Fluffy Buttercream Icing

 Who knew that whipping up frosting (from scratch) could be so simple? I thought they required a ridiculous amount of time and effort. Well, that was until I stumbled upon this incredible and simple recipe for Buttercream Frosting, and much to my dismay in under 10 minutes of hardly any effort I ended up with fluffy, and delightful icing for cupcakes & cakes. I will say this isn't the part of the low fat variety, but it sure beats all the crap they put in 'canned frosting'. I plan on using this with Vanilla cupcakes (recipe seen here) and topping with lemon zest. 

Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

1 ½ cups (3 Sticks) Unsalted Butter (Softened)

3 cups Confectioners Sugar

1/8 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Cream butter in bowl with mixer (or if you have a stand up mixer use whisk attachment), I let my butter sit out for a few hours so it would soften and make creaming easier.  Add Confectioners sugar and salt and mix (gradually increasing in speed) until the sugar is fully incorporated.  

Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scrape sides of bowl if needed and continue to mix until fluffy. 

I actually cut the recipe in half, and it makes a little over a pint of frosting (9 inch cake or 15 cupcakes). Enjoy!