Not Too Sweet Buttercream

This is a simple icing that doesn't require any cooking. The cream cheese is just to cut the sweetness; you can't really taste it. I also use this to frost sugar cookies and people love it. This works for icing a cake as well as piping simple designs, such as shells. It might not work for roses, but you could add extra powdered sugar if you wanted a stiffer icing.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
• 3  ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar, sifted
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄8-1⁄4 teaspoon  almond extract
• 1 -3  tablespoon milk

Directions

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy. Slowly add powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time. Add flavorings and enough milk or cream to make the icing the consistency you want.
2. Almond extract is very strong: you might want to start with the smaller amount and then add more if you like it.
3. This icing should be refrigerated if it will be sitting out for more than a few hours, since it does have cream cheese and milk in it.
4. This is enough to frost cookies and a rectangular cake in the pan. If you want to do a layer cake, make a double recipe.