Ok, so here's the thing: I am a frosting lover. I adore it. Revel in it. Glare at people who eat around it. The one caveat is that it must be good frosting. I hate the fluffed-up, lardy atrocity which garishly sits atop grocery store vanilla cupcakes. It's too sweet with zero depth of flavor. For our wedding my sweet Momma and I made all the cakes and held a 'Piping Party' the day before the wedding, where some ladies very close to my heart came to help decorate our tasty creations. If you are wanting a frosting that pipes like a dream, holds up all day, and doesn't sweat--you cannot find a better recipe than Smitten Kitchen's Swiss Buttercream. It is pure divinity. The only change we made to it was using salted butter--It provided the perfect snap needed to take this smooth frosting from tasty to fantastic! Trust. It is good.

However... It is not perfect for every baked confection. Sometimes you don't care so much about perfect piping... Sometimes you just need a frosting that will stand up to the fudgiest, most overly indulgent cake you've ever made... I had a moment where I remembered that browned butter and honey are some of the best things I could ever put in my mouth... And this frosting was born out of sheer need for something that tastes like a mix of toffee and heaven, with a nutty finish that has haunted my very dreams ever since... 

1 Stick of Salted Butter
1 TSP Vanilla or 1 Vanilla Bean split and scraped
1.5 Cups of Sifted Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup of Wild Aged Honey (the crazy thick and creamy spreadable kind)*
1.5 -2.5 Cups of Smitten Kitchen's homemade ricotta which has been drained for two hours (easiest and move impressive recipe ever). I would advise adding cheese slowly, 'to tatste'.**

*Honey has different levels of sweetness, so your use might need to be 'to taste' (darn!). If you wish to omit the honey--It tastes just as good using 2 Cups of powdered sugar.*

**Buying ricotta works just as well--Just make sure to drain it over some cheese cloth so it is nice and firm--OR you can easily and very tastily use cream cheese in place of ricotta.**

Place butter in small saucepan and cook on medium-high heat for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a nice nutty brown color.

Being careful to avoid pouring in the burnt bits, add browned butter to mixing bowl over powdered sugar, vanilla, and honey and mix until combined.

Let cool COMPLETELY (this can be a lengthy process, but I promise it is worth being patient) before mixing in the ricotta or cream cheese. Mix until smooth and totally creamy.

Spread, pipe, or just eat it right out of the bowl!