Chocolate Icing for Cupcakes

The history behind the name - cupcake is rather interesting. A lot of people think, that the name was derived from the size of the cake, but it is not so. It derives its name from how the ingredients used to prepare the cake were measured.

In the olden days, the ingredients used to make it were measured in cups, hence, these were renamed as cupcakes to create a difference. However, now, when we talk about them, they signify separate pieces of cake, which are baked individually, either in muffin pans or in cup-shaped molds.

More often than not, they are eaten without any frosting, but using frosting, makes it more interesting. It will certainly be more tempting, when chocolate frosting is used to decorate the cake. Well, there are number of ways of making chocolate icing. Once you know how to make it, you will be able to prepare creatively designed cupcakes.

There are a number of easy recipes to prepare this. We will now see how to make it from scratch.

This is one of the most basic and easy recipes to make butter cream chocolate frosting. Using this recipe, you will be able to decorate approximately 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• Icing Sugar 8 oz.
• Softened Butter 5 oz.
• Cocoa Powder 2 tsp.
• Hot Water 2 tsp.

Method

• Using an electric beater, beat butter and icing sugar together.
• Continue to beat the mixture until it achieves a smooth and dropping consistency.
• Then add cocoa powder and water to the mixture.

• Beat again till it is smooth and achieves creamy density.
• You may want to sift the sugar and cocoa powder, before you use it, to get a smooth consistency.

This recipe makes great homemade chocolate frosting. Once you understand how to prepare it, you will be able to use it for any bakery product. The recipe below will enable you to prepare frosting for 16 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• Unsalted Butter, at room temperature ⅔ cup
• Unsweetened Chocolate 4 ounces
• Icing Sugar 1 ⅓ cups
• Pure Vanilla Extract 1 ½ tsp.

Method

• Chop the chocolate coarsely and sift the sugar well.
• In a heatproof bowl, place the coarsely chopped chocolate.
• Place the bowl in a saucepan with simmering water, till the chocolate melts.

• After the chocolate melts, remove the bowl from heat and let it cool down, until it reaches room temperature.
• Take the unsalted butter in another bowl and whip it, till it is smooth and creamy. This will take about a minute.

• Then add sugar to the butter and beat it together for 2 minutes, till it becomes light and fluffy. Make sure you beat it, at a low speed.
• Add chocolate to the mixture and beat it at a medium speed, until the mixture is smooth and glossy in texture.

This is another method for preparing interesting icing for cupcakes. Using this recipe, you will be able to decorate 12 cupcakes. It is important to use the best quality white chocolate to prepare this icing. Let's see this recipe.

Ingredients

• Icing Sugar 1 ¾ cups
• White Chocolate 4 ½ ounces
• Milk ¼ cup
• Vanilla Extract ½ tsp.
• Unsalted Butter 6 tsp.

Method

• Finely chop the chocolate. Let the butter come to room temperature, and then soften it.
• Use a double boiler to melt the white chocolate. After the chocolate melts, remove it from heat and let it cool down to room temperature.
• Sift the icing sugar.

• Add milk and vanilla extract to the sugar.
• Add butter to the mixture and beat until it achieves dropping consistency.
• Once the mixture is smooth in texture, stir in cooled white chocolate and beat well to form smooth consistency in the mixture.
• Place the mixture in the refrigerator, till it is firm enough to frost the cupcakes.

Use these recipes to make good quality chocolate icing, and decorate the cupcakes creatively. At the same time, it will also be a deviation from the regular cakes, that you make.