It's no secret that I'm a huge cupcake fan. I've been known to buy 4 cupcakes (hey, it's cheaper really) and eat them all - on the same day - okay within an hour! The frosting to cupcake ratio has to be right - ie. LOTS of frosting per cake. I like when my cheeks tingle from all the sugar. The sweeter the better!
I had a look on Pinterest for some inspiration and scoured the regular old interweb for ideas but eventually decided on plain and simple vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. Simple and sweet.
Now to settle in for a takeaway (I'm not cooking on my birthday!) and top it off with a cupcake...or 6! I've already had an appetiser cupcake - but that was purely to test it, of course!
Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream - Adapted from Joy of Baking
Makes 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
For the buttercream
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk
Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F) and line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake cases.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next, add the eggs one at a time beating well each time. Finally, add in the vanilla extract.
With the mixer on low, add half of the flour to the butter mixture and incorporate. Then add the milk and the rest of the flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Fill the cupcake cases evenly with the batter and bake for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the cupcakes so as not to over bake or they will become dry. Toothpick inserted the centre of the centre cake should come out clean.
For the buttercream:
Beat the butter until creamy. Add the vanilla. Gradually add the icing sugar. Blend in the milk until icing becomes light and fluffy.
I am definitely going to make these.
ReplyDelete