Better Vanilla Cupcakes

By far, the most difficult cupcake for me to make is vanilla... don't ask me why or I might remember all the failed batches and start crying again. I came up with my own recipe based on my Key Lime cupcake recipe in a crunch a few weeks ago. This cupcake is not eggy and has a similar texture to a pound cake. Enjoy!

For the cake:

2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups natural cane sugar

3 cups unbleached flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

6 egg whites, room temperature

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup whole milk

For the icing:

2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (16 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 of the seeds in a vanilla bean

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line muffin pans with paper liners or mini muffin pans with mini liners.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the egg whites, 1/2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides then add the milk. Turn the speed to medium-low and beat for another minute. Stop the mixer.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed (stir), add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Fill the cupcake liners to the 2/3-level with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes for full-size or 15 minutes for mini. They’re done when a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

While the cakes cool, make the icing. Mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed until the sugar incorporates, then turn it up to high and whip for about 3 minutes. Spread the frosting generously on top of each cupcake.

Makes 2 dozen full-size cupcakes.

Wedding Cupcake Taste Test

Ashley and Billy's wedding cake tasting went pretty smooth. We had chocolate with coconut frosting, vanilla with cream cheese frosting, key lime with cream cheese frosting, and champagne with champagne frosting. I sat down with Ashley, Billy, and Jake's mom and dad and talked them through each cupcake and decoration while Jake was my awesome server. They rated each cupcake and came to the following conclusion:

Chocolate and vanilla were the best, followed by key lime in a close second. Champagne was good but not as tasty as the others. It was great seeing them and it really boosted my confidence for making 300 cupcakes come September...

Now back track about four hours before Ashley and Billy walked into the door... plates were dropping, panic attacks were spouting up randomly, yelling at my brother and sister for taste testing too many cupcakes was a frequently occurring event, and I may have taken the fastest shower of my entire life topping off at 23 seconds.

Now back track 8 hours before Ashley and Billy walked into the door.... I had just woken up from my 4.5 hours of sleep to realize that Jake was right about my vanilla cupcakes and they didn't just "need to rest". My entire batch of vanilla cupcakes tasted eggy and it was not ok. For some reason vanilla has been the hardest flavor for me. I remade the batch using a recipe I made up on the spot (basically going off of my key lime recipe but subbing ingredients). Side note- they actually turned out great which probably saved me from going into cardiac arrest.

Now back track 16 hours before Ashley and Billy walked into the door... Jake and I sped to Richmond from Arlington that night. I was stressed to the point were I wasn't speaking to Jake and his loud rap music was weirdly soothing.... With in 30 seconds of walking into the door I was breaking eggs and measuring flour. I was set on baking 2 batches of cupcakes before I went to bed. The chocolate came out good but Jake made the mistake of commenting on my vanilla. He said "They are good, but a little eggy".... this would go on the list of things not to say to me at 2 am when I'm extremely stressed... I had a minor melt down and may have also told him to go to hell, get out of the kitchen, and that supportive husbands don't say things like that. Over reaction? Yes. Thankfully Jake was understanding and supported my theory that they just needed to "rest". I do think I traumatized him from using the word "eggy" ever again when describing my baking..

I made about 60 cupcakes for the tasting and planned to bring the left overs on our beach trip. This actually didn't happen due to my sister's friends getting the drunk munchies in combination with me leaving cupcakes on our counter over night... This actually turned out to be a really good thing and I have some exciting news for my next post ;)

Beach week with the fam was so relaxing and fun after a stressful 16 hours or baking....

Jake and my sister overcome with joy that I am taking their picture instead of freaking out over cupcakes...