Peppermint Buttercream

Sunday was the husband's birthday. I always let him pick what he would like his birthday treat to be, and this year he decided he wanted chocolate cupcakes. Not just any chocolate cupcakes though, cupcakes with peppermint buttercream frosting. He's very particular like that. Don't worry, the cupcake recipe is coming soon as well, but to tide you over here is the recipe for my Peppermint Buttercream Icing!


Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Peppermint extract
3-5 drops green food coloring (optional)


Start by creaming together your butter and one cup of powdered sugar. Next, add in your flavorings and green food coloring, stir to combine. Now, add more powdered sugar and mix well until you reach your desired spreading consistency. I think I ended up using 3 cups for a very spreadable smooth icing, if filling a cake you may want to add a bit more powdered sugar so it is firmer.

I liked this buttercream so much, I challenged myself to use it to fill some macarons as well! They didn't turn out as well as I wanted them too overall (our rainy weather left my poor macarons a little chewier than they should have been). Don't they look yummy regardless though?

I used the recipe I found at Serious Eats for my macarons. Let me know if you have more success :)

5 Things I Love This Week

Hey everyone! Long time no see! Well, not THAT long, but I have definitely been a little too busy to keep up with the blog the way I'd like lately. For starters, the husband and I are going to be moving into a new apartment the start of April and I have been busy planning for that (the actual packing and execution is something I am trying not to freak out too much about just yet). Also, the hus has a birthday coming up so I am planning on making him some treats for that- fear not, you'll get the recipes. All of this planning and running about has given me very little time to make my crafty projects and photograph them all for you, so try to stay patient with me, you will be rewarded. In the meantime, enjoy some of the things that I've been loving on all week!

1) My friend Melissa's blog. She and her husband are friends of ours from our days back in Indiana and I love getting to catch up with her and her family (and yummy recipes!) from all these miles away. It doesn't hurt that she is a huge Pinterest addict like me, I think we repin half each others boards. :)

2)The Hunger Games. I'm not going to lie, I really tried to avoid getting sucked into this phenomenon, but I ended up reading all three books in the trilogy this week in 3 days. I'm now looking forward to the upcoming movie, and enjoyed swooning over this Hunger Games craft roundup on Craft Magazine this week.

3) St. Patrick's Day. Well, and pretty much all things green in general. I'm planning on having two food craft posts this week, providing one doesn't end up in epic failure. I was looking through some of my old recipes today and found my Pistachio Fudge and Mint Brownies. Both would make great St. Patty's Day treats, don't you think?

4) All things grey and yellow. Best color combo ever. Well, right now anyway, I've been a fan for awhile, but right now I'm obsessed.

5) All of you! Thanks for your comments, emails and coming back to read all about my crafty adventures!

What are you all loving right now?