My Attempt at Brown Sugar Frosting
Okay, so I decided to tackle brown sugar frosting today. Had this yellow cake sitting there, looking kind of sad, and honestly, store-bought frosting is just… meh. Nothing beats the real stuff, even if it takes a bit more effort. Figured I’d document how it went.
First off, I grabbed the butter. Think I used about half a cup, maybe a little less? Threw it in a small saucepan. Then came the brown sugar – packed it in the measuring cup, about a cup’s worth, maybe a bit generous. You gotta pack brown sugar, right? Otherwise, you’re cheating yourself. Turned the stove on, medium heat, something like that.
Started stirring those two together as the butter melted. You gotta keep it moving so the sugar doesn’t just sit there and burn. It gets all melty and bubbly. Looks kinda nice, actually. Smells good too, like caramel starting.
Once it was melted and mixed, I poured in some milk. Didn’t measure precisely, maybe like 3 or 4 tablespoons? Just enough to make it look like a sauce. Stirred that in good and brought the whole thing just to a boil. Let it bubble for like, a minute, stirring constantly. Felt about right.
Then, the crucial part. Took it off the heat. You absolutely have to let this mixture cool down. Seriously. If you try to add the powdered sugar while it’s hot, you’ll just have a runny, sugary soup. It’s happened to me before, total waste. So, patience is key here. I usually pour it into a different bowl so it cools faster. Stuck it aside, went and did something else for a while. Checked it a few times by touching the bottom of the bowl. Needs to be room temp, basically.
Alright, once it was properly cooled, I added a splash of vanilla extract. Always vanilla. Then started adding the powdered sugar. This part is never exact science for me. I just start adding it, maybe half a cup at a time, and mixing it in. I used a hand mixer for this, makes it smoother. Kept adding and mixing until it got to that frosting consistency – thick enough to hold its shape but still spreadable. You just know it when you see it.
- Melted butter with brown sugar in a pan.
- Stirred in milk, brought it to a quick boil.
- Cooled the mixture completely. Can’t skip this!
- Beat in vanilla and powdered sugar until it looked like frosting.
Gave it a final taste test. Yep, sweet, a bit caramelly from the brown sugar. Not too bad for a quick job. Went ahead and frosted that cake. Looked a whole lot better afterward. Way better than that stuff from a can.
