Vanilla Frosting

I'm back!  I finished my second semester of graduate school and have now recovered and caught up on sleep.  Over the past few months I didn't take a break from cooking or trying out new recipes, but I just didn't have the time or energy to post the recipes here.  But now I'm back to blogging and I'll try to make up for my semester-long absence by sharing some of the recipes that I've been working on over the past few months. 

One recipe that I've been tweaking since the winter is corn-free and dairy-free vanilla frosting.  The two basic ingredients in vanilla frosting are powdered sugar (which usually contains cornstarch) and butter (which obviously contains dairy).  Fortunately, the Trader Joe's near us started carrying powdered sugar that contains tapioca starch instead of cornstarch.  From there I experimented with the rest of the ingredients until I came up with a frosting that the girls think tastes great.  The thing I like about this frosting is that it is so quick and easy to make.  So when I need to take one of the girls to a friend's birthday party, I just pull a chocolate cupcake out of the freezer to defrost (since I bake a batch once in a while and freeze the extras), and then make a little frosting to cover it.  Add some sprinkles and we're ready to go.

Vanilla Frosting
makes frosting to cover 3 to 4 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup corn-free powdered sugar.  I use Trader Joe's, but Whole Foods also sells some.
• 2 Tbsp. Spectrum organic palm shortening
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract.  Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. rice milk

Instructions:

Add the powdered sugar, shortening, vanilla, sea salt, and 1 tsp. rice milk to a standing mixer bowl with the whisk attachment in place.  Whisk on medium to medium-fast speed.  If the frosting is too thick and not spreadable enough, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. more rice milk until the frosting reaches the right consistency.  Scrape the bowl at least once and whisk thoroughly so that the salt and vanilla are mixed throughout the frosting.  Spread on top of cupcakes immediately.