This weekend was about baking, buttercream, and benadryl. My allergies were on fire something terrible. But, I found comfort in my trusty bottle of Children’s Benadryl-D and somehow found a way to release my inner Betty Crocker. I baked all weekend. And, it was probably the best weekend I’ve had in a while. I offered cupcakes for my friend’s son’s 4th Birthday Party. The theme: Phineas & Ferb. Uh, right. Do I need to remind you that I do not have children and never turn my television to the Disney channel. PBS & Sesame Street? Yes. Disney Channel? No.
I don’t freaking know anything about Phineas & Ferb or how to transfer that theme to a cupcake. So she got basic ol’ sugar filled yellow cupcakes with tinted two-tone vanilla frosting. Kids that age don’t care about any flavor other than the overwhelming flavor of sugar. She made a platypus cake complete with fondant and sculptured junk. You go mommy. I’ll stick with the basics.
Anyway, the bestie had a softball game this week – as he does every week. Good friend that I am, as I was already elbow-deep in butter & flour, I thought I’d send some baked goodies with the kid to his game. Bestie did not come retrieve said goodies. So I delivered them instead to my mother’s hospital for the doctors & nurses to enjoy. What were these goodies? Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Let’s focus on the cupcakes and more specifically – that luxurious vanilla bean buttercream. I may or may not have eaten about a cup of the stuff by itself. Here’s your inspiration:
For these cupcakes, I used Martha Stewart’s Yellow Buttermilk Cupcake recipe. It’s easy. It’s tasty and it works as a basic foundation for stuff.
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt {coarse}
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter {room temp}
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 cups buttermilk {low-fat}
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Line your muffin pans. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder & salt together and set aside.
Cream butter & sugar. Add whole eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add yolks and beat until combined. Add flour mixture {3x} alternating with buttermilk {2x} – start and end with flour. Beat in vanilla.
Fill your cupcake liners. Bake 20 minutes – or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool.
Keeping with the overall idea of how I cook – you know this frosting recipe isn’t exact. I played – I tasted – I fell in love. Try it but loosen up a bit & don’t cling to your measuring cups.
The Frosting
2 sticks butter
Powdered Sugar {4+ cups}
Powdered Sugar {4+ cups}
1 1/2 TBSP Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste
Evaporated Milk
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add evaporated milk a little at a time. The point is – you can always add more if necessary, but you don’t want glaze, so go easy on the milk at first. Continue this process until it’s the thickness you prefer. It’s frosting not brain surgery, so exact science – in my opinion – isn’t necessary. Mix in the vanilla bean paste and stick your finger in it. Continue to stick your finger in it and forget you actually have cupcakes that need this stuff.
Pipe on to your cupcakes and keep the extra for future finger dipping.
By the way – Phineas & Ferb is one of the best cartoons I’ve seen in a long time. My TV now has Disney in the favorites.
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