Buttercream Icing

This recipe is from the Wilton Decorating Basics Lesson Plan Book

1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon wilton falvor (vanilla, almond, or butter)
7-8 teaspoons milk or water
1 tablespoon wilton meringue powder
pinch of salt (optional)

cream shortening, flavoring and water.  add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together.  blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.  makes 2 1/2 cups.

chocolate buttercream
add 3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted, and an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons water to recipe.  mix until well blended.

Icing consistency

stiff--use for decorations such as flowers with upright petals, like the rose.
use this test to check consistency:

• place 1 cup of icing in a 9 oz. cup, 3 3/4 in. tall and about 2 3/4 in. diameter.
• insert a straight spatula all the way into the center of the icing and jiggle the cup.
• when the icing is stiff consistency, the spatula will not move.

medium--used to create stars, dimensional decorating, borders and flowers with petals that lie flat.

to convert stiff consistency icing to medium consistency add 1 teaspoon of water for each cup of stiff icing (2 1/2 tsp for the full recipe.) nux until well blended.

• use the same test as for stiff consistency
• when the icing is medium consistency the spatula will move slightly and start to lean when you jiggle the cup.

thin--use for writing and printing, leves, icing a cake.

to conver stiff icing to thin, add 2 tsp of water for each cup of stiff (5 tsp for the full recipe) mix well until blended.

• use the same test as for stiff consistency
• when the icing is thin, the spatula will fall over when you jiggle the cup
• when making thin consistency for writitng and printing add 1/2 tsp of piping gel per cup of thin consistency icing.  it will add stretch to the icing to make writing and printing easier

Cheese-Filled Sweet Potato Muffins

These are the best muffins, ever.

(makes 12 muffins)

What You Need:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar (or substitute 2/3 cup agave nectar)

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sweet potato (peeled, boiled, and mashed)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

nutmeg, cinnamon, and any other spices that suit your fancy

1 cup of cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, or a mixture of the 2

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare a muffin tin with olive oil spray or butter

Mix olive oil, eggs, water, sweet potato

Add agave or sugar

Mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg

Blend ingredients well and pour into muffin tin

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until done (you can insert a sharp knife into one of the muffins- if nothing sticks to the knife, the muffins are ready)

Remove muffins from tin and place on baking rack to cool

Once cool, scoop out a section from the top center of each muffin (see photo)

Eat what you have scooped out as your reward for baking

Whip up your cheese, adding cinnamon if you like. Fill each hole with your cheese selection. When I made these I used mascarpone, but wished that it had a sweeter, cheesier taste. Next time I think I will do a mascarpone-cream cheese combo.

Sprinkle cinnamon on top of each muffin and enjoy!