A Tale of Two Frostings

Once upon a time....

There lived a girl named Becky. She loved to cook and bake all sorts of homemade goodies, but could never quite make the perfect frosting. It was either too buttery, too chalky, or too sweet. Then one weekend, she decided to bake cupcakes galore for Father's Day. One dozen for her dad, one dozen for her fiance's dad. She set out to make two types of frosting to pair with her favorite cupcake recipe, a magnificent chocolate cupcake. For her dad, she set out to make a cream cheese frosting. For her fiance's dad, a fudgy chocolate frosting. She worked through the night making batches of chocolate cupcakes, all the while searching around for the perfect frosting recipes that would be worthy enough to accompany these very delicious chocolate cupcakes. After extensive research (and lots and lots of butter and sugar spilt on the kitchen floor during the mixing process) she had her frostings! The chocolate, rich and fudgy with a perfect texture. The cream cheese, sweet but not too sweet with a perfect consistency for cupcake topping. She spent the next morning frosting and taste testing the cupcakes, just to make sure they were as delicious as she remembered. They were. She happily delivered them to the dads on Father's Day and vowed to make these frostings time and time again. The End.

Stay tuned for A Tale of Two Cupcakes.

Best chocolate frosting:

• 7 Tbs butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered  sugar
• 5 Tbs half and half
• 5 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer. Mix in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and half and half until the frosting is smooth and reaches the desired consistency. Enjoy with your favorite cakes or cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese
• 5 Tbs butter, at room temperature
• 2 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and butter and half of the sugar. Mix in the rest of the sugar and vanilla extract until you get your desired consistency. Serve on top of your favorite cupcakes and cakes. Enjoy!