Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

After weeks of debating on names, struggling with design options, and general procrastination, this blog is now officially up and running and what better way to start things off than with a post dedicated to my mom. My mom is the original baker in my life and since today is her birthday, I decided to bake and decorate a cake just for her. The cake: chocolate with strawberry frosting.

Last week I had a hankering to try my hand at making strawberry frosting. I found a recipe that seemed ideal, went out and bought all the ingredients, and then came home only to realize I had forgotten the most important part: the cream cheese. Needless to say, I panicked. I couldn’t go back out again so I went online and tried to find a good strawberry frosting recipe that didn’t involve cream cheese. Sadly, my results were not promising, so I decided to just alter a buttercream frosting recipe that I normally use instead. The experiment worked out perfectly. The frosting was absolutely delicious (although a bit too loose) and my mom adored it. Thus, I decided to recreate it for her birthday cake.



For this recipe I used butter, shortening, almond extract, powdered sugar, fresh strawberries, and salt (not pictured).

First, I’d like to start off by saying that when working with powdered sugar, be prepared for a mess. Not enough people mention this, but even if you’re being careful powdered sugar can get everywhere, so I recommend putting down some paper towels on the counter tops or even wearing an apron because it may get on your clothes.



Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, go ahead and measure out your powdered sugar. You’ll need between five to six cups. The bowl in this picture had five cups worth, but when I made my frosting I found that the result wasn’t a consistency I liked, so I ended up adding a few more spoonfuls. I recommend just using six. Set that aside and go to work on your strawberries.

Many recipes will tell you to use a food processor to dice them up, but I didn’t feel like pulling mine out so I just sliced them and then mashed the pieces with a fork. Now it’s hard to say exactly how many strawberries you will need since the berries can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I used about seven, most of which were fairly small, but six could work as well.





Next, place your stick of butter, half cup of shortening, and pinch of salt in a mixing bowl and cream them together. While still mixing, add in almond extract. Then carefully begin adding powdered sugar, blending well with each addition (powder may fly, so be prepared for that).



When you’re done adding the sugar, the mixture will be a thick, tight wad. Don’t worry! The strawberries will work their magic and thin it out. Just be sure to scrap the bottom and sides of the bowl in order to be certain that all the ingredients have blended together.



Now you’re all done! Lovely strawberry frosting that you add to your favorite cake or cupcake recipe. Here’s the finished product on my mom’s cake. Yeah, I’m not great when it comes to decorating, but you get the idea.



Strawberry Buttercream Frosting (adapted from this buttercream frosting recipe)

Ingredients
½ Cup unsalted butter (softened)
½ Cup shortening
⅛ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp almond extract
5 – 6 Cups powdered sugar
½ Cup chopped strawberry

Directions

Wash and rinse six to seven fresh strawberries. After cutting off the stems slice strawberries into a smaller size and then use a fork to mash them into a paste. Place in a liquid measuring cup, making sure that the paste is ½ cup, and then set aside. In a large bowl cream, together butter, shortening, and salt until they are light and fluffy. While stirring, add in almond extract. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, blending well after each addition. Add in strawberry paste and beat well.