Naadan Laddoo with camphor

 

Ingredients(Yields - 18 medium size laddoos):

Boondi:

        Kadala maavu / Besan Flour -- 1 cup
        Baking Soda --  a pinch

        Salt -- a pinch

        Turmeric Powder  -- 1 tsp (optional)

        Water -- as required

        Ghee -- 2 - 3 tbsp
        Vegetable Oil -- 2 cups or more as needed for deep frying

Sugar Syrup:

        Sugar --1 cup
        Water -- 1/4 cup

        Cardamom Powder -- 2 tsp

        Camphor -- 1 small pellet powdered(Optional)

        

To mix:

      

        Raisins --  a handful 

        Ghee -- 2 tbsp

        Kalkkandam -- 1/2 cup crushed

       

Preparation:

Mix the besan, baking soda, turmeric and salt. Add water little by little to form a batter similar to the dosa batter consistency.

Heat oil in a wok. Pour the batter into the hot oil through a round slotted spoon (check the mixture recipe for the picture). If the batter is too thick, boondi will be long in shape. If the batter is too thin, then boondi will be flat. Add more flour / water accordingly to adjust the consistency if needed.

Do not add over crowd the boondi in the oil as it may cling together and loose its shape. 

Let it fry just until it cooks or the sizzling stops, less than a minute. Drain onto a paper towel. Do not fry the boondi too crispy as this might not let the sugar syrup soak in.

Continue this until the batter is done.

Wipe the back of the slotted spoon for every batch, otherwise the batter will stick on it and not form a round shape.

Once the batter is done, add the prepared boondi into a bowl.  Add 1/3rd of the boondi into a mixer and just crush it to a coarse powder. Add this back to the bowl and mix. You now have a good blend of boondi powder and full shaped boondis.

Once the boondi is ready, prepare the sugar syrup. 

Mix water, sugar, cardamom powder and powdered camphor in a sauce pan. Let it boil until it starts bubbling up. Switch off the flame. Add colour at this stage if you wish to do so, I did not as the turmeric did give a nice yellow colour to the boondis. 

Do NOT wait until string consistency, it might harden the sugar as it cools. We have used only less water to form firm laddoos. If you like your laddoos to be softer, add a little more water, but not more than half a  cup.

Quickly add the sugar syrup to the prepared boondi in a big bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Add ghee and raisins (you can fry the raisins in ghee, if you wish to. I just added it as is) at this stage. 

Let it cool to touch, add the kalkkandam and mix well. If you add it while hot, it might melt the kalkkandams. The boondi might have soaked in the sugar syrup by now and you should have a warm sticky mixture. 

While it is still warm, grease your palms with ghee, take a handful of the mixture and roll into ball. Work quickly, not bothering to shape it well. Once all the balls are made, wash your hands, grease again and then roll the balls into a smooth shape.

Let it sit for a day to let the flavors blend well. 

Enjoy !! 

- I couldn't take any step by step pictures. Will make a note to take some good pictures next time and update :)

Paneer Bhurji

Ingredients(Serves –4 ):

Paneer                          -- 250 gms
Onion                            -- ½ cup, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic Paste  -- 1 tsp
Green Chillies             -- 2
Tomato                         -- ¼ cup, chopped
Turmeric Powder     -- ¼ tsp
Garam Masala            -- ½ tsp
Cumin seeds               -- ¼ tsp
Coriander leaves      -- 1 - 2 sprigs
Oil                                   -- 1 tbsp
Salt                                 -- as required

Preparation :

If you are making paneer at home(refer here), you can avoid the steps of shaping it up. If using store brought paneer, grate it and keep aside.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the cumin seeds, chopped onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Saute until the onions turn brown.

Add the tomatoes and saute until they turn mushy.

Add turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt mix well. Saute until the raw smell goes off.

Add paneer and saute until the paneer blends into the masala.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Pappadam

Ingredients (Yields 20 - 25 based on size):

       Urad Dal whole        -  1 cup
       Baking soda             -  ½ tsp
       Salt                           -  1½ - 2 tsp    
       Oil                            -   2 - 3 tsp
       Water                        -  ½ cup

       All purpose flour      -  as required, while rolling

Preparation:

       Grind the urad dal into a fine powder. Sieve it using a strainer/sieve with small holes.

       Add the baking soda and salt to the urad flour. Give a quick mix. Add oil and start mixing to just incorporate the oil into the flour.

       Add water and mix well to form a thick rough dough. At this stage add more oil if needed, not more than a teaspoon.

       Transfer the dough onto a clean chopping board / counter top / any clean hard surface. Use a pestle to pound the dough. I actually started with the base of the mortar first and as the dough became softer, used the pestle to pound it better. This step takes approximately 15 - 20 minutes of continuous pounding.(Yes thats a good workout for your arms.) The dough would be now soft to handle.

        Roll the dough into a log, approximately half inch diameter. I divided the dough into two before I rolled. Using a knife cut the log into approximately an inch pieces.

        Roll each portion into small rounds, dusting with all purpose flour. Using a cookie cutter, or any round lid, cut the rolled ones into perfect rounds. I used a small lid and hence my pappadoms were a bit smaller than the regular size ones. However, size doesnt matter.

         Spread the pappadoms on a clean cookie sheet and let it dry under sun for 10 - 15 minutes. Flip them in 10 minutes to have it completely dry. Do not dry it too much as it might get stiff. It should still be pliable.

         Fry the pappadoms in hot oil. We fried all of it right then and hence not sure about the shelf life.

Recipe Courtesy: Ria's Collection / Story telling camera

Caramel Custard - Instant pot Version

Ingredients (Serves  8 – 10):
         Milk                            --   2 cups 
         Eggs                            --   3
         Sugar                           --   ½ - ¾ cup (As to taste) 
         Sugar to Caramelize    --   1½ tbsp 
         Vanilla Essence            --   ½ tsp 

Preparation of caramel custard pudding:

Prepare a 6 inch cake tin and keep aside. 

You can also use multiple ramekins and stack them in the instant pot. I have tried stacking 2 6 inch cake tins in the instant pot and it worked perfect.
 
For the caramel, add the sugar with 2 tbsp water in a small sauce pan and heat on medium flame. Let it boil. Once it starts to bubble, reduce the flame to medium low. This need a little patience. Stir continuously to have an even colour. Let it caramelize. Once it turns brown, look for the colour you are looking for and switch off the flame as soon as it is achieved. It just needs seconds to burn the caramel.

Quickly and carefully pour the caramel into the pan and swirl it to make sure you have an even coating on the bottom. Let it cool.

Never ever try to touch or lick the caramel at any stage before it is completely cool.

Beat the eggs well until it is smooth. Add the milk, sugar and vanilla essence. I use either a hand mixer or just blend all together in a blender until well combined.  

Pour the mixture onto the cooled caramel. Cover if with a foil to avoid any moisture getting into the custard.

Add 1 cup water into the instant pot. Keep the filled cake tin on the steaming rack and carefully keep this in the pot.

Close the lid and with the venting knob on sealing position, pressure cook at high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally, approximately another 10-15 minutes. 

Once done remove the foil cover and gently dab any moisture on the custard with a kitchen towel.  At this stage the center might look a little wiggly, but it will set well as it cools.
 
Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate until they are chill. 

Use a butter knife or back of the spoon to separate the custard from the sides of the pan and turn it upside down onto your serving dish. Slice and enjoy !!!

Vattayappam

Ingredients( 8 inch round):

           Rice Flour - 1 cup
           Yeast         - 3/4 tsp
           Luke warm water - 1/4 cup
           Sugar        -  1 tsp + 1/2 cup
           Grated coconut - 1 cup
           Egg Whites - 1 large
           Ghee - 1 tsp
            Salt - as required

Preparation: 

Add the yeast and 1 tsp sugar to luke warm water and set aside to bloom. Meanwhile, grind the coconut with little water to a smooth paste. Mix this with the rice flour and sugar.

Once the yeast is ready, add that as well to the mixture and set it aside for 3-4 hours. Add more water if needed. The batter consistency should be similar to dosa batter.

Beat the egg whites stiff and fold them into the batter. Add salt.

Grease the pan with ghee and add the batter to it. Steam cook for 25 minutes on medium flame.

Recipe Courtesy: Ria

Idly Bajji

Ingredients:

Idly                                          --    8 - 10 

Besan flour                             --   1 cup

Rice Flour                               --   ½ cup

Red chilly powder                 --   1 ½ tsp

Black Pepper Powder           --   ½ tsp

Asafoetida                              --   ¼ tsp

Oil                                           --    to deep fry

Salt                                          --    to taste

Water                                      --    as required

Preparation of the Bajji:

Mix the besan, rice flour, pepper, chilli powder, baking soda and salt. Add water little by little to form a batter similar to the dosa batter consistency.

Slice the idly into four.

Heat oil in a pan for frying. Dip the idly pieces in the batter; let the pieces be well coated with the batter and deep fry until they turn brown and crispy.

Serve hot with ketchup or any chutney. 

Spicy mixture

Ingredients(Serves 3-4):

Omapodi:

       Kadala maavu / Besan Flour - 1 cup
       Rice Flour - ½ cup
       Ajwain seeds - 2 tbsp
       Butter - 1 tbsp
       Hot oil - 1 tbsp
       Salt - as required
       Oil - as required for frying

Pakkoda:

        Kadala maavu / Besan Flour - 1 cup
        Rice Flour - 1 cup
        Black Pepper Powder - 2 tbsp
        Kashmiri Red Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
        Butter - 1 tbsp
        Hot oil - 1 tbsp
        Salt - as required
        Oil - as required for frying

Boondi:

        Kadala maavu / Besan Flour - 1 cup
        Rice Flour - ½ cup
        Baking Soda - 1 tsp
        Black Pepper Powder - 1 tbsp        Kashmiri Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
        Salt - as required
        Oil - as required for frying

Murukku:

        Rice Flour - 1 cup
        Kadala maavu / Besan Flour - 3 tbsp
        Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
        Kashmiri Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
        Butter - 1 tbsp
        Salt - as required
        Oil - as required for frying


Other items for mixture:

        Whole Peanuts - 1 cup
        Gram dal - 1/4 cup
        Cashew Nuts - 15 - 20
        White thick poha - ½ cup
        Curry Leaves - 2 - 3 sprigs
        Kashmiri Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
        Asafoetida - a generous pinch
        Salt - as required
        Oil - as required for frying

Preparation:

Omapodi:

Dry roast the ajwain seeds until the colour slightly changes. Take care not to burn it. Grind it to a fine powder. Then add 1/4 cup water and grind again. Filter this using a tea strainer and keep aside.

Mix the besan, rice flour and salt. Add the softened butter and hot oil and rub it well into the mixture. Add the strained ajwain water and mix well to form a sticky dough.

Heat oil in a wok. Fill the dough into the idyappam press and squeeze it into the hot oil. Make a circle and make sure not to overlap. Once the sizzling stops, turn it carefully and cook for few more seconds.

Drain it into a paper towel and crush it once cool.

Pakkoda:

Mix the besan, rice flour , pepper, chilli powder and salt. Add the softened butter and hot oil and rub it well into the mixture. Mix well to form a stiff dough.

Heat oil in a wok. Fill the dough into the idyappam press with the pakkoda mold and squeeze it into the hot oil. Make a circle and make sure not to overlap. Once the sizzling stops, turn it carefully and cook for few more seconds.

Drain it into a paper towel and break into pieces once cool.

Boondi:

Mix the besan, rice flour , pepper, chilli powder, baking soda and salt. Add water little by little to form a batter similar to the dosa batter consistency.

Heat oil in a wok. Pour the batter into the hot oil through a round slotted spoon, as shown in the picture. If the batter is too thick, boondi will be long in shape. If the batter is too thin, then boondi will be flat. Add rice flour / water accordingly to adjust the consistency if needed.

Stir the boondi in oil for even cooking. Once the sizzzling stops, drain it into a paper towel.

Murukku:

Mix the rice flour, besan, pepper, chilli powder, cumin seeds and salt. Add the butter and rub it well into the mixture. Add water little by little and mix well to form a soft stiff dough.

Heat oil in a wok. Fill the dough into the idyappam press with the murukku mold and squeeze it into the hot oil. It should break into pieces on squeezing, to form bite size murukku. If the dough is too hard, it will form continuous loops. In that case, just break them into pieces.

Once the sizzling stops, turn it carefully and cook for few more seconds.

Drain it into a paper towel and let it cool.


Other items for mixture:

Fry the cashew nuts until golden brown and keep aside.

Fry the peanuts and keep aside. Make sure that the skin does not get burnt.

Fry the gram dal and keep aside.

Fry the poha until crispy and keep aside.

Finally fry the curry leaves and keep aside.

Mix all the fried items and in a large bowl or tray and add the salt, chilly powder and asafoetida.  Toll well and mixture is all ready to snack on..

Kalathappam

A post after a long while… I would never complain as lack of time for not being active here as I believe everyone can make their own time for their priorities. The blog just came down in my priority list considering various other factors that popped up.

This recipe is a keeper and I had to save it somewhere. The books and papers are least referred nowadays and I had to have this in my own space. The trigger to prepare this was having this yummy snack from a friends and getting it right to perfection was all from the video blog of Veena.

Ingredients(Serves 8 - 10):

Jeerakashala Rice / Kaima rice  --  1 cup (You can also use ponni raw rice, but kaima is the best)
Cumin Seeds       --  ½ tsp
Cardamom          --  seeds from 2 pods
Cooked Rice       --  2 tbsp
Jaggery                --  250 - 350 gm (based on how sweet you need)
Water                    --  1 ½ cup
Coconut Oil         -- 4 - 5 tbsp
Sliced Coconut  -- 3 tbsp, thinly sliced
Shallots                -- 1, thinly sliced    
Baking Soda       -- ½ tsp
Salt                        -- As required

Preparation:

Soak rice for 4 - 5 hours or overnight.

Wash and drain the soaked rice. Add the cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, cooked rice and ½ cup water to the drained rice and grind it to a very fine mixture. Once it is done add another ½ cup of water to it and mix well.

Meanwhile, melt the jaggery in ½ cup of water. Once completely melted, strain the syrup into the prepared batter.

Add baking soda and salt to the batter and stir well.

In a small pan, add 1 - 2 tbsp of coconut oil and fry the sliced coconut and the shallots until golden brown. Strain and keep aside.

In a sauce pan heat the batter to luke warm temperature. Make sure the flame is medium - low and you keep stirring while heating the mixture. If not there are chances that the mixture gets cooked in the sauce pan. Keep it aside.

While heating the batter(depends on how much you can multi task) or after keeping the batter aside,  heat the pressure cooker on high flame. Once it is really HOT, add the left over coconut oil from frying the shallots and coconut and the remaining 3 tbsp of coconut oil. Swirl it well on the sides of the cooker to grease it well.

Add the batter to the HOT cooker. Top it with the fried coconut pieces and shallots.

Close the lid of the cooker with the washer on and no whistle / weight. Let it cook on high flame for 90 seconds and then quickly switch it to the lowest flame and let it cook for another 15 minutes.

Switch off the flame and move the cooker to a cool place. Let it stand for another 15 - 20 minutes and you can slowly take the appam out of the cooker.

The water to rice ratio is quite important to have the right consistency on the batter. I usually store my jaggery melted and strained. Hence I ground the rice mixture with ½ cup of water and mixed 1 cup of semi-thick(a little lighter than maple syrup consistency) jaggery syrup into it.

The type and size of the pressure cooker also matters. It is preferable to use a short aluminum cooker with a wide mouth, but it will still work on any. I used a 3 liter steel cooker. Using a steel cooker might burn the bottom of the appam slightly (as you can see in mine). I just slit that part off before eating and the remaining was still yummy :)

Recipe Courtesy: Veena's Curry World

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients (Serves 10 - 12):

Butter                       -- 2 tbsp
Olive oil                    -- 2 tbsp
Onion                         -- 1 cup, diced into small pieces
Garlic                         -- 1 tbsp, minced
All purpose Flour -- ½ cup
Heavy Cream          -- 1½ cup
Chicken stock         -- 1 cup
Cajun Spice Blend -- 1 tsp
Sugar                          -- 2 tsp
Hot sauce                  -- 1 tsp
Lemon juice             -- 1 tbsp
Sour cream               -- 1 cup
Cream cheese           -- 8 Oz., softened
Spinach                       -- 1½ lb, frozen
Artichoke Hearts    -- ½ lb.
Parmesan cheese    -- 1 cup,grated
Monterey Jack Cheese -- 1 cup, shredded
Paprika                        -- ½ tbsp

Preparation:

Thaw the spinach to room temperature and drain the the excess moisture. You will end up with 1 lb or more of the thawed/drained spinach.

In a large sauce pan, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and saute until they are translucent.Add the flour and mix well. Saute until the flour absorbs all the moisture and starts turning light yellow.

Add the heavy cream and warm chicken stock and using a wire whisk blend the mixture until smooth. Simmer over low heat for 5 - 8 minutes.

Add the Cajun spice blend, sugar, hot sauce, lemon juice, ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese and stir well with a large spoon to incorporate.

Add the spinach and artichoke hearts and mix well with a large spoon, continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.

Transfer to an oven proof dish and then sprinkle the shredded Monterey Jack cheese and then the remaining Parmesan cheese, and then sprinkle the paprika over the top.

Heat the dip in a 375º F oven for 30 – 35 minutes, or until cheese is melted and slightly browned on top.

Serve with chips of your choice.

Recipe Courtesy: CajunChef

Thin and Crispy Chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients(25-30 cookies):

All-purpose flour  -- 1 ¾ cups
Baking soda             -- ¾ tsp
Salt                              -- 1 tbsp
Butter                         -- 14 tbsp, melted
Light brown sugar -- ½ cup packed
Sugar                           -- ½ cup
Light corn syrup    -- 2 tbsp, optional - I did not use
Vanilla extract        -- 1 tbsp
Milk                              -- 2 tbsp
Bittersweet chocolate chips -- 1 ½ cups
Chopped nuts           -- 1 cup, optional - any nuts of your choice

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until fluffy(and corn syrup if using), 3 - 4 minutes.

Stir in the vanilla, then the milk. Add the flour mixture all at once and blend just until a dough forms.

Fold in the chocolate and nuts. Chill the dough.

Make small balls out of the dough(approx 2 tbsp), then place on the baking sheet and gently flatten them. Place about 2 inches apart

Chill the dough between batches. Bake until the edges are dark golden brown, 14 to 17 minutes.

Let cool slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer to a baking rack.

Receipe Courtesy: NY Times

Crispy Oatmeal cookies with white chocolate

A change from the regular chewy oatmeal cookies. That's what I searched for and this was the perfect – with a dash of white chocolate bites in it.

Ingredients(Yields 3 dozen medium size cookies):

Unsalted butter      - 1 cup, softened at room temp
Light brown sugar - 1 cup, packed
Sugar                           - 1 cup
Vanilla                        - 1 tsp
Eggs                             - 2
Salt                               - 1 tsp
Baking soda              - 1 tsp
All purpose flour   - 1½ cups
Sweetened flaked coconut - ¾ cup
Old fashioned oats  - 3 cups
White chocolate chips - 1 cup

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy - approximately 2 minutes. Add in eggs and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth.

Add salt, baking soda and flour and mix until incorporated. Then add in coconut flakes. Mix. Finally mix in oats and white chocolate until evenly combined.

Make balls about 1.5 tbsp and place it on the lined sheet. Lightly press to flatten.  Bake for 12­ - 15 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Allow to cool on wire rack. Store airtight for up to 3 days.

Recipe Courtesy: Cookies and Cups

Sundal–Black Chickpeas

Ingredients:

Black chickpeas  -- ½ cup
Mustard seeds    -- ¾ tsp
Urad dal                -- ¾ tsp
Green chilly         -- 1 chopped
Dry Red chilly     -- 1
Asafoetida            -- a pinch
Grated coconut  -- 1 to 2 tbsp
Curry leaves        -- 10 to 12
Coconut oil          -- 1 tbsp
Salt                          -- as required

Preparation:

Soak the black chana overnight or for 8 hours.

Cook the chana in a pressure cooker adding 3 - 4 cups water and salt for 4 - 5 whistles. Once done, drain and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal.Let the mustard seeds splutter and the urad dal turn golden brown.
Add the curry leaves, red chillies and asafoetida.Saute for 10 - 15 seconds

Then add the cooked black chana. Mix well. Add the shredded coconut and mix.

Switch off the flame.

Serve as a snack or with rice.

Cream Cheese Pound cake

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour  - 2 cups
Baking powder       - 1 ½ tsp
Salt                              - ½ tsp
Cream cheese         - 1 (8 ounce) package, softened
Unsalted butter     - ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks), at room temperature
Granulated sugar  - 1 ½ cups
Orange zest              - 2 tbsp
Eggs                            - 4 large
Vanilla extract       - 2 tsp
Orange juice            - 3 tbsp fresh

Preparation:

Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, with the rack in the center.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Place the granulated sugar in a big bowl. Add the orange zest. Mix / Rub well to create orange flavored sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter and cream cheese. Scrape down the sides in-between and make sure that they are mixed evenly.

Add the citrus sugar to the butter and cream cheese mixture, and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Stop the mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On medium speed, beat in one egg at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Beat in vanilla extract and orange juice.

Add dry ingredients all at once. Beat on low speed until dry ingredients are completely incorporated.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, rotating once or twice during baking. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs.

Recipe Courtesy: Joy the baker

Chocolate Cupcakes with Milk chocolate frosting

(Yields - 14 - 16 cupcakes):

Unsweetened natural cocoa powder -- ½ cup (42g)
All-purpose flour -- ¾ cup (95g) , spoon & leveled
Baking soda            -- ½ tsp
Baking powder      -- ¾ tsp
Salt                             --  ¼ tsp
Eggs                           -- 2 large
Granulated sugar -- ½ cup (100g)
Light brown sugar -- ½ cup (100g) packed
Vegetable oil          -- 1/3 cup (80ml)
Vanilla extract      -- 2 tsps
Buttermilk               -- ½ cup (120ml)

Milk Chocolate Frosting:

Unsalted butter           -- 1 cup (230g) , softened to room temperature
Confectioners' sugar  -- 3 ½ cups (420g)
Unsweetened cocoa powder -- ½ cup (45g)
Salt                                    -- ½ tsp
Vanilla extract             -- 2 tsps
Heavy cream                -- 3 Tablespoons (45ml)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla together until completely smooth.

Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then half of the buttermilk. Gently stir - about 5 stirs. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients and buttermilk. Stir until *just* combined. Make sure that you do not overmix.

               

The batter won't be very thick. Fill the cups only halfway to avoid spilling over the sides. Bake in batches for 18-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy - about 2 minutes.

Turn speed to LOW and slowly add 3 cups of confectioners' sugar, the cocoa powder, and salt. Beat until sugar/cocoa are absorbed into the butter, about 2 minutes.

Turn mixer to medium speed and add the vanilla and cream. Once added, turn the mixer to high speed and beat for 1 minute.

Add the remaining confectioners' sugar if you like to increase the frosting's thickness. Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Recipe Courtesy: Sally's Baking addiction