The Food Adventures of Bitsa Bitsa and Rag Rag: Vanilla Cupcakes Round 1

I'm on the prowl for a really good, really light, really moist vanilla cupcake. So, I found this recipe from www.joyofbaking.com that I am going to share with you that is perfectly delightful and filled my craving this week for a vanilla/vanilla cupcake, but I will be posting more vanilla/vanilla cupcakes in the future, hence the "round 1." (vanilla/vanilla meaning vanilla cake with vanilla icing). I made mine a little smaller so if you made them bigger, I'm sure they'd taste even fluffier. They weren't too dense, but a few of mine might have been because of the amount of batter I put into each muffin tin (I was trying to make a dozen turn into 18). I will say, they were a delightful little treat and scrumptious. Make these and join me on my quest to find the PERFECT vanilla/vanilla cupcakes- let me know how yours turn out along the way!

makes: 12 (can make 18! if you divide the batter and make "thinner" cupcakes if you're in a pinch! or just double the recipe like a normal person would)

Ingredients for cupcake batter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs (always use room temp eggs when baking)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 large lemon
1 1/2 cups AP flour (all purpose)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Directions for cupcake batter:

beat butter and sugar on medium/low speed until light and fluffy
add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed
beat in vanilla extract and lemon zest
sift together flour, baking powder, and salt (see below)

it should look like powdered snow when you're done:

heavenly, right?

with mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture with milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. scrape down sides of bowl as needed to make sure everything gets incorporated!

"please don't over mix me!"

get out some of this stuff if you don't have liners- it works WONDERS

spray down your pans a good amount and fill your muffin tins using an ice cream scooper so they'll all be even (I used a spoon because an ice cream scooper would have yielded enough batter in each tin for just 12 and remember, I needed more)
bake them at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.

remove each cupcake and let them cool completely on a wire rack
while they cool, make your frosting!

Ingredients for Buttercream frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or cream
food coloring (if you want)

Directions for Buttercream frosting:

in a mixer, cream butter until smooth and well blended
add the vanilla extract
with mixer on low, gradually beat in the sugar
scrape down the sides of the bowl
add the milk and beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy (3-4 minutes)
add a little more milk or sugar, if needed
to ice them easily and make them look glam, put your frosting in a plastic bag and snip the corner off and pipe away!