How to Make Homemade Cupcake Icing and Frosting

With summer coming up and all the outdoor picnics and functions starting to be scheduled, cupcakes are one of the best food contributions you can have! Quick, easy, fun, transportable and liked by all. You can't have any kind of social gathering without them! And the best thing is that you can decorate them for literally any occasion. And if just a family get-together...anything goes and a great activity is to let everyone decorate their own cupcake! Just bring plain cupcakes, and a variety of decorations and icing and let everyone become a 15 minute cake boss!

But, how do you make that happen? You just need the
proper tools. From the simpliest mini cake to more elaborate small cakes, it just takes a few general items and your imagination and you can have your dessert cart over flowing!

But before that, the main thing you need is Icing! Yes, icing is the glue that keeps your mini cake together! Can't create without it! So, here is a recipe for great decorators icing - make it, color it and use it...how easy is that!

Basically speaking, Royal Icing is for piping decoration and Butter Icing is for spreading or piping as icing only.

ROYAL ICING

Makes about 1 cup icing.
2 cups confectioners' sugar (powder sugar)
2,1/2 tablespoons meringue powder (I use this all the time!)
1/4 cup water
Food coloring of your choice, just a drop if liquid style
Beat sugar, meringue powder and water with a mixer on low speed until fluffy, but dense - about 7-8 minutes. If icing is thin, just add powder sugar, a teaspoon at a time

VANILLA BUTTER ICING

1/3 cup butter, margarine or Crisco
3 cups confectioners sugar (powder sugar)
1,1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring of your choice, just a drop if liquid style
About 2 tablespoons milk

Blend butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and milk, beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency. Again, if thin, add teaspoon of confectioner's sugar at a time.

The Cupcake Club on Squidoo is an ever-growing collection of the best cupcake recipes ever. You can make pages for your favorite cupcakes (and even earn money from them). Click the big cupcake you see at the right to learn more and get started.