These were moist and delicious, and the frosting complemented them perfectly.  As I mentioned I baked them for two different occasions, and everyone had more than one.  Even though this isn’t an Ina recipe, it does prompt me to want to say “how bad can that be?”!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
Makes 24 cupcakes and 3 cups of frosting

Found at Mrs. D Loves to Eat; originally from Martha Stewart (cupcakes) and The Way the Cookie Crumbles, originally Cooks Illustrated (frosting)

Cupcakes:

  • 1 3/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

  • 20 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (updated 10/29/10 – I made this again today and used probably twice as much!  I’m not sure what the difference was?)
  • 1/8 Tbsp. table salt
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp. heavy cream

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Add the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Mix on low speed until combined.  Then add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.  With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition.  Continue to mix only until the ingredients are incorporated; don’t over beat!

Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each liner about 2/3 full with batter.  Bake, rotating pan halfway through, for 17-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:
Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. To the butter, add the sugar and salt, and beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds.  Again scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the vanilla and heavy cream; beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.  Frost cupcakes!