The BEST Vanilla Cupcakes

Posted by Kejia:

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Don't doubt me when I say these are the best. They are absolutely delicious! The cupcake top is crisp and golden brown, and the inner part of the cake is fluffy yet moist at the same time, full of the familiar vanilla flavour. I can safely say that this is my favourite recipe to date. It is SO simple, and the results are wonderful. Served with or without frosting, these cupcakes are the ultimate, BEST vanilla cupcakes ever. I got this recipe from Thekitchenismyplayground, where she adapted the recipe from Hummingbird Bakery by adding a tad more vanilla. For me, I prefer to enhance the vanilla flavour by using vanilla beans, so I decided to use my Madagascar vanilla beans(bought in Paris at a really cheap price ^_^)

To set a bit of context, I made these cupcakes for Nicole's 19th birthday celebration, to satisfy a small gathering of close friends. They all loved it! To read more about decoration, scroll down!

Recipe adapted from Thekitchenismyplayground

Ingredients(makes 12 cupcakes):

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 T. butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 vanilla pod 

Procedure:

1. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a mixing bowl. Beat on slow speed until everything is combined and you have a crumb mixture with a sandy consistency. 

2. Gradually pour in half of the milk; beat until the milk is just incorporated. It should have a consistency like this. 

3. Whisk together the remaining milk(1/4 cup), egg, vanilla extract and vanilla beans. Pour into the flour mixture and beat until all ingredients are just incorporated. Beat for about another 30 seconds to 1 minute until the batter is smooth. Do not overmix. 

4. Spoon batter into muffin pan cups lined with paper cupcake liners, filling cups 1/2 full. Bake at 162ºC for 20-25mins, or until light golden and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool slightly in the pan before removing cupcakes to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Nicole loves chocolate(actually, she loves everything except for celery) so I decided on a light and creamy milk chocolate buttercream frosting, topped with white chocolate buttercream for the lettering. The chocolate flavour complements the vanilla cupcake perfectly - I can't even describe how good these were! These cupcakes can be paired with your favourite frosting, so it's really versatile and easy to work with. Have fun! 

I iced the cupcakes so that they have a flat top. This made it easier to write the lettering on the top. I decorated them really simply because I didn't want to get too ambitious and end up ruining the cupcakes. This is my first time decorating cupcakes for a real occasion so I was super nervous when writing the letters(you can see my shivers in some of the letters). I hope FTC can get to make greater and prettier cupcakes for more occasions in the future :-) 

I like to use vanilla beans because the cute little beans can be seen if you tear the cupcake open and beside the amazing flavour it gives, it also makes the cupcake look really professional HAHA. 

It was really fun to decorate! I love decorating stuff - especially food!!! I want to get better at this and make really intricate decorations soon. I will keep practicing. Meanwhile, you should try out this recipe!  Trust me, you will LOVE it. :-) Happy belated birthday to Nicole!

Love,

Kejia