Classic Vanilla Cupcake

It was my god daughters 1^st birthday last month so I decided to make some pink cupcakes to celebrate. You really can’t beat a classic vanilla cupcake and they’re so quick and easy to make. I have been making cupcakes / queen cakes for as long as I can remember. Anyone who grew up in an Irish household will surely have grown up eating queen cakes.. which we now call cupcakes thanks to our American friends bringing them across the pond! One of my youngest memories is baking queen cakes with my Nana. I remember standing up on a chair so I could reach the counter and being her little assistant. I firmly believe I get my love of baking (and skills) from both my grandmothers as they were both two wonderful bakers.

Abigail didn't look too sure but she loved it! 

So back to the humble cupcake. All you need is butter, eggs, flour, sugar and a drop of vanilla extract and if you follow my step by step recipe then you can have perfect vanilla cupcakes too. In this recipe I am using a classic buttercream frosting from ‘The Hummingbird Bakery’ cookbook but feel free to use your own favourite frosting recipe. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

170g Self Raising Flour (sifted)

170g Caster Sugar

170g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

3 Medium free range eggs

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

For the Buttercream:

250g Icing Sugar

80g Butter (at room temperature)

25mls Milk

½ tsp of Vanilla Extract

Prepare:

Preheat your oven to 170C and line a 12-hole cupcake/muffin tin with cupcake cases.

Method:

Begin by beating your sugar and butter together until pale and fluffy. This may take a minute or two. Here is where it is so important that your butter is at room temperature or the butter won’t dissolve the sugar and it will just clump together.

Beat in your eggs one at a time and stir in your vanilla extract. Once your eggs and vanilla are all incorporated fold in your flour gently to keep as much air in your batter. Spoon the mix into your cases filling ¾ of the way full. Pop them into your oven and bake for 20-22 mins. You will know your cupcakes are baked when they are golden brown in colour and bounce back to touch. You can also stick a cocktail stick or skewer in and if it comes out clean they are baked.

Leave to cool on a wire rack and begin making your buttercream icing. Start by creaming your butter with your mixer (or hand held whisk) then slowly add your icing sugar. I stress doing this slowly or else you will end up with a face full of icing sugar!! Once your icing sugar has been incorporated add your milk a small drop at a time with your vanilla extract until the icing is smooth and creamy. I used pink gel food colouring here to colour the icing but feel free to use whatever colour you wish. I piped the icing using a star tip and I then decorated them with pink and purple sparkling sprinkles.

Delicious!

Let me know if you try these out yourself. As always you can find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or you can leave a comment below.

Happy Baking,

O x