I have to admit that I don’t find much of a difference between cake made from a box and cake made from scratch, and as far as brownies go, I actually prefer the box version! But when it comes to frosting, the difference between store bought and homemade is so obvious and jarring. Once I learned how easy it is to make my own buttercream, I could never go back to picking a can off the shelf for my cakes. 

Here is my basic vanilla buttercream recipe, which can be adapted to many different flavors simply by adding in two tablespoons of the desired flavor (example: two tablespoons of maple syrup for maple frosting, two tablespoons of strawberry puree for strawberry frosting).

![20180901_141347-01 (1).jpeg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbkWXjdcHGdGnMGc6Q2mAEhiSVAvVj8MXX4zbXtDtWD1c/20180901_141347-01%20(1).jpeg)

Ingredients:
- 4+ cups of powdered sugar
- ¾+ cups of heavy cream (milk is okay too, but lessen initial amount to ½ cup)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla flavor
- 1 cup of room temperature unsalted butter

1.In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and vanilla flavor with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
2.Add powdered sugar to butter and beat until well combined. 
3. Add heavy cream and continue to beat.
4. If  the buttercream is too thin, add more powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. If it is too thick, add more heavy cream until desired texture is achieved.

![20180902_121311.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbMGaPEN9v7D8G64HmYeNMvFJ9C8arFNSw3nrb6nf3TBg/20180902_121311.jpg)

This is great on carrot cake, cupcakes, and I just recently used it on my dad’s [chocolate birthday cake](https://steemit.com/food/@pinkspectre/amazing-chocolate-cake), which received a chorus of applause.