache (poured , spread, beaten and whipped), Buttercream (American, Swiss and Italian styles), Cream Cheese, Meringue Frosting and Whipped Cream. (Click here for the recipes)

Sweetapolita – Tips About Icing

For every type of cake that can be made, there are as many infinite options for icing too. I love icing but it was one of the most tedious parts of the research and development for Gramma Dot’s Sweet Shoppe. How to get the best icing without using products that didn’t follow our own vision of making treats that taste great but don’t pack on needless calories and fat, or at least more than what can be expected. We use natural flavours as much as possible, use vegetable based food colourings if needed but try to have the colour be a authentic as possible. One of the other things we avoid is shortening. Which in the summer or anywhere really were heat is an issue is the only thing you can use that is virtually heat proof. But the next best thing is icing’s like Swiss or Italian Meringue Buttercream. They are far more heat tolerant than your standard buttercream. When I saw this blog I knew it was something well worth sharing. Sweetapolita has an awesome section near in the middle of the post that answers a bunch of questions about Swiss Meringue Buttercream. As an added benefit the cakes are pretty darn cute too!

A few quick facts about my deep and meaningful relationship with Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
1. No, I didn’t invent SMB, but I love its not-too-sweet taste and satiny texture, and I use it for all of my wedding cakes, gourmet cakes, and even many casual cakes and cupcakes. I’m not an SMB expert, but I make it often, love it, and was taught how to make it by professionals at Bonnie Gordon Confectionary College in Toronto. (Read more…)

The Cupcake Project – Favorite Recipies and How to Make Them

The Cupcake Project lists her favorite icings and includes links to the recipes, I cannot wait to try the Red Wine Chocolate Ganache:

Before I started Cupcake Project, I would have told you that I didn’t like frosting.  I’ve now learned that what I don’t like is super sugary sweet, artificially-colored, Crisco-based grocery store birthday cake frosting.  The frostings on this list are all frostings that I can eat by the spoonful, and with the exception of number 7, they are all really easy to make. (Read more…)