Fluffy & delicious These are genuinely the BEST vanilla cupcakes alongside the BEST java buttercream frosting. A double sweetness treat, for sure!
Yes, today is her birthday, as well as I merely got dorsum from visiting her for her especial day. When I asked her what sort of birthday cake she wanted she replied, "It has to live something small." She didn't desire a large cake that left her alongside leftovers to eat.
The perfect treat? Her favorite cupcakes! ... Soft, fluffy-textured vanilla cupcakes alongside java buttercream frosting. Yum.
Okay, I get got a confession. These are her almost favorite cupcakes. She really likes it improve when I practice these every bit chocolate cupcakes alongside java buttercream frosting ... she loves that mocha combination.
My quest for the best vanilla cupcake has been quite an involved as well as fun procedure of testing as well as tweaking.
But I was at the really goal of my scream for for the BEST vanilla cupcake recipe, alongside merely one tiny footling tweak to brand to the front-runner recipe. And I've been working on this scream for for a looonnng fourth dimension ... longer than I'd similar to admit. (How tin sack it live thus hard to uncovering a uncomplicated vanilla cupcake that I'm happy with?)
So Mom made a concession as well as went alongside vanilla cupcakes to allow me the chance to examination this lastly version.
My quest for the best vanilla cupcake has been quite an involved as well as fun procedure of testing as well as tweaking. I similar a vanilla cupcake that has a fairly fluffy texture, light-&-airy crumb, as well as a expert flavour of vanilla. Dense, gummy, as well as tasting of slightly-sweet flour is non for me.
I believe I've tested 10 different recipes, along with testing several rounds of tweaks to the front-runner recipes of those ten. I've tried cake flour, all-purpose flour, as well as self-rising flour recipes. I've tried buttermilk, whole milk, skim milk, as well as 2% milk every bit the moistener. I've tried a cold-oven pound cake cupcake. I've tried a box mix. I've tried, I've tried, I've tried ...
And instantly I'm pleased to tell that I finally get got a number I am happy with!
I believe I've tested 10 different recipes, along with testing several rounds of tweaks to the front-runner recipes of those ten.
Before nosotros expect at that winning recipe, I'll portion a footling glimpse into my process. I start past times choosing three or four recipes of whatever I'm questing for - inwards this case, vanilla cupcakes. I bake upwardly a small batch of each one, typically 1/2 the recipe of each thus I don't end upwardly alongside cupcakes (or cookies, or whatevers) flowing out of every window inwards my house.
In the example of cupcakes, I utilisation a unlike color newspaper liner for each unlike recipe thus I tin sack easily tell them apart as well as don't larn them mixed upwardly inwards the tasting step. Here are the 4 from my lastly testing round, all lined upwardly as well as gear upwardly for tasting:
 |
I accept all that feedback as well as decide which recipes demand to live scrapped all-together, which are worthy of approximately other endeavor alongside a tweak or two, or if there's i that's spot-on merely every bit it is.
And my friends involved inwards this procedure know that I don't merely desire them to say, "Oh, that's good." They get got to tell me what precisely they similar - the flavor? The texture? How it looks? Then they get got to compare, maxim things like, "I similar the flavour of this one, but I similar how lite as well as fluffy this i is." Then it's dorsum to baking to a greater extent than batches as well as re-tasting until there's a clear winner!
So, hither it is ... the clear winner of the scream for for the BEST vanilla cupcake ... ever-so-slightly-modified Vanilla Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.
My friends involved inwards this procedure know that I don't merely desire them to say, "Oh, that's good." They get got to tell me what precisely they like.
I was really really skeptical of The Hummingbird Bakery's recipe, as well as considered non fifty-fifty testing it.
Why?
Well, it uses much less carbohydrate as well as much less butter than most of the cupcake recipes out there. And doesn't carbohydrate as well as butter brand everything good?? And their mixing method wasn't the traditional creaming method. Instead, yous starting fourth dimension combine all the dry out ingredients with the butter as well as mix it until yous larn a crumb mixture ... thus add together the moisture ingredients. The ever-so-slight modification I made was to growth the vanilla, every bit the master copy recipe called for exclusively 1/4 teaspoon, resulting inwards a too-faint vanilla flavour for me. With this i small-scale change, these cupcakes were vanilla cupcake perfection!
Now ... on to the java buttercream frosting.
This buttercream is thus light-and-fluffy, alongside a fantastic java flavor. It's from my all-time absolute favorite cookbook, The Best Recipe past times the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Beating it the total fourth dimension called for inwards each footstep of the recipe is the key. It makes it soooo smoothen as well as lite ... which is precisely how I dear my frosting.
Add the java mixture into a butter & confectioners' carbohydrate mixture ...
 |
as well as thus move along on beating alongside a stand mixer or electric mixer it until it's a beautiful lite tan color.
 |
| . |
Pipe the java buttercream onto the cupcakes alongside an extra large pipe tip, transcend alongside a chocolate-covered espresso bean, as well as at that spot yous get got it!
The BEST vanilla cupcake alongside the BEST java buttercream ever. Happy birthday, Mom!!
 |
The BEST Vanilla Cupcakes alongside the BEST Coffee Buttercream Frosting
Source: Cupcakes adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, frosting adapted from The Best Recipe by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine
(Printable recipe)
Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- A scant 3/4 c. granulated carbohydrate
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 3 T. butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 c. whole milk (I also tried it alongside 2% milk, as well as it worked fine)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, as well as butter inwards mixing bowl. Beat on wearisome speed until everything is combined as well as yous get got a crumb mixture alongside a sandy consistency. Gradually pour inwards one-half of the milk; trounce until the milk is merely incorporated.
- Whisk together the remaining milk (1/4 cup), egg, as well as vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture as well as trounce until all ingredients are merely incorporated. Beat for near approximately other xxx seconds to i infinitesimal until the batter is smooth. Do non over mix.
- Spoon batter into muffin pan cups lined alongside newspaper cupcake liners, filling cups 1/2 full. Bake at 325 degrees for twenty - 25 minutes, or until lite golden as well as the cake springs dorsum when lightly touched. Cool slightly inwards the pan earlier removing cupcakes to a wire rack. Cool completely earlier frosting.
NOTE: This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. And it really does brand 12! Fill your cups exclusively 1/2 full, every bit this batter rises quite a bit. When I divided the batter betwixt exclusively 10 muffin cups, I had several that rose over the sides of the cups means also much. If you're similar me, you'll feel like there's non plenty batter to stretch to 12 cupcakes ... but at that spot really is.
Coffee Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients- 1 1/2 T. instant java granules
- 1 1/2 T. water
- 1 1/2 T. vanilla extract
- 3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 c. confectioners' sugar
- 3 T. milk
- chocolate covered espresso beans for garnish, optional
- Combine water, java granules, as well as vanilla extract inwards a small-scale bowl; stir to dissolve coffee. Set aside.
- Beat butter inwards bowl of an electrical mixer on medium speed until fluffy, near 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add confectioners' sugar, 1 loving cup at a time, beating for a few seconds betwixt each addition. Increase mixer speed to medium as well as trounce for near 3 minutes.
- Add the java mixture as well as milk; trounce on depression speed to combine. Scrape downwards sides as well as bottom of the bowl. Increase mixer speed to medium as well as trounce until fluffy, near 4 minutes. Frosts xviii cupcakes.
Enjoy!
Please savor these other scrumptious cupcakes from ...
Affiliate links are included inwards this post. I have a small-scale amount of compensation for anything purchased from these links at Amazon.com at no additional terms to you.
EmoticonEmoticon