My Favorite Chocolate Rum Frosting

Have you ever made a frosting so good that you didn't even care what kind of cake you put underneath it? It could be plain white toast, it could be those weird hard breadsticks they sell at the grocery store, you don't care, bring it on!  Well, this frosting is like that. I see leftovers in the fridge and I pull out the bowl and pick off a chunk and it's like candy. Better than a Dove bar. Dip this stuff in chocolate melts and call it truffles. Yummmmm....

As we all know there are a lot of great reasons to make your own frosting. For one thing, you know exactly what's in it. No partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, no sodium stearoyl lactylate, no hexamexadrexablah blah blah. Just butter, sugar, milk, & a pinch of salt. For another, you can put any leftovers in the freezer and it'll keep just fine for months. For months. Can't say that about grocery store frosting.

This is what's in my frosting. And milk. Forgot the milk.

Ok, those are only two reasons, but they're very compelling.

This here is my absolute favorite frosting. I'm a fan of rum extract in general because you get that yummy buttery flavor; I've never used real rum in my recipes because we generally don't keep a lot of liquor in the house. We're not teetotalers, it's just that alcohol is not a priority for me, and my husband prefers beer (or very expensive scotch).

Here's a tip for making your own frosting: the butter must be softened, but not shiny. If it's shiny, then it's too soft, and your frosting won't come together smoothly. Put the butter back in the refrigerator for a little bit, and try again.

Ingredients


1 stick of butter, softened but still slightly cool
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 teaspoons rum extract
A pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon)
2-3 tablespoons of milk

1) Pop the butter into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer. Mix it with the paddle attachment, on low to medium-low, until it's pretty well spread out and softened in the bowl.
2) Add in everything but the milk, and mix thoroughly. Start off low, and take the speed higher as needed, but don't spend more than a few seconds at a time at the highest settings. Going too fast will melt your butter too much.
3) Once the mixture is a consistent dark brown color all the way through, but the texture is like thick, somewhat dry mud, add in 2 tablespoons of milk. Keep mixing, and you can stay in the higher speeds now.

Then you can take your spoonula (heh. spoonula.  it's like spoon Dracula.) and scoop it into a baggie or piping bag set up in a mug for piping onto your cupcakes. You know. If you're into that sort of thing.

Tips:
-If it's still too dry, add more milk. Start off at a half tablespoon, and see how that does for you.
-Too wet? Add more sugar.
-Keep tasting the frosting; if it needs more chocolate, then add more chocolate. More rum? Add more rum. -The secret to a good frosting is to keep tasting it until it tastes how you want. Wait, we actually have to eat the stuff first before anyone else gets to? Oh no! What a bummer.
-You can put any extras in a freezer bag and freeze it for next time. Just take it out a couple hours ahead of time to thaw, and remix it as necessary to even out the consistency.

And there you have it. Voila, beautiful chocolate rum frosting that even your kids can eat.  This stuff... It's happy in your tummy.