<p>I made cupcakes yesterday. I did not use all the canned frosting (though it’s gone now --ahem!), and, following the directions, I put the unused portion in the fridge. But I left the frosted cupcakes out on the counter.</p>
<p>Why are you supposed to refrigerate the frosting in the can but not the cupcakes with frosting on top of them?</p>
<p>It might be so that the unused frosting isn’t dried up when you go to use it next.</p>
<p>Last time I made cupackes, I left them on the part of the counter that is right over the dishwasher. Not smart!</p>
<p>I don’t understand. What’s an “unused portion” of frosting? Never seen one in this house. :D</p>
<p>The part left as the guilt or nausea from a few spoonfulls overtakes the kids. Only the kids, of course.</p>
<p>Who puts it on the cupcakes?</p>
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<p>Presumably because cupcakes don’t last as long as leftover frosting. Leftover frosting does not last long in our house, either-- first thing to go after the cupcakes!</p>
<p>I’m not sure what’s in the stuff-in-cans, but buttercream (when it’s not <em>real</em> buttercream made from adding hot simple syrup to egg whites and then adding butter) is made from confectioner’s sugar, a little bit of milk, and butter, so it lasts about as long, unrefrigerated, as unrefrigerated butter would. Refrigerating it just keeps the butter from turning rancid more quickly.</p>
<p>If your cupcakes are going to be out for longer than a day or so, it’s probably best to refrigerate the leftovers, too.</p>
<p>Along the same lines of food safety, if I take meat out of the freezer and refrigerate for a day, but then change my mind about cooking it, can I refreeze? If not, why not? Is it food safety, or quality?</p>
<p>So…say I buy two packages of steaks on Monday and freeze one immediately and stick the other in the fridge. Expiration date is Saturday. So I change my mind on Wednesday about how many I need and put the one from the freezer into the fridge. On Friday, I change my mind again, can I refreeze it?</p>
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I used to put frosted cakes in my oven to protect them from our cat who did not generally jump on counters but did for cake. Forgetting you have a frosted cake in the oven and turning it on leads to a lot of smoke and blaring smoke detectors and a nasty mess. Plus your kids never let you forget it. Especially after you do it the 2nd time. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>So on the topic of frosting, what are some good recipes? I think that buttercream is wayyy too sweet and I absolutely love the stuff out of the can.</p>
<p>Refreezing meat that was thawed in a refrigerater is okay, though there may be a drop in quality.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Basics_for_Safe_Food_Handling.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Basics_for_Safe_Food_Handling.pdf</a></p>
<p>You can cut back on the sugar in buttercream a little, make it not so sweet. I always like cutting the sweetness with some orange or lemon zest and maybe some nutmeg, though if you’re piping, the particles of zest and spice can clog up finer tips.</p>
<p>I do not leave anything in an open can for storage. I have been told that when a can is exposed to oxygen, it can produce toxic chemical. I am not sure if it’s really true, but I don’t do it just to be sure.</p>
<p>I really don’t like it when people don’t put a full can of frosting on cake. It is the best part. My mother was like that because it was better for us. What’s the point of eating cake with a little frosting.</p>
<p>oldfort, I agree! But it’s easier to get away with it on cupcakes.</p>
<p>I haven’t made homemade frosting in so long. Nothing better.</p>
<p>I will not be able to resist those cupcakes for too much longer. But I have moved them to the fridge.</p>
<p>What’s the point of eating cake in the first place? Just dip spoons into the frosting. :p</p>
<p>When I was a kid, I created a “secret cave” type place in my closet. I sneaked cans of frosting up into it and would just leave them in there and not refrigerate them between eating sessions. I was seven or so, and I guess I didn’t think about the possible health consequences. However, the taste of it never seemed to change.</p>
<p>I thought I had a sweet tooth - you guys have me beat by a mile! I like frosting on a cake but not just on its own. And I don’t like when there is almost more frosting than cake.</p>
<p>My mom went through a long health food obsession during my childhood (think wheat germ mixed into the peanut butter, which was made from 100% ground roasted peanuts, no salt or sugar added). Our only reprieve was from our favorite babysitter, who won our unwavering devotion by bringing us treats like homemade fake buttercream frosting (artificially colored, of course) and powdered koolaid mixed with sugar, which we would eat by licking our fingers and dipping.</p>
<p>But once the babysitter forgot and left the frosting sitting on her kitchen counter, and I remember her remarking that she would have to throw it away, since it had been sitting out all that time and it had milk in it.</p>
<p>I’ve always remembered that, and I always refrigerate frosted cakes.</p>
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<p>The buttercream I make has only about 3 tbsp of milk per pound and a half of frosting; I’m pretty sure that the canned stuff has even less <em>real</em> milk in it. 
With that fortress of butter surrounding that small amount of milk, I’d hazard a guess that it’s probably well-encased, and probably just fine for leaving out on the counter for a while.</p>
<p>aibarr, the way you’re so conversant on all things buttercream – I think I’m in love! :D</p>
<p>LOL. She engineers, she also bakes. I’ve had impromptu proposals over my cheesecakes.</p>
<p>Actually… speaking of milk, does anybody have any good way of determining whether or not milk is still good aside from smelling it? My sense of smell died long ago (Was it from working in the chem labs? Chewing on pennies as a child? Zinc cold remedies? I shall never know…) and I can’t for the life of me tell when milk has turned horribly until I pour it on my cereal and it comes out in clumps. What smells to me like unturned milk could probably choke an ox, and has come darned close to killing my poor husband when I make him check whether or not the milk is still okay. Unable to tell the difference, I just pitch it after the sell-by date, but it seems wasteful.</p>