I have a very special guest visiting my messy kitchen today.

Please welcome Heather “Cupcakes” Saffer to the kitchen today. She’ll be guest posting for me today as a stop on her Frosting Gift Guide Blog Tour.

Heather is a lover of frosting, an avid cupcake muncher, the winner of the 2011 Food Network Cupcake Wars, and the author of The Dollop Book of Frosting. Heather’s book is full of extremely creative and delicious frosting recipes, some sweet and some savory. I love every single recipe in her book, but there a few that really stand out: gingersnap stout frosting, maple bacon frosting, strawberry champagne frosting, and brownie batter frosting.

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As soon as I finished thumbing through her book, I wanted to make every single frosting recipe and lick the beaters clean. Heather is here today to share one of her irresistibly creamy frosting recipes on her Frosting Gift Guide Blog Tour.

Take it away, Heather:

Happy Holidays to all you messy bakers! And welcome to my 2013 Holiday Blog Tour!

I’m Heather Saffer and I’m extremely excited to be guesting on Jennie’s blog today! In case you don’t know, I won Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and I also wrote a cookbook that just released–and it’s all about frosting! The Dollop Book of Frosting is full of all kinds of ways to use frosting such as mixed into pies and piled atop pancakes. Pretty crazy but also pretty sweet!

When I first discovered Jennie’s blog I just knew I had to have her be a part of my Holiday Blog Tour. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer! The fact that Jennie calls herself “the messy baker” won me over at first but it was her photos, recipes, and writing that really sealed the deal. This chick is a force of nature!

And the truth is, I’m known to be pretty freakin’ messy in the kitchen too. See evidence below.

covered in sugar

When adding 25 pounds of sugar to a 30 quart mixer, make sure the speed is on low. (You’ll thank me someday.)

Anyhow, today I’m sharing with you a super fun frosting gift idea! Have a frosting lover in your life? Of course you do. So I’m going to show you a really clever and simple way to give him/her a gift of frosting this holiday season by making your own frosting decorating kit!

Frosting Decorating Kit

All you need is a batch of my perfectly fluffy Vanilla Buttercream from The Dollop Book of Frosting, an assortment of your friend’s favorite candies as mix-ins, and a few FDV’s (Frosting Delivery Vehicles).

Frosting

Happy Frosting, everyone!

Need more frosting gift ideas? Follow the tour and check out my Gift Guide For Frosting Lovers!

One lucky reader is going to win a copy of Heather’s The Dollop Book of Frosting. Trust me, you want this book.

The giveaway is for one copy of The Dollop Book of Frosting. The giveaway is for U.S. residents only and will run from December 3, 2013 through December 1o, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Recipe Type: Frosting
Author: Jennie
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 8 4-ounce jars
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (I get the best result from J.R. Watkins’ pure vanilla extract)
  • 3 cups 10x powdered sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Mix butter at room temperature in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until soft, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and continue mixing, about 1 minute. Slowly add powdered sugar and continue mixing after each incorporation of sugar, until all the sugar is in the bowl. Add salt and continue mixing until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl to ensure all ingredients are fully incorporated and distributed evenly.
  2. Frosting mix-in suggestions: M&M’s, Nerds, Andes Creme de Menthe chips, mini chocolate chips, crushed candy canes, crushed Oreo’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, pretzels, toffee bits, Kit Kats, or anything else your heart desires!
  3. FDV suggestions: Unfrosted cupcakes. pretzel sticks, brownies, graham crackers, apple slices, cookie sticks, vanilla wafers, biscotti, mini pies, gingersnaps, cut-out cookies… the sky’s the limit!
  4. Scoop the Vanilla Buttercream into Ball jars, chop up the candies of choice and package in pretty baggies tied with ribbon, add in the FDV’s, and attach a spatula and fun sectioned dish and you have the most creative frosting gift anyone has ever seen!