maple cupcake icing

my favorite homemade icing recipe is so simple and can be flavored many different ways.  for fall cupcakes last week, i chose maple flavoring and received compliments on the unique taste.

the icing recipe is:
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter at ROOM temperature
5 cups of confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon extract (any flavor)
1 to 2 tablespoons of milk

beat butter first until creamy.  then add the sugar one cup at at time, and the rest of the ingredients.  the icing is fluffy and creamy. i only made half of this recipe to use for piping the cupcakes. however, i still used almost the full amount of extract for a great taste.

this icing flows from the icing bag very easily and pipes well into any design.  after decorating twelve cupcakes, i still had enough icing for another couple of cupcakes left in the bowl.  this quick recipe is so much more flavorful than store bought icing and takes only a few minutes to make.  it is very important to have the butter at room temperature before whipping.