BUTTERCREAM ICING FOR RUSSIAN TIPS

150 g real butter at room temperature
340 g icing sugar
5 ml vanilla essence
30 ml milk (add color to milk)

Place the soft butter in a mixing bowl and beat for 5 minutes with an electric beater until fluffy and light.
Add half the icing sugar to the butter and beat for 3 minutes.
Add the other half of the icing sugar and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add the vanilla essence and coloring, if using any, to the milk.
Add the milk mixture to the butter and icing sugar mix and beat for 1 minute.

Note:
These cupcakes were iced with a Wilton 2D tip.
These were unicorn cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday, but you can replace about 45 g of icing sugar with cocoa powder to make chocolate icing.

Recipe and photos: Sweeny Thorne