Vanilla Cupcakes and Vanilla Buttercream Fosting

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For the big 25/50 party we hosted a couple of weekends ago, I made many, many desserts and froze them because I knew with Thanksgiving just two days before the party that my party baking time would be limited. I had not ever frozen whole cakes, or even cupcakes, so it was quite an experiment for me, and fortunately all turned out well.

The first experiment was on these cupcakes. I baked them, wrapped them and froze them and then the next day took one out, thawed it and tasted it. They were fabulous - nothing was lost in the freeze and thaw. I frosted them after they thawed, however, because I knew the frosting would not do well in the thaw.

The recipe for these cupcakes came from the Brown-Eyed Baker and they were so good I don't know if I'll ever use another recipe for vanilla cupcakes. The frosting especially was really rich and tasty. Yum! They are very high in butter content, however, so eat in moderation!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

makes 12

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ t. baking powder
½ t. table salt
8T.  unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
1½ t. vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

Fill cupcakes tins a little more than halfway (do not overfill -- leave a little bit of batter out rather than overfill). Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Yield: Enough to frost 12 cupcakes

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla extract

Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

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Source: Brown-eyed Baker

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