Cupcake Icing for a Crowd

  4.7 – 22 reviews  • Easy Baking
Level: Easy
Total: 10 min
Prep: 10 min
Yield: about 8 cups, enough for at least 6 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

  1. 1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
  2. 3 pounds confectioners’ sugar (3 boxes)
  3. 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  4. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  5. Food coloring, such as yellow, blue, and red, or your favorite

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a large electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, whip the butter on high speed until very soft. Meanwhile, place a large sheet of parchment paper on a work surface. Using a large sifter, sift a pound of confectioners’ sugar onto the parchment. This helps prevent clumping, and makes the mixing easier. Lower the speed of the mixer, and, using the parchment as a funnel, pour the sugar into the bowl and mix slowly until combined. Add the milk and mix until combined. Sift the second pound of sugar onto the parchment sheet. Again at low speed, add the sugar and mix well. Once combined, sift the remaining sugar and add it with the vanilla and mix. Once it is combined, turn the mixer speed up and beat the icing until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. If desired, divide the icing into smaller batches and color with food coloring.
  3. Spread the icing on cooled cupcakes while at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftover icing, but be sure to let it come back to room temperature before using. Re-whip the icing to make it fluffy again.

Reviews

Erik Evans
It’s nice! I like the flavor, and the color. It was so easy but so good! I love it! Bye!
Joshua Gillespie
Oh my goodness, I just ate my third cupcake because I can’t resist this icing! Yum yum yum :
Michael George
to kbluesunshine:

Fluid ounces and ounces are vastly different.
A fluid ounce (1/8 cup[volume] doesn’t necessarily weigh an ounce (1/16 lb[mass]
For water, a fluid ounce is very close to weighing an ounce but for things like flour and sugar there is a big discrepancy between fluid ounces and ounces. 8 fluid ounces of sifted flour is a lot lighter than 8 fluid ounces of packed flour.

Therefore it is very important to know which ounce your recipe calls for.

Barbara French
I have been using this recipe for several years now. Rachel, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I can frost my double layer cake and have some left for all the sugar cookies too.
Elizabeth Avila
one of the better “quick” vanilla icings out there! nice & fluffy!
Deborah Jackson
This icing was probably one of the best I’ve tried so far but goodness the sugar is just TOO much. Confectioners sugar is very sweet, so to add THREE POUNDS is pretty gross. I kinda knew that going into it so I started adding it really slowly and then tasted it as I went along. In the end, I used less than half of what the recipe called for. I also didn’t like how when I tasted the icing, you could feel the sugar granules…I don’t even know how that happened with confectioners sugar. I would love to find a good recipe that doesn’t call for confectioners sugar but where you can’t feel the sugar granules! On the upside, the icing worked out because I put a thin layer on a cake that had fruit on top so it was a little drowned out (although I will admit that everyone ELSE loved it. I also didn’t have an issue with the color of my icing despite putting in vanilla extract…it still turned out white.
James Mendez
loved it!..excellent texture, easy to use and was delicious!..I cook and bake a lot so this large amount of icing was not a big deal for me, it can be halved easily and be the perfect amount fo 24 -30 cupcakes..
Whitney Harrington
To: crazy about cook,
A pound is 16 ounces, a cup is 8 ounces.
So, 2 cups would make 1 pound.
Natalie Howell
it looks so delicious n tasty n wish to try soon . but want to know something before i get start want to know the size of pound how much its mean a cup??????

wish to help me

Lynn Howard
this is amazing whoever doesnt like this does not have taste buds

 

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