2 Great Cupcake Recipes

I love cupcakes. They are just the right size. You get a good frosting to cake ratio and they can be oh so good. This morning I was watching a Tivoed episode of Martha Stewart and she had sent her staff all over NY and bought cupcakes from all of the different cupcake shops and held a taste test. These were the winners. One Vanilla and one Chocolate that are as good as they look.

The Sweet Revenge's PURE Vanilla Cupcake

I love how this bakery uses unbleached parchment paper instead of cupcake liners. They take 5 1/2 inch square pieces of parchment paper and use a plastic cup to press it into each pf the muffin tin cups. They look so pretty and it is just a different way to line your tins.

Ingredients

Makes 24 cupcakes

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs
• 3 cups self-rising cake flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons Mexican vanilla
• Buttercream Icing
  
• Turbinado or demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut out twenty-four 5 1/2-by-5 1/2-inch squares of parchment paper. Fit each square of parchment into a standard muffin cup so the edges stick out from the muffin cup; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until softened. With the mixer on medium, add eggs and sugar; beat until well combined. With mixer on low speed, add flour in three parts, alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour. Stir in vanilla.
3. Fill prepared muffin cups three-quarters full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a cake tester inserted into the cent er of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in muffin cups.
4. When cupcakes are cool, frost the top of each cupcake with a thin layer of buttercream. Fill a disposable pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch St.-Honore decorating tip with remaining buttercream. Pipe three waves on top of each cupcake, each slightly smaller than the next. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and serve.

Vanilla Buttercream

Makes enough for 24 cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 10 cups (from about two and a half 1-pound boxes) confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons Mexican vanilla

Directions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and shortening. Add sugar, and beat to combine. Add milk and vanilla, and beat until well combined.

Chocolate Cupcakes
with French Buttercream
from the Butter Lane Bakery

I personally would use the above buttercream recipe instead of the French buttercream recipe this calls for.

Makes 40 cupcakes

• 2 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup water
  
• Vanilla French Buttercream
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 40 standard muffin cups with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chocolate and beat on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with 1 cup water and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined, 1 to 3 minutes.
5. Fill prepared muffin cups three-quarters full with batter. Transfer to oven and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate muffin pans and continue baking until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 10 minutes more. Let cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla French Buttercream

Ingredients

Makes about 1 quart

• 7 extra-large egg whites
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Take 2 vanilla beans, halve lengthwise and scrape out seed to use or use an additional 1 tsp of vanilla extract instead of fresh vanilla bean
  

Directions

1. In a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water, whisk together egg whites and sugar until sugar is melted and mixture reaches 140 degrees on a candy thermometer, 7 to 10 minutes. Make sure that the sugar is melted and that you beat constantly so the egg whites don't scramble.
2. Transfer mixture to the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on high until stiff peaks form, 12 to 15 minutes. Add cream of tartar and beat for one minute more.
3. Reduce speed to medium and add butter, a few pieces at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and scrape vanilla bean seeds into mixture; beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator; chill for 15 minutes before using.