Cream Cheese Frosting Good Enough To Eat By The Spoonful

-but don't do that, it is awfully bad for you and probably gauche.

I've been baking Christmas cakes this week but it is rather unsatisfying baking as we won't get to sample them for a month. Danny had been craving chocolate so I made a very small batch of cupcakes. There's really nothing special about them-I used the cake recipe from the back of the Hershey's cocoa box. I made cream cheese frosting because I had a recipe for a small amount. I topped them with maraschino cherries because I had a few left in a jar. The whole thing from mixing to frosting took under forty minutes.

Still, when Danny woke from his nap and wandered into the kitchen, I might as well have baked a ten tiered cake by his reaction. As has been previously observed, I'm not very skilled with decorating cupcakes-so I don't spend too much time worrying about it. I probably don't have a career as a cake decorator in my future. Still, the very basic components of chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting and a bright red cherry convey rather well most people's expectations when it comes to a cupcake.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not dismissing extravagant cupcakes as some sort of silly bourgeois thing …OK wait-scratch that, I am dismissing them as a silly bourgeois thing-whew, I very nearly went over to the dark side of Fleur de Sel and $100.00 Balsamic vinegar…well anyway, I just can't be bothered to put that much effort into miniatures. Funny, I don't have any qualms with a big fancy cake, but presented with fancy cupcakes I just go into Marxist mode. So where was I? Right, cupcakes are simplicity itself-unless you fancy-pants them up...you fancy, fancy pants Fleur de Sel huffing bourgeois swine. Sorry, I got sidetracked again but I just had the most wonderful mental image of Bob Avakian eating a cupcake. So hey, since I know you're wondering, I'm not actually on drugs-thanks for wondering. What was I talking about before before I strayed off into chairman Bob and Magnolia bakery? Oh yeah, that's right, the cupcake thing. Got it. If you think this is bad, you should try having a conversation with me in person.

I won't bother printing the cake recipe as it is widely available on the net (and chocolate boxes everywhere) but the cream cheese frosting is worth sharing. It makes a rather small amount (plenty for a couple dozen cupcakes) and works best spread on still-warm cake. It is particularly good spread on carrot cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 tablespoons softened butter (optional-just take it and rub it on your thighs)

3 tablespoons softened full-fat cream cheese (because my great-big bourgeois behind needs more calories)

1-teaspoon vanilla

2 cups confectioner's sugar

Whip everything together until light and spread on still-warm cake. Then, chill before serving.

*OK I confess-I just want to see what kind of hits I get from mentioning Bob Avakian and Magnolia Bakery in the same post. I also now have a tag for Bob Avakian which will probably get me on some sort of watch list.