Jan 26, 2011

Mmmmmmmmm........

Vanilla Buttercream Cupcakes 




It’s always a good idea to have a go-to dessert that you know will be a guaranteed crowd pleaser. It has to be simple enough to make, but not without that significant wow-factor. Quite frankly, it’s that staple dish that makes you look like a gastronomic genius when you may be, in fact, quite far from it.







This is why I absolutely love this cupcake recipe, which I adapted from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. There’s something in these that seems to excite the inner child in everyone, even at a formal dinner party. They can be elegant or whimsy and are highly adaptable for any occasion.








Vanilla Buttercream Cupcakes 

 1 cup unsalted room-temperature butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs (room-temperature)
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing
1/2 cup unsalted room-temperature butter
3-5 cups icing sugar
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a muffin tin (large) with cupcake papers
3.In a large bowl, cream butter on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar gradually until fully incorporated and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until mixture has increased in volume.
4.In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Sift together.
5.Prepare a measuring cup with milk and mix in the vanilla.
6.Add the milk and flour mixtures to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating. Beat on medium speed only until ingredients are fully incorporated.
7.Spoon mixture into cupcake liners about ¾ full.
8.Bake for 20 minutes. To test, press the top of the cupcake and it should spring back.
9.Let cupcakes cool in tin for 5 minutes then remove and let cool completely on wire rack.
10.Prepare icing.


Vanilla Buttercream Icing
1.In a medium bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth.
2.Add milk and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
3.Add a cup of sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Add a cup of sugar at a time (beat about 2 minutes after each addition) until it develops a good spreading consistency. You may not need all the sugar.
4. Separate icing into different bowls (as many colors as you want to make) and add a couple of drops of food coloring of your choice.
5.Spread icing on cooled cupcake with rubber spatula. Use decorations of your choice.

  *****


    

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