New glaze for your collection

By Lisa Boykin Batts | Lifestyle Editor

I like to spoil my parents every chance I get.

It's been a rough few weeks for them, and I wanted to bake them a treat Monday afternoon.

I've had a box of brownies on the kitchen counter for four or five days, thinking I'd get around to mixing up a batch, but I never did. I decided that's not exactly what I wanted to make, anyway.

Mama loves cupcakes and can eat them easily, so that's what I decided to bake.

This was no fancy cupcake deal. I used a box cake mix and poured the batter into pans to make two dozen yellow cupcakes.

But I did do a from-scratch frosting or glaze for my little dessert treats.

Back around Christmas, I searched for a glaze to put on a marble cake, I think it was. Mama used to make marble cake quite often, but she didn't always use the same glaze, not finding the perfect recipe. I seemed to have the same problem, but it's solved now.

I found Satiny Chocolate Glaze at allrecipes.com, gave it a try and loved it.

The original recipe has four ingredients: chocolate chips, butter, light corn syrup and vanilla extract. I didn't have light corn syrup on hand when I made the glaze the first time, so I followed a reviewer's advice and used honey instead.

The glaze is delicious and so easy to make: It takes less than five minutes!

The spreading consistency is also perfect. It's not watery at all and doesn't drip much at all down the cupcake. It also stays soft, unlike other glazes I've tried that get hard in a few hours.

I glazed a dozen cupcakes with one recipe and had a little left over. It would also be plenty to glaze a Bundt cake, which I've done before.

Keep this recipe on hand; you will use it a lot.

Also, as a reminder, the Taste of Home Cooking School is almost here. The show is April 17 in Fike High School's auditorium. Spring recipes will be featured. Purchase advance tickets for $12 at The Wilson Daily Times customer service desk, Bass Appliance or online at wilsontimes.com -- click on NIE. Tickets are $15 at the door. Doors open at 5 p.m.; show starts at 6:35.

lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810

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SATINY CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon honey*

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pour chocolate chips and butter into microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until chips are blended. Mix in honey and vanilla extract. Frost cake or cupcakes.

*Original recipe calls for light corn syrup.

Adapted from allrecipes.com