Adventures in Sugar: White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

When I was a kid, I thought frosting was something that you had to buy pre-made at the grocery store. Remember? You know...you just grab the big tub with the blue or red lid when you walk down the baking aisle, crack it open, and then hope that there's enough to cover your cake.

(Fact: There was never enough icing...in fact, I don't believe that there is such a thing as "enough icing.")

But anyway. That was the icing of my childhood, and at the time, I thought it was pretty great...especially the chocolate one. But then one magical day, I made a cake with my great aunt, and when the time came to frost it, she informed me in a rather horrified voice that only homemade icing would be good enough for her cake. She then proceeded to make an incredible icing from a recipe that she knew by heart. It was awesome...and I need to get that recipe.

In the meantime, I'm going to give you another incredible one. This icing tastes great on absolutely anything...chocolate cake, strawberry cake, vanilla cake, any muffins, your fingers, a spoon...even the floor (or at least our dog thought so.) You've got to try it...you'll never go back to the tub. I promise.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
12 oz white chocolate, broken up into pieces (Use the bars for this...not chocolate chips. The chips have stabilizers in them that make the frosting turn out badlly.)
2 packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

First, melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat, stirring constantly so that it won't burn. If you don't have a double boiler, just put a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water, and make sure the bowl doesn't actually touch the water.

Use the good stuff!

Once the chocolate is melted, take it off the heat and set it aside for a minute.

Then drop the butter and cream cheese into a mixer and beat it until well combined.

Stop the machine and add the chocolate.

...and the vanilla.

Mix it on low for a minute, and then stop the mixer to add the sugar.

Mix on low for 30 seconds.

Then increase the speed to medium and mix for another minute or two, until the frosting gets fluffy.

Like this.

Then stick your face in the bowl and lick it clean.

Just kidding! But you're going to want to do that. (Or is that just me?) I dare you not to think about it.

So go ice your cake! Or your cookies! Or your spoon!

A bit of advice, though. This is a deliciously gooey icing, so it isn't really going to pipe well. You'll end up with a pretty, homemade-looking cake. Just ice it slowly, and don't hesitate to stick it in the fridge for 10 minutes or so every now and then to harden the icing and help it apply well.