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Mousse-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes & The Only Buttercream Recipe You’ll Ever Need

April 19, 2017 by Margaret 11 Comments

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Mounds of pillowy soft buttercream, resting on freshly baked chocolate cupcakes. Yes, please!
All nestled in pillowy soft buttercream!

I like to find (or develop!) the best preservative-free recipes for everything that I like to eat. The best pizza dough? Got it. The best apple crumble? Got that too. I even found the always perfect chocolate cake/cupcake recipe, and never stray from it, because it’s just so perfect. And I think the only thing to top a chocolate cake with, is my Best Ever Buttercream Frosting!

I love when people try my buttercream frosting — they always make happy nom-nom noises. Music to a baker’s heart! Usually I wing my buttercream recipe, as I know the ingredients and am happy to play around with quantities. Also, sometimes — okay most of the time — I can’t be bothered to measure out ingredients and just eyeball it. But for you, dear blog readers, I finally measured the amounts, and came up with…the only buttercream recipe you’ll ever need!

I piped this icing on top of chocolate cupcakes. But before I did that, I used a strawberry huller. Why? Because…

KITCHEN HACK: Use a strawberry huller instead of a cupcake corer — one less item to clutter up your kitchen!

Once I had made a hole in the centre of the cupcakes, I filled it with a mixture of chocolate ganache and whipped cream (essentially a chocolate mousse). Then I piped the buttercream icing on top, and topped the whole thing with a chocolate bunny! The cupcakes were a hit at an Easter dinner that I attended!

Want to make some delicious buttercream yourself, and have your friends and loved ones make happy nom-nom noises? Let’s!

Yield: 3 cups

Best Ever Buttercream Frosting

Best Ever Buttercream Frosting

This 4-ingredient buttercream icing is preservative-free & tastes better than you can imagine! In the off chance that you have leftover icing, it also freezes well.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 c. butter, softened
  • 1/3 c. shortening
  • 3 1/2 c. icing sugar (add more icing sugar if you like a stiffer icing)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

  1. Whip butter and shortening together until thoroughly mixed.
  2. Add in icing sugar and vanilla, and mix until combined.
  3. Beat on high for at least 10 minutes.
  4. Spoon into piping bag (or spread on a cake with an offset spatula), and enjoy everyone's happy mouth-gasms!

Notes

The longer you whip the icing, the fluffier it will be, and the larger the volume. As such, the recipe makes between 3 and 4 cups of icing.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

14

Serving Size:

1/4 c.

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 274Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 0gSugar: 29gProtein: 0g
© Margaret van Velthuyzen

The shortening is part of what makes the icing so fluffy; the other reason the icing is so fluffeh-licious (what? it’s a word!) is because all the beating adds a lot of air to the icing and makes it pillowy soft (as opposed to super-thick). So don’t skimp on beating the icing! This Best Ever Buttercream Frosting will taste delicious no matter how long you mix it for, but it will be extra fluffy and MUCH easier to pipe, the longer you beat it. And the fact that it’s preservative-free? Winning!

Next Post: Something healthy. Probably. Stay tuned!

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Filed Under: Cakes

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Previous Post: « Easy Hot Cross Buns & How I Avoid Getting Bored During Baking
Next Post: Easy Cheesy Spinach Lasagna: Semi-Hidden Nutrition for the Picky Eaters in Your Life »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. BIN

    April 19, 2017 at 2:12 am

    They look delicious!

    Reply
    • Margaret

      April 19, 2017 at 2:41 am

      Thanks, B!

      Reply
  2. Becky

    April 24, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    Those are beautiful and look tasty, too!

    Reply
    • Margaret

      April 26, 2017 at 1:39 am

      Thanks, Becky! They were super-easy to make too!

      Reply
  3. Ellen Pruner

    May 16, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Very similar to a recipe I use. For a change substitute almond extract for the vanilla. That has people asking what did you put in this? Thanks for the recipe, I will try it your way next time:)

    Reply
    • Margaret

      May 17, 2017 at 4:00 am

      Ooh, great idea to use almond flavouring, Ellen! I’ll have to try that out next time! 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Easy Dutch Chocolate Cupcakes & What To Do When You Run Out of Icing Sugar - Approaching Food says:
    June 23, 2017 at 5:09 am

    […] one batch of my The Only Buttercream Recipe You’ll Ever Need, and add 1/2 c. cocoa powder. Are you a super-duper chocolate lover? Add 1 c. cocoa powder. Are you […]

    Reply
  2. Cake Icing 101, Plus How to Make Ganache in a Pinch - Approaching Food says:
    August 28, 2017 at 5:39 am

    […] tastes better, but shortening makes it fluffier and easier to ice. I suggest using my Best Ever Buttercream recipe, as it combines both for a tasty and easy to pipe […]

    Reply
  3. Three Easy Ways to Bake Alice-in-Wonderland Themed Treats! - Approaching Food says:
    September 11, 2017 at 2:16 am

    […] scratch, along with some vanilla buttercream! I actually used coconut oil instead of shortening in my vanilla buttercream recipe, and that gave the buttercream a coconutty taste — extra yummy! The DH came by the kitchen […]

    Reply
  4. Coconut Buttercream Frosting, Plus How I Develop Flavour Combinations - Approaching Food says:
    September 24, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    […] you’ll recognize that it’s just a variation of one of my pillar content recipes: The Only Buttercream Recipe You’ll Ever Need. In fact, it can even be played with a bit to make Vegan Coconut Buttercream Frosting, perhaps on […]

    Reply
  5. How to Make a Candy-Filled Gender Reveal Cake! - Approaching Food says:
    April 30, 2018 at 12:55 am

    […] cake than a crumbly, wobbly, non-frozen one. I also suggest that you read my post on how to make the best buttercream ever — it really is the only buttercream recipe that you’ll ever […]

    Reply

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