Cream Cheese Frosting, Take 2

"Aha!" you are probably wondering, "What happened to Take 1?" Well my friends, I regret to inform you that in an epic battle between Kate and Cream Cheese Frosting, Round 1 went unquestionably to the frosting.

Perhaps I should start the story at the beginning? (I heard its a very good place to start) I met "Niane"* through the online dating service known as theknot.com. This used to be a great place to meet people, although, I can no longer recommend it since last year there was a bloodless coup and the current dictatorship is definitely hostile. But back to the story. I met Niane and we instantly had a connection. Birds sang and bells rang. It started out innocently enough, weekends at the gym, happy hours, but soon enough the relationship had developed into a full blown friendship. Like any good relationship Niane and I primarily converse through the magic of email. I highly recommend this form of relationship since it avoids that icky interpersonal contact. We'll fast forward a little bit. Yesterday was Niane's birthday. She's ancient and I was worried she may not survive another year without her hip breaking so we wanted to make it especially nice for her. For me, that means "make a cake." Niane's favorite cakes? Cheesecake, Carrot Cake, and Red Velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles. Noticing the common denominator? Cream Cheese. Niane also loves chocolate. So I figured I would make a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. The chocolate cake part I had down pat. I have my favorite, amazing recipe. But cream cheese frosting? Never made it before. (Hmmm this sounds like we're coming to the good part!)

After looking at several recipes I decided it would be easy enough. It appeared to be butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. I could do this.
Attempt 1, or why Kate is a cooker and not a baker
- I looked at some recipes to determine amounts, all the recipes made some reference to "as much milk as necessary to achieve desired consistency." That should have been my first hint. I also probably should have read the instructions first. I put all the ingredients in my pretty kitchenaid and thought "I'll just add the milk now" before turning her on. I estimated I would need about half a cup. THIS WAS A MISTAKE. First, because all the milk flew up and out of the bowl as soon as I turned it on. Now I'm covered in milk. Second, because half a cup of milk is faaaaaarrrr to much milk. I am now the proud owner of cream cheese cream. (Stay tuned for later this week when I will try to use said cream over some chocolate-soufflé type dessert)

Attempt 2, Success!
- I went and picked up more cream cheese and more sugar and tried again. This time I creamed the cream cheese and milk before adding the sugar and vanilla and then, and only then, did I add a smidge of milk, about 2 teaspoons. And voila. Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting.


Niane's birthday was a huge success, good food, great company, and of course the cake was excellent. I really loved the combination of the chocolate with the cream cheese frosting - it might be my new favorite combination!

Niane's Cake
Cake:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 eggs
1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup cold coffee
2 tsp vanilla
12 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 13 x 9" pan.
2. Sift together first 5 ingredients.
3. In separate bowl combine eggs, milk, coffee, and vanilla.
4. In third bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat 1/3 dry ingredients into butter mixture, then beat in 1/3 of egg mixture. Repeat twice.
5. Pour into pan. Bake 28-32 minutes. Remove from pan, let cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Ingredients
8oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 box (4 cups) confectioners sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp milk

Directions
1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth
2. Add sugar and vanilla
3. Add milk "as necessary to achieve desired consistency"

*All names have been changed to protect the innocent