All About Apples Part 3: Apple Streusel Muffins

I hope everyone has enjoyed the apple recipes I've posted this last week. This will be the final recipe (at least for now) using the homemade applesauce. 

I love muffins, and in my opinion, if a "cake" doesn't have frosting on it, it's a muffin. Philosophy of life. I usually use the Betty Crocker mixes to make muffins since it's so easy and quick. But Betty is steppin' aside, cuz these wonderful Struesel Muffins put those to shame! I ate one, could have eaten the whole dozen. True.

I got this recipe from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and I'm officially a HUGE fan of her blog. So many great recipes! :) She has lots of baking recipes (my fav!) and lots of dinners/entrees. As usual, I altered this recipe a bit since I was using a homemade and chunky applesauce. I only used one cup of chopped apples and increased the applesauce by 1/4 cup. It worked, no problem! Delicious! 

I hope you all enjoy! I'll be posting a fall cookie recipe later this week (as well as a couple dinners), so stay tuned!

These are the required ingredients: flour, sugar, salt butter, cinnamon, eggs, baking powder, milk, vanilla extract, apples, and applesauce.

First, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time:

Stir in the applesauce. (If you need to mix everything, now's the time! Once you add the flour mixture, you can't over-mix the batter!)

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add in alternately with the milk. Stir only until combined.

Fill cups 2/3 full:

Mix together the crumble mixture. Best way is to soften butter and mix with two butter knives:

Top the muffins with the crumble/streusel topping. Pat down so the topping sticks to the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

Serve and enjoy your delicious apple treat...er, breakfast!!

Apple Streusel Muffins - originally from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
2 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbls butter, cubed
3 tbls flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan or line with paper liners. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat eggs in one at a time. Stir in applesauce. Set aside.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir this into batter alternately with milk. (Make sure to begin  and end with the milk. The best way is to pour in 1/3 of the milk, 1/2 dry ingredients, 1/3 milk, other 1/2 dry ingredients, and the last third of milk.)

Fold in the apples. Make sure once the dry ingredients have been added you don't over-mix the batter.
Fill cups 2/3 way full and top with crumble.

Cinnamon crumble:
In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, flour and softened butter. Mix together using a pastry blender, or two butter knives.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. If the tops begin to brown too fast, cover with foil.

All About Apples Part 2: Baked Oatmeal

What pairs wonderfully with homemade applesauce??? Answer? Baked Oatmeal! Now, I'm not usually a fan of oatmeal, but this stuff tastes more like dessert than breakfast! Nom nom, I will never go back to the instant oatmeal again! And, as with the applesauce, this is a great alternative to more processed oatmeals that you find in stores.  This is a recipe also given to me by Nikki. I'm tellin' ya, she never fails me in the kitchen department. :) For those of you who have rushed mornings and always forget to eat breakfast or run out of time (*I'm raising my hand*), this is the perfect alternative for YOU. This is a very fast recipe! In fact, I made this the other morning as I was getting ready for work. It  was done by the time I left, hot and delish! 

Try it out and let me know what you think! :)

Ingredients needed: oats, brown sugar, milk, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, unsalted butter, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. (I added nutmeg...cuz I can!)

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separate. Once that is complete, combine the two in a bowl and mix together.

Butter an 8x8 dish and pour in mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal

2 cups uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon (I like a lot!)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup each of raisins and dried cranberries (I left these out)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ cups milk

½ cup applesauce

1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl an combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir well.

Pour the whole thing into an 8 inch square baking dish and bake 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

Serve and enjoy!

Note: I added some nutmeg. I didn't measure exactly but I would guess it was about 1/4 tsp. I also poured some extra applesauce over the top and heated it up, and it was the best brekkie I've ever had! No joke. 

Chocolate Cupcakes and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Do I need an excuse to make cupcakes? Um, NO. But I suppose if I do, a birthday is the perfect excuse. Yay for birthdays! These cupcakes are actually the first cake recipe I've ever made without the help of a cake mix...yeeahhh, no lie. I'm a cheater usually. But I thought, time to try!

I found this lovely recipe on the Smells Like Home blog (if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it). It's pretty much a-mazing!

Of course, the second they were finished, I HAD to taste test...one for the team, ya know? They turned out to have more of a semi-sweet vs. a milk chocolate taste. I was actually worried about taking them to work since they weren't overly sweet (Huh. What does that say about my coworkers?? hehe...like I'm any different). What can I say, we love our sweets at work!

I had Matt and his friend try one, just to make sure...and what do ya know? Both said they were the best I've ever made! Woot woot! They were also a big hit at work! So, anyway, HIGHLY recommend the recipe, both the cupcake and frosting. Happy baking!!

Get your ingredients together: see? Not too many, pretty simple recipe!

You have to make the chocolate sauce/mixture pre-batter. Boil water and add cocoa powder to it. Stir until smooth.

Oh and p.s. do NOT try to taste this sauce....it's gross!! But that's cocoa powder and water for ya! And no, I'm (ahem..) not speaking from experience here.

Set the chocolate sauce aside and mix your dry ingredients together: 1 1/3 cup flour, 2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Remember: always sift those dry ingredients! Makes all the difference!

In a stand mixer bowl (or bowl with a hand mixer) beat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add two eggs one at a time until smooth. Then add 2 tsp vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and beat ONLY until mixed together. DO NOT overbeat the batter!

By this time, the cocoa mixture should be cooled to room temperature. Add this to the batter and stir until smooth.

Pour batter into muffin cups (this makes enough for about 16) filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Da-da-da-DA! Bea-U-tiful cuppie cakes!

Ingredients to make the frosting. On the blog, this cake recipe was paired with a Vanilla Bean Buttercream. It. was. devine! Soooo good!

Beat 2 1/2 sticks of butter until smooth. 

If using a vanilla bean slice in half lengthwise and scrape seeds out. Add them to the butter.

Add 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat until most of the sugar is moistened.

Beat at medium speed until mixed together. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tbls heavy cream. Once incorporated, beat on med-high for about 4 minutes. It's magic!! The frosting goes from heavy and wet to light and fluffy!

Frost those cupcakes! I used a closed star tip for these...

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes about 16 cupcakes

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup boiling hot water

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl, stir until smooth the boiling hot water and cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk/sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full with batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You can either spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a small spatula or if pip, use a large Wilton 1M open star tip to make lovely swirls.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Makes 3 cups (enough to frost 24 cupcakes)

2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 vanilla bean halved lengthwise, or 1 tbls vanilla bean paste

2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbls heavy whipping cream

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. If using a vanilla bean, using a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into butter. If using vanilla paste, add instead. Beat mixture at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds.

Add confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at med-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully incoporated, about 30 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and cream. Beat at medium speed until mixed, about 20 seconds. Then, increase speed to med-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

Frost cupcakes or cakes.

Enjoy!!

Brownies and Flowers

Last week, I was getting ready for bed around 11:30. Matt lays down on the bed and says, "You know? I could really go for some brownies right now." Me, jokingly: "I could always go for some brownies." Well, he got up to take out contacts, brush teeth, etc. I settled in, thinking I was going to be sleeping soon. Not. so. much.
Next thing I know, I hear pots being banged around (it's 11:45). Really?? So I get up, go to the kitchen, and Iron Chef is out here throwin' some Betty Crocker brownies together. 

Me: "Sooooo.........whatcha doin?"

Matt: "Oh, I'm making some brownies."

Me: "Wow, look at that clock!"

Matt: "Yeah, but they don't take very long to bake."

Me: "Noooo, pretty sure they do."
Matt: "No, see? the box says....er....45-55 minutes... ohhh..."

He'd already made up the batter, sooooo, yes, we (he) made brownies at midnight. And did I stay up RIDICULOUSLY late to eat some? Sure did! I ate two in bed. Matt cracks me up, he's wayyy more impulsive than I am, and it keeps me on my toes! :)
So, next time you're up late and can't sleep? Meh, make some brownies!!

A couple days later after the late night baking class, I received a special delivery at work. Matt brought me some flowers...aren't they pretty?? I love, LOVE them! The best part is he brings me flowers "just because"...and after almost five years together! I'm definitely not one of those girls who thinks flowers are a waste of money. They always make me smile every time I see them, which is the whole point! Love love love! I feel so spoiled lately, love my guy!

Altitude aptitude! - Shoo Fly Pie

I've lived in Salt Lake City, UT all my life. You'd think I'd be used to the altitude by now, right?? WRONG! This last weekend, I had a wake-up call regarding my high climate life. Last weekend was the fiance's birthday, the big 3-1. :)
Traditionally, we have a dinner at my mom's house and the birthday boy/girl gets to pick what we make for it. Matt requested Jaeger Schnitzel (yay-ger shnit-zle)...yup, I DID just Google that for spelling...and Shoo-Fly Pie instead of cake (because he's crazy, my question: how do you improve cake?). My mom's job was the entree and I was assigned the pie. For those who are not familiar with Pennsylvania-Dutch cooking, this is a wonderful molasses and cinnamon treat! I've only had it once in my life, so perhaps I wasn't the best person for the job...but I decided to give it a shot. I spent a while looking online for recipes and settled on one that had good reviews by Pennsylvanians (they would know, right?). Thank YOU food network, you never fail me.
The pie consists of three layers, the bottom is a crumb mixture (cobbler-like), the middle is the molasses, cinnamon, and cloves. And the top is more of the crumb/cobbler mixture. Let me emphasize, this is one of the EASIEST recipes known to man. Seriously, I can make the most SIMPLE recipes go wrong. I have a knack for it! Proven, keep reading.  ;)
Anyway, Saturday came, and I was so excited to successfully make my first pie! Until, dun dun dun, I came across the one ingredient that would be my downfall....BAKING SODA. Blast the baking soda! The recipe (see below) calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and not thinking, I just threw that bugger right in with the mixture. No problem. Done.
Put it in the oven...wait 30 minutes...
AHHH!
The whole thing went EVERYWHERE in the oven! Epic. fail.
Matt, my wonderful logical half, said, "Oh, wow...what could have caused that?"
Me: "Probably the baking soda...but I don't understand, I did JUST what it says! Ugh!"
Matt: "Huh. Well you accounted for the altitude, right?"
Me: crickets, crickets, crickets....."Ummmmm...."
Matt: "There, there...."
Yeah, whoops. He promptly looked up the conversion for me, and JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW, in Utah, always reduce the baking soda content by 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Yeah, that'll make a difference!
Good news, not all of the pie ran off.  Bad news, half the pie ran off.  :( *pouty face* And unfortunately, you need the top cobbler part to help solidify the middle/liquid part. Soooo, only half the pie was baked and edible. Saaaad. But, I will say, the part that was baked was DE-LISH!!! And bless my family and Matt's hearts, they were sooo nice about it....awww.  :)
So, here is the recipe, compliments of Food Network. I promise, it really is very simple, I just did the ONE thing I could wrong. I told Matt next year I promise a full pie. ;)

Wishing you happy and properly-leavened baking!

Shoo Fly Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients
Pastry: (I didn't make this part. Pillsbury hooked me up.)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1.2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

Filling:
1 cup unsulphured molasses or Pennsylvania Dutch Table Syrup
3/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Crumb topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1.2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
whipped cream, for serving

Pastry: combine flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastr blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the counter and a rollnig pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough out into a 10-inch circle; to check the size, put the 9-inch pie pan upside down over the dough. Carefully roll the dough up onto the pin (this may take a little practice) and lay it inside the pie pan. Press the dough firmly into the bottom and sides so t fits tightly. Trim the excess dough around the rim. Place the pt pan on a sturdy cookie sheet so it can prevent spills from burning in the bottom of the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Filling:
In medium-size mixing bowl, combine the molasses and water; stir in baking soda, eggs and spices.
Crumb topping:
With a pastry blender, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and butter, until it is the texture of coarse crumbs. Take 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture and put it in the bottom of the pie shell, pour in the molasses filling, and scatter the remaining crumbs on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the filling jiggles slightly and the top is firm. Let cool to room temperature before cutting. Serve with whipped cream.

Flag Cake...Happy 4th!

Sorry this post is late, guys.  I tried to make a smaller version of this cake yesterday, in hopes of using that one to post.  I didn't want to make two full-size cakes....who would eat all of that?!? Well, okay, maybe I could...Anywho, so that one did NOT turn out at. all.  I was so bummed, because I knew I wouldn't be able to post the cake until the 4th, today.  Ah, the best of intentions.  But I tried the cake again today, full-size, and it worked soooo much better!

A little late, but still delicious! Here's how to make your own flag cake!

Start out by doubling a cake recipe...okay, honesty time.  I made these "cake-mix style" and if you do that, just make two boxes.  Make one box (so, two 8" cakes) with only red food coloring, and one box with one 8" blue and one 8" white.  If you have white food coloring, I suggest it, it makes a difference. :)  Here are my cakes, ready to be assembled, flag-style:

First things first: level all  of your cakes. I took the very very top off mine, you shouldn't need to cut off very much.  Just enough to give a nice surface to frost.  Now, cut your red cakes and your white cake in half, horizontal.  This should give you four layers of red to work with and two of white.  Put one of the red aside, you won't need it (snack pile, anyone??). Once you've done that, go ahead and stack a red layer, apply filling (I just used buttercream frosting), then a white layer, filling, and then another red layer. It should look like this:

You should have a thick layer of blue left (cuz you didn't cut that one, right...right?), one red, and one white left.  Take a 4" cookie cutter, or a 4" biscuit maker, or anything that will suffice that is 4", and cut a shape out of the red and out of the white.  What's left of those colors, put aside.  Your spread should look like this:

Put a layer of "filling" on the red layer that's already on the stack of cake.  Then, lay the blue on top (I turned mine over so that the top of the cake would be perfectly flat).  Inside the hole, take a small spatula or a knife, and line the inside of the hole with frosting.  Place the WHITE layer in the hole.  You don't want to place the red in first, because then your stripes will be off.  Once it's in, spread a small amount of frosting on top of the white circle.  Then, place the red on the white.  The hole in the blue layer should be filled and the cake should look like this:

Now you're ready to frost the outside and decorate if you wish! I just did mine plain white.  To be honest, by the time I got to the "decorate" part, I was tired!  Plus, I feel like it's more fun that way...you take this "boring" looking cake to a party and when you cut into it, voila!

 I'll post some pictures in a little bit of what the cake looked like inside.  Now, I must go, or I'll be late for the BBQ and fireworks! :) 

Sneak peek....how cute is this????

Can you guess what it is????  ;)



Here is a sneak peek of a post I will be doing in the next day or so....I found it on a blog and I can't wait to try it! Stay tuned!!



Spaghetti for dessert.....April Fool's Cupcakes!!

Who wants dessert? I mean dinner...I mean...Nah, there are no dinner recipes in this post, just cupcakes!  These are cute (and delicious, I promise) cupcakes for April Fools' Day.  I got the idea from the blog OurBestBites.  I'm sorry this post didn't come sooner, I wanted to have it up BEFORE April Fools' so you guys could use it....but, I wasn't able to find time to make them until Thursday night.  Sooo, here they are:

Don't they look, um, delicious???? Well, they are, and they are super easy!

I will say, I did use a "cake from a box" for this one.  I was worried the decorating part was going to be more involved than the girl from OurBestBites  (Sara) said.  Sometimes people who are pros forget the rest of us aren't divinely talented :) ...but she wasn't exaggerating, it was really easy!  

I did make my own frosting, also from that blog.  The frosting turned out pretty well, and it held it's shape perfectly! No melting to be had!  However, the taste is very similar to red velvet frosting.  And I don't mean the cream cheese kind.  I'm talking the old school, cook it on the stove kind (for those of you who've never had it, you're probably thinkin' I'm insane...no, you DO cook it on the stove). And don't get me wrong, I do like that frosting a lot, but I don't know how I feel about it on white cake.  Sara (the girl who originally posted this recipe) said she loved it and had rave reviews because it isn't as sweet as other frostings used on cupcakes.  And that is very true, however, with me?  Ummm, more frosting, less cake please.  I'm super weird!  I'm the kid at the birthday parties that insisted on a corner piece with a frosting flower on top!  I never think frosting is too sweet...ever. :) But it you're like the rest of the modern world, I suggest you try this frosting recipe at least once.  It is very good, and it isn't as overly sweet as other recipes.  (I will post the full frosting recipe at the end of this post)  :)

I'm also going to show a few techniques I've picked up looking at other blogs.  I'm very new to this whole decorating thing, so I'm excited to share some tips and tricks on how to keep decorating as painless as possible!

For these cupcakes you will need:

-Frosting

-Ferrero Rocher chocolates (they are covered in gold foil and usually in the candy aisle at the grocery store)

-Strawberry Jam (sauce)

-White chocolate bar (parmesan cheese)

Here are my little cupcakes all ready to be frosted.  You'll want to make sure they are completely cool before decorating.

Here is what the frosting should look like once completed.  You want it very light and fluffy so it will hold it's shape (also, it's more delicious that way):

If you are a baking guru, please skip down the the actual frosting pictures.  These next few are for us rookies out there (me included).  This, actually, was my first ever attempt at frosting using a piping bag and all that jazz.  Having frosted many cakes and cookies (completely free hand) in my life with my mom, I seriously don't know how she never used these!  What were we thinking??? 

Anywho, go ahead and put the coupler (inside part only) into the piping bag and snip off the end of the bag.

Here's the piping trick I used...guaranteed to avoid a HUGE clean-up process. I promise, no more cleaning out piping bags!

Take some clear plastic wrap and lay it out on the counter.  You'll want it to be about a foot and a half long, a foot at the least.  You want it to have the ends extending past the frosting.  Put a medium-sized dollop of frosting in the center (I used about a cup-ish).  Then, roll up the plastic wrap around it:

Twist the ends (doesn't matter which way) so that no frosting can get out:

Then, slide the frosting into the piping bag.  Pull one end of the twisted wrap out the coupler/end of the piping bag.  This part was a little odd the first time I did it.  I used a toothpick to help the plastic wrap come out the end. When you do this, you'll notice the wrapped frosting doesn't reach the coupler and the end of the bag.  That's okay, we'll fix that in the next step.

Just like you're going to frost, hold the end of the piping bag and squeeze until you see a little frosting come out the end:

Put a rubber band on the other end of the bag (the large end, so you don't have to worry about the bag leaking any).  Cut off the plastic wrap right at the tip of the piping bag (where you just forced the frosting to squeeze out a little).  Put your piping tip (I used a #3) and coupler cap on, and you're ready to frost!  

Now, the magic of this process won't be fully realized until you're finished.  Simply take off the coupler cap and tip, take off the rubber band, and then slide the whole plastic wrap bundle out.  Throw it away, and you're left with a clean piping bag and coupler!  The only thing you really need to wash out is the tip.  (I was a little messy and a little frosting got on the bag when I pulled out the plastic wrap, so I did have a few spots to clean off...but sooo much easier!)

But, onto to the frosting!  I swear, this is super easy!  Hold the bag about two inches above the cupcake, and squeeze the bag gently.  The frosting will naturally coil and look messy (just like spaghetti noodles).  

Slowly, as you continue to frost, move around the cupcake to cover it in "noodles."

Using Ferrero Rocher chocolates (they can be found at any grocery store in the candy section), place your "meatball" in the middle of each cupcake.  

Then, take some strawberry jam, and heat it for about ten seconds in the microwave to get it nice and smooth.  Spoon a little out and drizzle over each cupcake.  Now you have your sauce! Voila!

If you want to get really fancy, take some white chocolate and grate it for some "parmesan cheese."  I didn't have any on hand, so mine is simply marinara. ;) 

My friend Nikki came up with another alternative (she's always brilliant with this stuff).  Take a cookies n' cream bar and grate it...and, you have parmesan and pepper on your spaghetti! :)

I found the real trick with these is convincing people they aren't actually disgusting, but delicious! :)  Haha, I took these to work, and I ended up eating three, trying to prove to people that I didn't put anything weird in them...Happy April Fools' Day!

Here is the frosting recipe I used...this is originally from www.ourbestbites.com.

Cupcake Frosting:

Frosts 12 cupcakes

3 Tbls Flour

1/2 Cup of Milk (whole is best, I used 2% and it was fine)

1/2 Cup real butter (room temp)

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk milk and flour together in a small saucepan on medium heat.

Keep stirring continuously until it thickens.  You will know it's done when you can start to see the bottom of the pot.  If it's lumpy, that's okay. (Don't let it get too thick, it should still be liquid-y)  

Pour into a mesh strainer over a mixing bowl and stir with a rubber spatula to push it through (this will take out the lumps).  (I used a plastic strainer, and it worked fine.)  

The mixture, once it's strained, should be almost like pudding.

Put it in the fridge to cool completely. (It took mine about 1 1/2 hours)  It's okay if it gets chilly, you don't want any warmth in it.

In an electric stand mixer, use the whisk attachment and beat the butter and sugar together until it's combined and fluffy.

While it's stirring, slowly add the mixture from the fridge and the vanilla.  Take a moment and scrape the sides to combine it.  It will look nothing like a light frosting....just wait.

Beat on med-high for 7-8 min.  Yup, I'm serious...that long.  It's amazing!  It will turn into a delicious, fluffy, and silky frosting when it's done, promise!

Once you're finished with that, you are ready to frost!

Hope you enjoyed this post, happy baking!