Spiced Buttercream — a simple recipe that changes everything.
I am in the middle of making a cake, not just ANY cake — but a Pumpkin Spiced Cake with Warm Cinnamon Chips. I will be sharing that recipe soon, and when I do I will add the link ((HERE — but I haven’t written that recipe out yet)). Bet before I start talking about how great the pumpkin spice cake is, let me just take a few moments to ponder and discuss this beautiful cup of spiced heaven.
I have mentioned this before, but let me say it again…There are two things I am good at:
- mashed potatoes
- buttercream
Both of these are perfected by taste and “feel”. So often, I have a hard time recreating a recipe for blog purposes.
But today, I measured. So let’s jump in to the details of making the is yummy, smooth and spiced buttercream.
I only wanted to have a cup or so of buttercream for this recipe because I am spreading it on top of a warm cake. If I were to need icing for a layer cake I would triple this recipe ((and possibly quadruple it for a multi-layer cake)).
I used 1½ c powdered sugar and broke up any chunks.
Next, I added 2 T of whipping cream with an extra 1 T waiting incase I wanted to thin it out more. I did want a thinner texture so overall I used 3 T whipping cream.
I love vanilla & added 2 t ((and have learned McCormicks is the highest rated vanilla among taste testers)).
A scant pinch of salt is an important part of this recipe.
Spices. I used a ratio of 3:1:1, cinnamon:allspice:cloves. In other words, I added 3 x’s more cinnamon that I did allspice and cloves. 3 dashes of cinnamon and a scant dash of the allspice and cloves. If you HATE allspice or loathe cloves – leave them out, it will still be perfectly yum.
2 T melted butter. I always use Braum’s salted butter. Some people recommend cooking and baking with unsalted butter and that is good too, but I comfortable using Braum’s salted butter because I am familiar with its salt content and can adjust salt within the recipe accordingly. If you prefer unsalted butter, you may want to add more than a scant pinch of salt.
I have found this buttercream does really well with the pumpkin spice cake, the flavors work well together and the amount is just perfect.
It is best ((at least for my cake recipes)) to allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes before icing the cake. Otherwise it is easy for the icing to sink into the cake and then all you have is an ugly, delicious mess on your hands — which is not exactly a problem.
The aroma of the spiced buttercream being smoothed across the warm pumpkin spice cake was almost too much for me to resist. But I gave the cake another 10 minutes of rest time before cutting in — the cake, the buttercream … soul mates. A positively perfect buttercream for a warm pumpkin cake! ((cake recipe coming soon!))