Homemade sweetened condensed milk is an easy recipe to whip up, for any level of home cook. It’s thick, creamy & luscious just like it’s canned store-bought counter part, but with half the sugar. This basic recipe is one you’ll want to keep on hand in the family recipe box, to use & share over and over again!
baking
Irish Soda Bread Muffins
Traditional soda bread meets sweet, flaky buttermilk style muffins in this easy Irish soda bread muffins recipe. They’re perfect for any meal of the day, and can be spread with butter, gravy, or whatever soup you’re serving. Whether it’s time to celebrate an Irish holiday like Saint Patrick’s Day, or it’s just time for a delicious meal, these muffins are a must have on your menu!
Garlic Herb Pull Apart Rolls
We’ve lovingly nicknamed these easy buttery garlic herb pull apart rolls the poor man’s popover. They’re quick, they’re easy, they won’t flop or fail- and they’re plain ol’ delicious to boot. Never stress about serving bread with dinner again with a batch of these ready to whip up rolls.
Homemade Pretzel Rolls
Homemade pretzel rolls take chewy soft pretzels and turn them into the most delicious rolls. These rolls are scrumptious on their own and make amazing sandwich rolls.
Easy Cast Iron Pan Pizzas with Perfect Crust
It seems like more and more people are turning to hand tossed pizza style dough, but I still prefer the pan style crusts from when I was a kid. These Easy Cast Iron Pan Pizzas with Perfect Crust have the best crispy, oiled golden brown crust. Fix ’em up with your favorite toppings for an easy, at home experience you won’t soon forget.
Copy Cat KFC Biscuits
Everyone loves a good biscuit, but in the South we have a special affinity for them. Don’t wait to get your biscuit game on, because you don’t want to miss out on these! With a golden, buttery crisp on the outside and flaky soft inside the layers that just melt in your mouth these Copy Cat KFC Biscuits are the only buttermilk biscuit recipe you’ll ever want or need.
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pull-Apart Bread
This Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pull Apart Bread is the ultimate, party pleasing appetizer. A crisp sourdough loaf is cut in a crosshatched pattern, with every nook stuffed with shredded sharp cheddar and crisp crumbled bacon & every cranny drizzled with a savory ranch infused butter sauce. It’s the appetizer to end all appetizers!
Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe
If you’ve ever wanted a crackling loaf of crusty bread, but thought a fresh homemade version was beyond your skill set- think again! There’s no yeast involved in this traditional Irish soda bread recipe. It’s a simple quick bread that bakes up perfectly with minimal effort making it ideal for anyone, even beginners.
Cake Decorating Frosting
I do not like bakery cakes or their frosting. (Gasp)
Shocking, I know, but I grew up never eating store bought cake, not even sampling bakery cakes, or pre-made frosting. Now that I have, I know I wasn’t missing anything.
The few times I attempted to use store-bought frosting for decorating cakes, the results were disastrous. It’s not stiff enough to hold it’s shape, and the addition of any food coloring makes it runny.
With four boys who request custom cakes for their birthdays, this obviously, was just not going to work. That, and I couldn’t stomach paying outrageous amounts of money to a bakery when I was sure that with a little practice, trial, and error I could duplicate their designs.
My Grandma and Mom, made beautiful cakes that always tasted just as good, if not better, than they looked and the frosting was always rich and creamy.
So when I made the decision to give my boys the same kind of catered cake experiences I had grown up with, I just knew I had to have my Mom’s recipe to make it happen.
The recipe for my family’s cake decorating frosting is simple and easy to whip up.
It’s even easier to adjust for stiffness so you can customize and create a simple or elaborate cake or cupcake design that will hold firmly in place, but still taste smooth and sugary when cut.
TIPS & TRICKS For Making The Best Buttercream Frosting
- If you’re not interested in a plain white frosting for your cake, add a couple of drops of food coloring until your desired color is reached, and then frost.
- If the food coloring makes the frosting too runny, like when you have to add a lot (examples being for true red or true black)- add a little powdered sugar just until it firms back up.
- If chocolate frosting is more to your taste then simply add cocoa powder, 1 tbsp at a time, until it tastes chocolate-y enough for you.
A Few Other Pointers For Working With Homemade Buttercream
- If your frosting is too stiff, and you’re trying to frost any parts of a cake that have been cut or aren’t browned by the outside of the baking pan, it will pull up pieces of cake and make a mess.
- Also, don’t wipe! For a neat look that won’t ruin the cake, gently wipe frosting back and forth until frosted. To achieve a smooth, finished look, smooth over with a HOT knife. Dip the knife in hot water to keep it hot and free of any icing clumps. Otherwise, get your bake-on and frost.
- There will be mistakes made along the way, but the results are well worth it!
Practice makes perfect, and nothing beats your child’s smile when they see you’ve managed to create something from their imagination, or yours, just for them.
Just for fun, and hopefully some inspiration, below the recipe card are a few of the various cakes I’ve made for my boys over the years.
If you’ve tried this CAKE DECORATING FROSTING, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Cake Decorating Frosting
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 cup of shortening
- 4-5 tbsp milk or half and half for a richer frosting
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract optional
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, add all ingredients.
- Mix on low speed until evenly combined. Do not whip!
- If the frosting is still chunky add milk, 1 tbsp at a time until it’s mixed smooth.
- Alternately, if the frosting is too runny, add more confectioners sugar until mixed to desired stiffness.
- Frost!
Notes