Birthday Vanilla Cupcakes

So I've been neglecting this blog for months. No, I’m not sick nor even giving birth. It occurred to me that I love to write down recipes on the kitchen paper towel, bake and frost, eat, share and make a couple jump of joy. And then I started to go for a hunt where the heck the paper towel is? Let‘s just suspect that I've simply threw them away together with those old newspapers I used for easy clean-up. Yep, it happened all the time.

This past week I decided to throw a small birthday party for a good friend of mine. As much as I wanted to celebrate her birthday, I selfishly also wanted to throw the party so I could make a cake or dozen of cupcakes. And eat! Isn't it fun sharing sweet treats with others?

The thing is, I had a quite hard time to decide what cake/cupcakes to make for her. She is one of those girls who find anything sweet is almost impossible to eat. I asked her (without letting her know about my plan) a couple weeks before, what type of cake she like the most—A simple moist chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. I went down to town a couple of times to get my favorite brand cocoa powder for my kitchen stock (I baked a lot you know) but oh how possibly can you get baking supplies in this festive month? Empty shelves! Sigh.

Nothing could stop me, though. I decided to go simple — vanilla cupcakes topped with my favorite fluffy cooked frosting. Since I knew that I would want to include something less sweet for her, I chose for the frosting which is so smooth, fluffy, less sweet but incredibly delicious. Turned out, she did eat the whole cupcake (she rarely did this) and my other friends exclaimed that the frosting is delicious and less sweet (where can you get this in the bakery?). I always opt this incredible frosting to frost my cakes and cupcakes and I think I've made this frosting really often since my first try. Perhaps, I will never look back!

Though the cake itself is not my go-to recipe so far, I baked these Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes for countless times before because I just love the texture and the simplicity of them. I hate to wait for my butter to soften, so why don't you just use oil instead? — It does, of course lends a moist, fluffy texture to the cake with nice crumbs. Enjoy!

Birthday Vanilla Cupcakes

Yield: 14-15 standard cupcakes, or two 6-inch round cakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

For the frosting:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup unsalted or regular butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons strawberry extract, optional

Food coloring of choice, optional

Sanding sugar to decorate

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

1.       Preheat oven to 350F (180C).

2.      In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

3.      In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.

4.      Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.

5.      The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full.

6.      Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.

7.      Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

For the frosting:

1.       Place milk into a medium saucepan. Add flour to the milk and whisk together.

2.      Cook over medium high heat, stirring continuously, until it becomes a very thick smooth paste. This can take 3-4 minutes.

3.      Remove from heat and let cool completely in the fridge.

4.      Beat the cooled flour/milk mixture with vanilla on high speed for 4 minutes. It will become a smooth paste again.

5.      In a separate bowl or mixing bowl combine the sugar and softened butter together with an electric mixer. Blend on high for 4 minutes.

6.      Strain the flour/milk mixture into the butter/sugar mixture and beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 3-4 minutes until super fluffy.

Assembly of the Birthday Vanilla Cupcakes:

1.       Take aside a small portion of the frosting and add coloring. Put into a small piping bag, set aside. Add strawberry extract to another and mix until fully combined.

2.      Using a small icing spatula, gently spread and swirl the strawberry frosting on top of each cupcake, smoothing out the tops.

3.      Put a generous amount of sanding sugar in a small bowl. Take a cupcake and carefully sprinkle the sides with sanding sugar, making sure to let the excess to fall back into the bowl.

4.      Cut off the tip of the filled piping bag and dot each cupcake with desired alphabets or shapes.

Notes

[Cupcake recipe adapted from Glorious Treats, Frosting recipe loosely adapted from Our Best Bites]

SweetyToothy Notes:

•  If you don’t have an access to cake flour, you can simply make your own by replacing 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour from 1 cup all-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch/corn flour. Sift 2-3 times and use.
• The frosting is enough to frost 12 cupcakes with high swirls, but you would want to half the recipe if you wish to just spread them on like I did.
•  Keep frosted cupcakes at room temperature, covered (but not in an airtight container) up to 2 days. The frosting will not get crusted like some other buttercreams.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream for Two

Well, I was lazy. More often than not, I’ve found it to be a hassle to drag out the mixer, cream the sugar and butter, sift the dry ingredients and all that fun stuff for a measly two cupcakes. What can I say? I’m lazy. Until then, I found a lot of ‘Cupcakes for Two’ recipes floating around the web (Valentines season it was) and so I decided to make these Chocolate Cupcakes for Two! This was the third times I actually made and devour these guys all by myself but since they were sold too fast, I couldn’t take their photos and share the recipe here.

I came across 52 Kitchen Adventures blog few months ago where she shared her One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes for Two and I ran to the kitchen as fast as I could! And this Chocolate Buttercream for Two recipe I share here itself is completely from my own recipe development, and I was so excited with the result! Make these and share it with your sweetie. Aww ♥

What do you need to do?

1. Place all dry ingredients in medium bowl (I used a large measuring cup) and whisk until combined.

2. Add wet ingredients to the bowl and whisk until just combined.

3. Divide batter into 2 lined cupcake wells and bake at 350°F for 20-22 minutes.

Umm…no egg? Yepp, no egg! Super easy, right?

I think I was having a blond moment that time,I forgot to take the ‘before’ picture to show you. So if your cupcakes happened to come out with high and cracked tops like a "volcano" which are so not pretty, don’t worry. Here’s the tip: Take a spoon (I prefer the one with a round face) and gently press the top using the back of the spoon — Do this at the minutes they are out from the oven.

See, better right? It won’t recover completely but it will take the frosting nicely later on. You could cover the slightly cracked-but-nice-domed top with pretty swirls of yummy chocolate buttercream goodness anyway!

Nevertheless, I have to admit that I always prefer “eggy” cake rather than the eggless one. I’ve tried once before and I really didn’t love the texture at all. The first time I made these cupcakes and took a bite, I was a bit sad that I thought it will change my negative perception towards eggless cakes. But I was wrong. It turned out a bit blunt until I waited for the next day — Just keep in mind that, as for most chocolate cakes, these will turn out better on the next day :)

Although I’m a sweet-toothed gal, I’m recently a bit off with sugary frosting and tend to choose my go-to super-fluffy but not too-sweet cooked frosting (I forgot to share the recipe here, Opps!) for most of my baked goods. But since I know that anything chocolate will make everything just better, I couldn’t resist giving it a go sometimes :) The chocolate buttercream itself is sooo easy to make and rich with chocolate (I did ate a few tablespoons of them before I frost my cupcakes. Mmmm).

Oh my CUPPIES, I wish that I need to forget I ever learned this, or I might be eating cupcakes on a daily basis…

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream for Two

Cake recipe adapted from 52 Kitchen Adventures, Buttercream recipe from Sweety Toothy original.

Ingredients

for the cupcakes:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed) *see notes below

1/8 teaspoon + 1/16 teaspoon baking soda

1/16 teaspoon salt

1/16 teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional, but recommended)

3 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the buttercream:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 teaspoon milk

Method

for the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with 2 paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and instant coffee together.

3. Add milk, oil, and vanilla and whisk until just combined.

4. Evenly divide the batter into the 2 lined cupcake wells (mine were almost 3/4 full).

5. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

for the buttercream:

1. Beat butter for few minutes until smooth.

2. Add cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix until combined.

3. Add vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon of milk, then mix until incorporated. Add additional milk if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Notes:

•  * If you don’t have unsweetened natural cocoa, and only Dutch process (cocoa that’s been treated with an alkalizing agent to neutralize the natural acidity of cocoa powder), you can make an adjustment and use it, but don’t straight out substitute it. You can add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar, or 1/8 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar, for every 3 tablespoons (18 grams) of Dutch process in the recipe to balance it out (thanks Joy of Baking for that tip!)
• 1/16 teaspoon is about the same as a pinch.
• Instead of using a bowl, I mixed all the ingredients in a large measuring cup with a pouring spout. This way, it is much easier to fill the cupcake liners (with a help of a spoon) without making a mess.
• If you don't want a lot of frosting, try reducing the recipe in half (the frosting is enough for about four cupcakes). Pipe them high or snack on the leftover!
• Stay tune for more variety of ‘Cupcakes for Two’ recipes!

© sweetytoothy. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe .

pink rose vanilla cupcakes in doilies wrappers

Happy Sunday! I decided on a whim a couple of weeks ago (yes, it takes me that long to go from food to post), that I’d bake something for myself after a quite long time. If you are really close with me, or read all through my previous post, or really want to know something about me; I’m so much devoted to pink like most of any other girls – from pajamas, tops, blankets, bags, hair combs, shampoos and to drinks and food, they have to be in pinks. Truthfully I am not that pink-crazy, but that just happened unconsciously (if you know what i mean).

I was actually making these as a reward for myself, through all those courage, scary accidents, tears, lack of sleeps along with efforts since last month (which that I can’t really believe that I could be a baker in real life :)).True, being a baker (home-baker to be precise) had never even crossed my mind, as well as a business person. I thought it is such a complicated job and thing to do. Why would you choose to do your own business when you have lot of jobs out there and get paid?  And you’re done — such an immature thinking, right? Never mind, I don’t want to create an issue if I have to say that building your own business is better than. . tett tettt!

The thing is, I still want to share my favorite cupcake recipe although it is just almost the same as the previous one.  White /vanilla cake batter tinted with pink color and topped with pink frosting – Pretty! One (or more things) that I had changed was, adding yogurt and less eggs in the batter, with no buttermilk and they came out so moist and delicate. I did learn something from that – using the real yogurt/sour cream leads to a truly moist and decadent cake rather than faking them. Trust me, it makes the difference!

I've got extra frosting lying around I want to use up, so I just went with it to top my pretty in pink cupcakes. So then I took out some from the fridge, sat down and practiced to make rose swirls...not bad huh? I have to say, that were my first rose swirls ever! Why wouldn't I be so happy? Pink? Rose? Vanilla cupcakes? I would cry for them! I've actually been wanting to make these for a long time ago but I was waiting to get my hands on Wilton 1M rose star tip (or any brands or even unbranded ones) for the perfect roses on my cakes. I've been dreaming of them, really, but I couldn't find them at the baking isle around here. I've even went to the baking suppliers stores out of my home-country, Yummie Bakery Bangi, Bagus BS Shah Alam, you name it, which are so well-known but they were told to be out of stock and since the tips are imported, it’s hard to have them back in stock in a short time – my baddd. I know, I know this tip I have on hand is also known as a rose tip (the supplier said), but still, I want the real one badly.

I was not generous with my cupcakes this time, and I didn't even want to share with my sister or any other cake-eaters seriously, but, almost.  It’s not like I used to be a stingy person, but just because they were too pretty to be eaten and I didn't have the heart to eat them.

Even for the photography . . . I just didn't want to bite the rose ones, but luckily I had this one on purpose.

But then I had to force myself to eat her in the end, before anyone else did. Bite with tears.

I got a bit pink-happy with these (maybe because I didn't realize the frosting is already in dark pink) and next time I would use less for a softer pink, as I did in this cupcake version. You can just leave the cupcakes natural or play around with any colors you want, of course. Have fun!

Pink Rose Vanilla Cupcakes

yield 24 cupcakes

ingredients:

1 box white/vanilla cake mix or follow the instructions here to make the substitute.

2 eggs

1 cup yogurt (flavored or unflavored) or sour cream*

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. desired food coloring, optional.

method:

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line two 12-holes cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners. Set aside.

Combine all ingredients until incorporated (about 30 seconds). Scrapes sides of bowl and then
beat on medium-high speed for 20 minutes. Add food coloring and beat for few seconds.

Fill in the cupcake liners until 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let to cool completely and frost with any frosting of your choice**.

Notes:

• *I used Dutch Lady low-fat plain yogurt.  1 small container serves ½ cup, so you will need 2.
• **If you are still clueless what frosting you would want to top your cupcakes, or even haven’t found your favorite one, I’d highly recommend this one. It’s my favorite so far and wins over Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB) — personally!
•  This recipe can be simply cut into ½ or ¼.
•  You can also use this batter to make fabulous color burst/rainbow cupcakes like this one.
•  For a whiter cake batter (to lighten up the color you've added in), you could substitute the whole eggs to just egg whites, but I’m not certain with the exact egg whites amounts you'll be needing.
•  Good news for those who have pretty cupcakes obsession — I’ll be posting a tutorial on how to make these DIY doilies cupcake wrappers soon!

© sweetytoothy. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe .

white cupcakes with salty caramel buttercream and sauce

Have you ever tried caramel cakes or cupcakes or sweet and salty kind of things? Or at least having a cup of refreshing caramel-topped ice blended? I've never been a huge fan of Starbucks though but I read a few reviews online that their Signature Caramel Frappuccino Blended Crème is freakin’ delicious. If you had read my previous post a month ago on these cupcakes, I’m not sure if I wrote it or not, but I was so impressed on how caramel would be perfectly complimented with chocolate. So this time I wondered if White Cupcakes filled with caramel sauce and topped with Salty Caramel Buttercream drizzled with a bit of sea salt would be fine too.

I saw these cupcakes continuously floating around the web and although they seem like a big hit among them, but still I was kind of suspicious with . . . salty cake? What? Salty you say? Drizzled with sea salt? I've never ate even a slice of cake that has “salty” in its name since I was born. Okay, I may or may not be the only one who didn't know their existence. Since I still have some leftover of my homemade caramel sauce, and I really have no idea what to be paired with it, I knew that this is the right time to wipe out my suspicion and curiosity with those innocent salty cakes – I decided to try out this Salty Caramel Buttercream topped on white cupcakes and YES they are absolutely right! These cupcakes are innocently darn delicious!

I found the inspiration from Gimme Some Oven and she paired it with white cupcakes made from white cake mix. Again, I know I have some sort of suspicion (or the correct way to call it as insecure) syndrome with a lot of things including cake mixes. Well, with all the preservatives and unpronounceable ingredients in processed foods, I would just rather try to make a simple cake from things I’m familiar with. Plus, it’s much more fancy to be from scratch!  I know that maybe I can never fully achieve the cake taste and texture you’re used to from the box but I really liked this recipe – the taste was spot on, with a moist texture, fairly dense and almost perfect. They baked up really well too and definitely would be in my baking repertoire. The truth is, the cake itself is another one to be listed in my favorite cakes!

Oh did I mention that this is actually a white cake mix substitution? I stumbled upon it when scrolling down over Your Cup of Cake. The thing is, you can sift all the 6 ingredients altogether and seal it in a plastic bag and just use it for any recipe that calls for “white or yellow cake mix” (Yay for that!). Ya know, life is easier nowadays – I sifted the ingredients to make my own white cake mix a day before and whip up these white cupcakes for only 5 minutes?! Yes, that is what a cake mix can do for you and most bakeries use cake mixes in their baking, that being said. Hmmm . . .  

So another suspicion that came out (I know I’m such an annoying novice baker) was – the substitution calls for powdered milk. Will it taste like a milky cake? Will it smells like baby milk? No, I’m always wrong with my suspiciounesscity or so. I promise you won’t taste milk, but rather a yummy white cake filled with caramel sauce which is completely a great combination ♥

White Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Buttercream and Sauce

yield about 24 cupcakes

ingredients

for the white cake mix substitute:

adapted from Your Cup of Cake

2 1/2 cup flour

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar*

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup powdered milk

for the cupcakes:

adapted from Gimme Some Oven

1 batch white cake mix, recipe above.

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract or just leave it out

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

for the caramel sauce:

1 batch from the recipe here, or store-bought is just fine

for the frosting:

adapted from dailydelicious

3/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. caramel sauce**
2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp. milk
A pinch of salt

Sea salt, for sprinkle, optional

method

for the white cake mix substitute:

1. Sift all ingredients together.
2. Seal in a plastic bag and use in place of any recipe calling for "white cake mix".

for the cupcakes:

1. Add the sifted cake mix, buttermilk, oil, almond extract and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, until the batter is well-mixed. Increase speed to high and beat until thick and fluffy, 2 minutes longer.

2. Pour or scoop the batter into the paper liners until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack.

for the caramel sauce:

1. Make the caramel sauce by following the method from here, and add ½ tsp. of salt or sea salt (optional).
2. Use the apple corer or small cookie cutter or a small knife like I did here, to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill with caramel sauce. 

for the frosting:

1. Beat the ingredients for the frosting starting from butter, caramel sauce, icing sugar, then milk.
2. Frost cupcakes with frosting. Decorate with caramel sauce and drizzle with a bit of sea salt.

Notes: 

• * For Malaysians, I would recommend to lessen the sugar amount. I used 1 ½ cups.
• **I used my home-made caramel sauce I made from here and reheat it up for few seconds and add ½ tsp. of salt (keep a close eye as it will burn pretty quickly thereafter!). For the frosting, I added 1 tbsp. of caramel sauce instead of 3 tbsp.
• Watch the oven closely around 12 minutes; these cupcakes can over-bake rather quickly.
• As usual, cupcakes are best eaten the day they are made. But they can be kept either at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate them for up to a week.
• You can make the caramel sauce a day before you make the cupcakes and refrigerate it. Reheat it up and let it cool before using. See my notes on caramel sauce here.
• I used an unbranded closed star decorating tip no. 508 to frost the cupcakes.
• If you want to make swirls like I did on my cupcakes, I would recommend making a double batch of the frosting. But if you’re just spreading it on with a knife, one batch should be plenty :)
• If you are not a fan of buttercream or caramel, just leave them out because the white cake itself is soo soo delicious!

© sweetytoothy. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe .