Vanilla Vanilla

So there was a big party coming up at my friends house.  I make cupcakes for parties from time to time, and up until now they had been from a box.   Ive really been meaning to make some from scratch, and my new mixer was a perfect excuse.

So I did some online research.  I was looking for the best cupcake recipe of all time.  I found a recipe that was featured on Martha Stewart at one point in time.  The recipe is for
Billy's Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes from Billy Reece of Billy's Bakery in New York City.

Makes about 30 cupcakes (it actually does make 30, do not over fill the cupcake sleeves)

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. 

Add butter one pat at a time, mixing until just coated with flour.

 

In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. 

With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. 

Fill cupcake liners to about 2/3 full. (I use a piping bag to get the right amount and make less of a mess)

Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (or until they look like this!)

 The Icing:  Billy's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy (2 to 3 minutes)

With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.

Decorate with a swirl of icing and colored sprinkles.

On Baking Time:  I cooked them for just 17 min and they looked a bit undercooked, but the next day the undercooked ones were by far the best.  Very moist and dense.  If you cook them too long the batter will get a bit brown and crunchy on the top, it might even bake over a bit and stick to the cupcake pan.  My cupcakes didnt puff up much to form a round top, they were much more flat than I was expecting.

On the Icing:  I like to decorate with the icing and it was much too runny to get any substantial decorating done with only 6 cups of sugar.  I tried adding extra sugar, but to get it to the consistency I wanted I would have had to have added an extra 4 cups! That seems a bit extreme to me.  I might have to look for a new icing recipe.

On Taste: They taste a bit like a sugar cookie turned into a cupcake, with icing.

On Consistency:  If you eat them right away they are very light and airy.  My favorite ones were the undercooked ones a day later, they were much more dense, yet still very moist. 

I did however get many rave reviews from all of my friends, and my family couldn't stop eating the icing.  They took it by the spoon full out of my fridge.  Everyone of course liked the cupcakes better with sprinkles.

Everything is better with sprinkles!