When I was a kid, we used to ice sugar cookies with vanilla buttercream. Mom didn’t use a recipe. She’d drop a dollop of butter in a bowl, sprinkle it with icing sugar, add a splash of vanilla, and drizzle in just enough milk to make it pliable. She mixed it all with a spoon. Her icing was sweet and smooth, but nothing like the fluffy tinned version I saw on the commercials. Mom was either too busy or the batch too small to warrant hauling out the beaters.
She’d then divvy the icing into small bowls and add a drop or two of liquid colouring to each. She learned the hard way that when it came to icing, blue and red made grey, not purple, and that if you added enough colour to get a deep red, the icing would taste metallic. Back then I didn’t care about such things as long as there were sprinkles.
When I reached the know-it-all phase of adolescence, I took over the icing. I followed Mom’s no-measurement approach but upped the butter and made a production of finding the beaters. I’m not sure if my main motivation was to show my mother up, aerate the icing, or keep the well-coated beaters to myself. I was petty and greedy in equal measures.
Today, I aim for a good consistency. I forgo sprinkles and colouring (and attitude), but remain greedy at my core. I still save the beaters for myself.
This simple icing can be used as is, or provide the base for almost any flavour. Use almond extract, peppermint, rum, orange or whatever takes your fancy. But be sure to leave some in the bowl or on the beaters. It’s your reward for a job well done.
Scale
Ingredients
1/2 cup (115 g) room temperature butter 2 cups (250 g) icing sugar (also called confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar) 2 tablespoons (30 ml) milk 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla generous pinch salt
Instructions
In a medium bowl, using a hand held mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
Add the icing sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low until the icing sugar is fully incorporated. You might want to cover the bowl with a tea towel to prevent the icing sugar from flying about.
Once the icing sugar is blended into the butter, increase the speed to high and beat until the icing is very light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the side of the bowl a few times. When it looks good, keep beating. Beat for at LEAST 5 minutes, and ideally for up to 10 minutes. The long beating produces a very smooth and creamy icing.
Notes
Leftover icing can be frozen. Or eaten with a spoon.
You can alter the flavour by replacing the vanilla with 1 teaspoon almond, orange or rum extract. If going for peppermint start with only 1/2 teaspoon.
