Fantastic Fruity Frosting, every time

Lemon cupcakes topped with fresh blueberry buttercream

Hey guys!

Fruity buttercream ends up on the mass majority of my cupcakes when the hotter months roll around. Sweet, bright, and summery- perfect right? Well, only when executed correctly. Your first thought might be to just dump some fresh fruit into your buttercream and call it a day, but resist that urge. Adding the fresh fruit into the buttercream is all fun and games until the fruit starts to lose some of it's water which will make your buttercream runny: and that's just not cute. So while this process is a tad more time consuming, these extra steps below will result in a much smoother, stable, and flavorful fruity buttercream that is much more enjoyable to consume (see what I did there? No? Okay lets just get into this).

1. First, you need to take twice the amount of fruit you think you'll need, clean it, and put it in a food processor and blend it up. Continue blending until it is smooth and chunk-free.
2. If you don't want seeds in your frosting, now would be the time to strain your fruit puree to rid it of any seeds. I personally prefer to leave them, as I like what it adds in regards to the overall appearance and texture. (So listen to your heart and follow your dreams with this step.)
3. Next dump your puree into a pot and cook it over medium heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, to boil out some of the water so it won't make your buttercream runny. You'll want to keep an eye on it, and stir every few minutes so you don't end up with a burnt mess on the bottom of your pot (been there, and I would not recommend it). 
4. Once your puree reaches a thick, syrup-like consistency it's time to take it off the heat and let it cool completely before adding it to your frosting. If you don't wait, the butter in your buttercream will melt and it will just be a sticky disaster. (If you are impatient like me remove your fruity syrup from the pot and put it in the fridge or freezer until it is cooled.) Once cooled it will have almost a jelly-like consistency. 
5. Once your fruity puree syrup is cooled it is ready to be added to your favorite buttercream recipe!

Ta-da! That's it! Now this does take longer than just adding some chopped up strawberries into your standard buttercream, but the resulting flavor and texture of your frosting will make it all worth it (pinky promise). 

                                                                                                                                   Happy Baking (and frosting)!
​                                                                                                                                         Emily B