Vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

It’s a mom-and-daughter baking project. I baked the cupcakes and mixed the frosting. Sam tinted the frosting and piped them on the cupcakes. She’s not a pastry chef. She’s turning 16 tomorrow and she’s never taken baking classes. If you want the full story on how we did the cupcakes, see “Once upon a time, she wanted to be a chef.”

These cupcakes were made from a recipe adapted from Chockylit’s 3 Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Sea Salt. Easy enough for amateurs like Sam and me.

 Makes 14 large cupcakes.

Ingredients :

3/4 c. of butter, softened
1-2/3 c. of white sugar
2 large eggs
2-2/3 c. of all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsps. of baking powder
1/4 tsp. of salt
3/4 cup + 2 tbsps. of skim milk
2 tsps. of vanilla extract

In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.

In another bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, beat the butter (with a wire whisk or a hand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue beating until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.

Add the flour and milk in batches to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour.

Spoon into paper-lined cupcake pans to about 3/4 full.

Bake in a preheated 350^oF oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool the cupcakes before frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting:

1 225 g. block of butter
1 255 g. block of cream cheese (I used Magnolia)
2 tbsps. of vanilla extract
4 c. of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

In a bowl, beat the butter until light. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add the confectioner’s sugar, a cup at a time, until a smooth paste is formed. Add a few drops of food color if you like. Pipe on cooled cupcakes.