Cookie Dough Frosting Recipe

Want to have cookies but in a non-traditional form? How about having it as a frosting?

B&J's half-baked/cookie dough ice cream is the inspiration for this recipe. This is a raw frosting consisting of only butter, milk, brown sugar.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

I don't usually frost my cupcakes as I like my cupcakes plain. Whilst frostings are delicious, I still remember how much butter went into my Swiss Meringue Buttercream and so I very much rather to reserve my calorie intake for another cupcake.

This prompted me try a frosting that is perhaps slightly healthier - Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. I played around with the remaining block cream cheese I had, adding in some butter, melted chocolate and icing sugar. That gives a delicious frosting without tasting too sweet or "cheesy" (somewhat ironic-sounding I know)

How to make a piping bag

As much as I love baking, I am cautious when it comes to expenses. I am always willing to spend more on higher quality ingredients as they go into making pastries which my family and friends eat. However, I try to control my other more superficial urges for baking items which I do not use often, e.g. a piping bag.

It is easy to make your own piping bag - just use a plastic bag or baking paper. I recommend using a plastic bag as you can secure the sides easily with tape. Some baking/wax paper might be tricky as tape will not hold and you have to use staples. The illustrated steps below are doing using a sheet of baking paper as it is clearer in pictures. You don't need to be an origami master - 5 steps are all you need!

Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcakes Recipe

Using what I had in my pantry; cream cheese, lemons and lemon curd, I decided to make lemon cream cheese cupcakes. Adding lemon to cream cheese makes the cupcake lighter and the cupcakes resemble mini lemon cheese cakes.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe

I have to admit that I love my cupcakes plain. However these days, commercial cupcakes come frosted in many types of flavours and colouring and I was tempted to follow suit. Buttercream frostings are basic and a common choice for frosting cupcakes. They are made from butter, sugar and are flavoured with vanilla essence or chocolate, etc. With some experimenting, you can probably come up with flavours which match and complement your cupcakes!

I was on a lookout for buttercreams which can last in our hot humid weather. Afterall, it will be so disappointing to see your lovely piped swirls melt into a messy puddle. Meringue based buttercreams were drawn to my attention for the stability which helps in creating better looking swirls when frosted.

There are 3 types of meringue based buttercreams - Italian, Swiss Meringue and French. You can read more about them at Wikipedia or Sweetapolita. Both articles really helped me understand what these buttercreams are and how to better prepare them.