Tuesday's Tips, Tricks and Tid-Bits ~ Maximizing Store Bought Frosting

While most of the cakes and cupcakes I feature on the blog are frosted with homemade frosting, I do use canned frosting from time to time.  Sometimes life gets busy and it's easier to swing by Kroger and pick up the can of Duncan Hines.  And sometimes, let's just be honest here, I don't feel like pulling out the Kitchenaid mixer and all of the ingredients that go into a homemade frosting.  And if that's how I feel now, I can't image how pressed for time I'll be once I add kids into the mix one day!

Let me interject here though and say that I still like the taste of homemade frosting better.  The store bought stuff is made with shortening to extend it's shelf life, while the homemade stuff is usually made with butter or cream cheese.  That's why there's such a taste difference.

Okay...back to my point.  So how do you go about dressing up your store bought can?  First off, whip it for a few minutes.  You can do this with a Kitchenaid mixer or you can put it in a bowl and use a hand held mixer.  Whipping it for a few minutes will incorporate enough air to actually double it in size.  The result is a lighter, fluffier frosting that is easier to spread.  And since there's more air in the frosting it will also have fewer calories per serving than it did straight out of the can.  It's a win, win.

Another thing you can do is add a few elements of your own.  Add a few softened tablespoons of butter or some cream cheese.  To punch up the flavor a bit, add a teaspoon or two of vanilla, almond, lemon or mint extract.  And of course you can always dress it up by stirring in chocolate chips, sprinkles and other bits of candy.

One last thing I'd like to share in this post is the addition of two new pages to the blog: one is a Recipe Index which will make it easier to navigate this site, while the other is a FAQ page that covers the questions I most commonly receive.

I'm constantly working to better both the blog in general, and also the material I bring to the readers each day.  It's definitely a process (some of my earlier posts make me cringe), but it's getting there.  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Have a suggestion?  Leave a comment!  I'd love to hear from you :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!