Serving Size: 12
Yield: 12 cupcakes or 24 mini cupcakes
Ingredients:
– For cupcakes:
– 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
– 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1 cup sugar
– 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
– 2 eggs, at room temperature
– 3/4 cup buttermilk
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line a 12-well muffin pan with paper liners.
In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla paste on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one is added. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Add the buttermilk and beat until smooth. Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with the spatula.
Fill each paper cup about 2/3 full with batter. Do not overfill, as cupcakes will overflow and the tops will not be uniformly round.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Do not allow them to brown, as the cake will be dry.
Remove the pan from the oven and set on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Tip the cupcakes out of the pan onto the rack and let cool completely.
Using an icing spatula, frost the top of each cupcake, mounding the icing in the center; or alternatively use a piping bag to pipe the frosting as desired. Makes 12 cupcakes.
