Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting

This year Easter and my son’s birthday fell within a day of each other.  We had the best weekend ever.  We went to church on Saturday night because I was being confirmed, and a benefit of attending Easter Vigil Mass is not having to go to Mass on Easter Sunday.  We slept late, had a leisurely brunch, and stayed in our pj’s all day.  We watched movies, cuddled, and spent the holiday just being the 5 of us.  The next day was Clay’s 3rd birthday, and we did a lot of the same to celebrate.  We skipped having a birthday party and instead went out to lunch and spent the day playing.  It was a refreshing change to have a simple holiday and spend our littlest boy’s birthday at home, instead of cooking for days, and not really being able to relax and enjoy what is going on around me.  We might have to make it a new family tradition.

I have a crazy love affair with Marshmallow Fluff.  I know, I know.  It is terrible for me, but I love it just the same.  I think that I love it so much because my mom would never let us have it in our house growing up.  What ever the reason, I had a ton of it in my pantry from the holidays (fudge that never happened) and needed to get rid of it before the movers get here.  This marshmallow buttercream frosting is really light and fluffy and perfect for this simple birthday cake.  I fancied mine up at the last minute and added the seeds from one vanilla bean.  But vanilla extract alone is just fine.

1 cup room temperature butter
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow creme
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 vanilla bean (optional)

Cream the butter until it is light and fluffy.  Add the marshmallow creme.

Whip for 2 minutes.

Add the confectioners sugar and continue to beat for 2 minutes.  Add vanilla extract and vanilla bean.

I used a simple yellow cake and baked it in a 10-inch pan and a small number 3 pan that I bought at a bakery supply store. Iced it with the marshmallow buttercream and covered it with M&Ms.

I got the M&M idea from Martha, but mine did not turn out as neat as Martha’s.  Shocked are you?  Even though mine was not as precise as Martha’s, it was still really cute and all that matters is that the birthday boy loved it.

Happy Birthday Clay!

My cake.  Not sharing.

Oh alright.  You can have some too.