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Yesterday I made a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake – to celebrate baseball getting back into swing. Sure, it’s pre-season but that’s enough for any baseball fanatic worth his or her salted peanuts to get excited about. Since my family is ALL about the St. Louis Cardinals, the dessert obviously had to be red and white.
Naturally, I went with a homemade Cream Cheese Frosting for my Red Velvet Cake. The Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting isn’t bad (at all, in fact), but there’s just something extra special about homemade Cream Cheese frosting. I switched up my favorite recipe a little this time because I was feeling it and I loved the results. I believe it was better than ever this time.
Here’s the recipe. Take note that this is for a huge Red Velvet Cake, so you might want to half the recipe. Then again, it’s so delicious, you might want more than you actually need!
Outstanding Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
1 stick margarine
4 teaspoons half and half (use a little more if you want it creamier)
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 – 8 cups powdered sugar
Beat the cream cheese, stick of margarine, half and half, and vanilla in a large bowl on low until creamy. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and blend until it’s has a glorious spreadable consistency.
After I frosted the cake, I covered the top with chopped walnuts and it was almost too beautiful to cut into. Almost.
I always make a little extra frosting than I’ll need for one reason and that reason is a beautiful girl named Brittany. My dear, lovely daughter wasn’t born with “a” sweet tooth – every single one in her head is a sweet tooth. She has her own little system for serving herself a piece of cake as a result. She inserts the cake knife, cuts out her piece of cake… then at the last minute, returns to the cake for an extra helping of icing. This, of course, leaves exposed parts of the cake, so I’ve learned to keep extra frosting on hand in the refrigerator for patching up what has become known as “Brittany’s Barrens.”
Sometimes I use the leftover frosting to frost cookies. My resident cookie monsters love that. It’s also wonderful on store-bought muffins.
This morning, I was in the process of making some of those remarkable Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (the Strawberry and Cream Cheese variety) when I got a yummy idea. Instead of using the little packet of icing, I broke out my Cream Cheese frosting and… voila!…. something Heavenly was even more so.
This is a truly delicious frosting and makes cakes, cupcakes, and cookies better than they have a right to be.
The Pillsbury Dough Boy would squeal with delight for this Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on his Pillsbury Toaster Strudels!
