Vanilla Cupcakes

I have cupcake fever I think. Cos here I am, baking my third batch of cupcakes in 2 weeks. Tsk. I need to bake something else next. Anyway, back to these cupcakes. I have to admit that I was never a fan of vanilla until this year perhaps. I use to associate vanilla with the word "bland". But now I am a total vanilla convert. I find myself craving for vanilla ice cream, vanilla buttercream frosting...I sometimes catch myself sniffing the vanilla extract bottle.

So my point is, last year at this time I would probably never wanna bake a vanilla cake, much less one with vanilla frosting. But today, I popped 2 huge vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting into my mouth. They aren't bland, they are simply yummy-ness. I topped the frosting with some colored sprinkles to make them "pop"!

Here's what you'll need:

Vanilla Cupcake:

- 1 3/4 cups cake flour

- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 3/4 cups white granulated sugar

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 3/4 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup unsalted butter

- 4 eggs

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

- 3 cups powdered sugar

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 tablespoons heavy cream

- colored sprinkles for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 muffin trays with paper liners.

2. Vanilla Cupcake: Whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the butter (cut into pieces), mix it until it is just coated with flour.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture in 3 additions, mixing well after each addition.

6. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter.

7. Bake for 35 - 40 mins until the top browns and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely while you prep the buttercream frosting.

8. Vanilla Buttercream Frosting: Cream the butter until smooth.

9. Add half of the powdered sugar and salt, beat on high speed for 1 min.

10. Then add in the rest of the powdered sugar and mix well. Then add the vanilla extract and heavy cream, beat on high speed for 4 - 5 mins.

11. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star nozzle and frost the cooled cupcakes.

12. If you like some color to your cupcakes, top the frosting with colored sprinkles.

And like I always do, I enjoy 2 cupcakes all by myself before I head back to the kitchen for the dreadful chore of washing up the baking mess.