the vanilla cupcake

the perfect vanilla cupcake - fluffy, buttery, light, delicious

For the last two weeks I've been trying out different vanilla cupcake recipes because my friend Kim is doing a craft show and she needed cupcakes to show off her beautiful rose cupcake toppers (she sells them on etsy.com).  I had to convince her to let me bake her cupcakes - obviously the goal is to sell her crafty products but how I feel about store bought cupcakes is how she would feel about a store bought wreath!! As in - homemade is way better!!  I had narrowed it down to two recipes I found on other blogs that got awesome reviews...one was from glorious treats with cake flour and vegetable oil, the other from brown eyed baker with all purpose flour and butter.  The first were light and fluffy but because there was no butter the flavour was super light...almost too light.  The second ones were dense and a little heavy but tasted great...so I tried using cake flour with just butter but that didn't turn out - the cupcakes were funny looking and had a weird consistency. Then I tried half oil & half butter and it actually turned out really well.  You get a light fluffiness from the cake flour and oil but with some butter you maintain some rich flavour.

Made with love and lots of trial and error, these cupcakes, in my opinion, take the cake:)

what you need:

*makes 24

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk + 1 tsp white vinegar *(or 1 cup buttermilk)
• 4 eggs
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tsp pure vanilla extract

vanilla buttercream icing (from brown eyed baker)

• 1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
• 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Sift cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
3. In an electric mixer, beat eggs for 1-2 minutes.  Add sugar and beat well, another minute or so.
4. Add oil, melted butter, and vanilla.  Mix well.
5. Add one cup of flour, then a little bit of milk, the another cup of flour, alternating and beating to incorporate into a smooth batter.  You may need to scrape down the sides to make sure to mix in all the flour.
6. The batter should be smooth and slightly runny - fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 way full (don't fill to the top or else cupcakes will spill over when they rise).
7. Bake in the middle rack for 12 minutes.  The tops will be gently golden brown and a toothpick should come out clean.
8. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes then remove from muffin tray to further cool on a cooling rack.
9. For the icing - beat butter until smooth and fluffy.  Add icing sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating on medium - high speed.  Add the vanilla and continue beating.  It should be fluffy and soft, easy to pipe onto the cupcakes.  Wait for the cupcakes to completely cook before icing them.  Enjoy!

at the craft show, finished with
paper rose toppers