Frosting

I when I think of frosting purchased in a store or made by someone else, including most bakeries I think of icky shortening, powdered sugar and food coloring yick, that is sick sweet with that horrid aftertaste. Frosting should not be a negative memory. You don't need a PHD to make good frosting, nor do you need to make a complex buttercream. Heck, you don't even truly need a recipe. The frosting that I make always starts out the same, with a brick of neufchantel ( low-fat cream cheese). It is really simple: you start with a stand mixer, put in the neufchantel and start slowly adding powder sugar, until you get the desired consistency. This gives you a basic frosting. If you add 1 t-1 T of extract, juice or what ever flavoring you want, possibly lemon or orange zest, add a little more powdered sugar to bring it to consistency and you have a custom flavored frosting. Try using a 1 T coffee and 1 T cocoa powder and you have a mocha frosting. My father always lives by K.I.S.S.(keep it simple stupid) and with frosting that is what I do. I hope this helps you throughout the year.