BEST FROSTING EVER PIONEER WOMAN RECIPES

Steps:

• Bake your favorite chocolate cake and let it cool. In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I'm in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla. While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don't want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven't beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream.Grab a spoon and taste this wonderful goodness. If there is any left after your taste test, spread it on a cooled chocolate cake. Cut yourself a piece and put it on a pretty plate. Grab a fork and prepare to experience the most divine pairing you can imagine. This frosting on chocolate cake is to die for. Sure, the recipe sounds strange -- it has flour in it -- but it's sublime. Try it, you'll see. You'll love it so much you won't go back. Oct 2015 update: TIPS! Use only real butter!! (My personal preference is the organic salted butter from Costco as to me it has a more rich and buttery taste.) Do not use margarine, tub spreads, Country Crock, etc as the frosting is likely to separate. Some people like to use superfine sugar instead of regular granulated sugar, or to run the granulated sugar through a food processor first to make their own superfine sugar. If you taste flour or paste when it's done, I suspect the flour/milk mixture didn't cook long enough, don't be in a hurry to bring the milk/flour to the thickened state, let it have time to cook that flour taste out as it thickens. Did you get lumps? whisk whisk whisk as it cooks! One person recommended using a hand mixer as it cooks to avoid lumps, Some people use 3 T of flour instead of 5. I've made it with soy milk, non-fat milk and all the way through to half-n-half and it's turned out great for me using any of those. I've put it in piping bags and decorated with it, I've left it on the counter and I've also refrigerated it. I'm not a professional baker and while I've never had this recipe fail, I highly recommend reading the comments, there are great tips and helpful comments! Some have recommendations for adding cocoa powder, cherry, fresh strawberries, using coconut oil, etc. One person used lavender and earl grey tea in it (I recommended she post that recipe!) Some people have put the sugar in with the milk/flour mixture instead of creaming it with the butter. (I've tried that and personally wasn't a fan as it completely changed the flavor, and texture, of the frosting in the end.) Also, while I like this best on chocolate cake, you can use it on any flavor of cake. In fact, it's the original, very old, frosting for Red Velvet Cake. Yep, that's right! Cream cheese frosting is not the original frosting for Red Velvet :) Happy baking! Have fun, and enjoy!! ~MissyDew

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk to combine the cake mix, sparkling wine, eggs and oil. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Fill each with 3-4 tablespoons of batter. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pans, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. For the champagne buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, 1-2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, lemon zest (if using) and prosecco. Mix on low speed just until combined, then increase to medium-high speed and beat for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Spread the icing on the cupcakes or transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe the icing around the outer edge of the cupcake, spiraling into the center until the cupcake is completely covered. Top with sprinkles and serve.