Moist Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Those of you that know me probably know of my love of cupcakes. I absolutely adore these pretty and dainty mini desserts and in my opinion, they are perfect for any occassion.

Now everyone needs a good, basic vanilla cupcake recipe that can then be used as a base for different flavours, frostings and toppings. Before I came across this recipe from Honey and Butter, my go to recipe was Billy's Vanilla Vanilla cupcake. However, the problem with Billy's was that even though it had vanilla extract in the recipe, the smell was very eggy and in comparison to this new recipe, quite dry.

I made these cupcakes to take to a farewell party for a friend who is going to Hajj this year and they were a huge hit, especially with the kids. The cupcakes itselt are super moist and tender. The texture is light and airy (I love it when I break a cupcake in half and I can see tiny uniform holes all over) and they would go beautifully with just about any frosting. I teamed it with a chocolate frosting that came with the original recipe.

If anything, make the cupcake just so that the amazing aroma can waft in the house!!

Moist Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter (room temperature)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs (room temperature)

1 cup whole milk (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line a cupcake tray with liners. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and cream with the butter for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed (batter should be nearly white and fluffy). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed to low and alternatively, add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour until just mixed. Add vanilla until just mixed. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full (I used an ice cream scoop which was the perfect amount to fill 1 cupcake). Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out just clean ( mine took 20-23 minutes although the original recipe said 12-15 minutes). Cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack. Remove each cupake from the tray and wrap in cling film individually to seal in moisture. Cool on wire racks and frost when cold.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 lb. icing sugar

2 tbs milk or cream

4-6 tbs cocoa powder

Directions:

Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beeat the butter with vanilla until smooth. Add the sugar a little at the time, allowing it to fully incorporate into the butter. Add cream and cocoa powder and keep beating the batter on high until fully smooth and aerated.

Note: The recipe has been slightly adapted from the original. I made half the recipe and for me, this yielded 14 cupcakes.