Fourth Day of Valentine's

Today was a great day. Nathan and I worked on his color recognition- red and we made cupcakes for Daddy. It was fun showing Nathan the magic of food coloring. I made homemade butter-creme frosting all by myself today. The magic took place when I turned the frosting from white to a darkish pink. No just pink. I meant for it to be red but it didn't come out that way. How many drops of coloring does it take? 5 makes pink. 

 See Pink, not RED.....
Anyway they tasted awesome. I used a plain yellow cake mix and added dried cranberries (a red food) to the mix. Yum Yum! I also added white chocolate syrup to the frosting by request of my husband and that made it that much better. What heart candies Nathan didn't eat went on the cupcakes last. 

Butter-creme Frosting for Cupcakes
8 Tbs (1 stick) butter at room temp.
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 to 5 Tbs milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla (instead I used the syrup)
Food coloring (optional)
For Chocolate Frosting add 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Blend butter in a large mixing bowl on low speed until fluffy. Add the sugar, 3 Tbs of milk, and the vanilla (flavoring) and blend on low speed until sugar is incorporated. Increase speed and beat until fluffy. Add additional milk if the frosting seems to stiff.
Makes 2 1/2 cups, enough for 24 cupcakes.