V is for Vanilla Cupcakes

For my letter V entry for this year’s A-Z Blogging Challenge, I’ve decided to share one of my many attempts to perfect the art (and science!) of cupcake-baking. Yes, V stands for vanilla cupcakes!

Vanilla-flavored cupcakes are considered as staples in any bakeshop. Aside from chocolate and red velvet, vanilla cupcakes are the ones we usually see in various pastry cases. And why wouldn’t they be? They’re moist with just the right amount of sweetness… my mouth’s watering right now. Lol just kidding!

Of course, I was so excited to make my own batch of fragrant vanilla cupcakes. Fortunately, I found a perfect recipe in Easycooking‘s website— simple yet delicious! I love this recipe because it doesn’t involve “rare” ingredients and it’s so easy to follow. Now I’m going to share it to you as well. (But don’t forget to visit Easycooking’s site! Divya has a lot of good recipes posted there. :))

Vanilla Cupcakes
Yield: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (I always use unsalted)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup milk (I always use fresh milk)
2 eggs
2 tsp instant coffee powder

Procedure:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt thrice, then set aside.

3. Combine butter and sugar; cream well.

4. Add eggs one by one; beat well.

5. Alternatively add the flour mixture and milk thrice; mix very well.6. Lastly (for the mix, that is), add vanilla extract. Reminder: taste your batter before putting it in the oven!

7. Line your muffin pan with liners and, with an ice cream scoop, fill them with 2/3 batter each.

8. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

After patiently watching your cupcakes rise up in the oven (hihihi), you can now let them cool and top them with your choice of frosting!

I used my leftover coffee buttercream from last time’s recipe (though I didn’t include it in the post hehehe) and, in fairness, they blended nicely. The frosting itself needs a lot of work, but taste-wise, they’re delicious together! Oh by the way, I got the coffe buttercream’s recipe here. 🙂

Vanilla and coffee… never had them this good! Hahaha.

Happy blogging (and baking)!
Jane