The ultimate cupcake

Written Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 by TrishB

100 people for New Year's Eve dinner. 18 house guests. 29 items (or more) on the menu. 3 days later and I am still exhausted. That's correct, I did not accidentally add a zero to the number 10. On New Year's Eve I had 100 people for dinner in my home. I awoke this morning realizing that amidst the craziness of the last week I had forgotten to write my Sunday HHM blog post. So today's will be short and sweet. Of the 29 plus items on my menu one of the favorites of both adults and kids were the cupcakes I baked.

If you are a cupcake connoisseur, and know New York City, then you know the Magnolia Bakery. Their cupcakes are sinfully delicious and ridiculously expensive. Thankfully, they have a cookbook. So whenever I make cupcakes I use their easy to follow recipes. I cannot state with absolute certainty that this is exactly how they make them, but I do know that cupcakes made from their recipes get rave reviews. I think next year cupcakes will be the only thing on my menu, and a little bubbly, of course.

CUPCAKES

- 1 1/2  cups self-rising flour

- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

- 2 cups sugar

- 4 large eggs, at room temperature

- 1 cup milk

- 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In small bowl, combine the flours.  Set aside. In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. Ice with Vanilla Buttercream.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing (makes enough for about 2 dozen cupcakes):

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6-8 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla



Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of a good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar.

If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly.  Use and store the icing at room temperature. Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Tags: desserts, Entertaining, recipe

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 02:26 pm and is filed under Baking Tips, Entertaining. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.