My blogging friend and husband have both deemed these to be the most perfect vanilla cupcakes ever! These beauties are super light and fluffy and produce a tender, soft crumb.
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Addie’s birthday party was a few weeks ago. We invited 3 of her friends and their entire families over for dinner. I had a few crafts set up for the kids: I bought kids’ aprons and chef hats for them to decorate with markers and foam stickers. Then, I also baked 4 dozen cupcakes and supplied all kinds of fun toppings so they could decorate them.
For the chocolate cupcakes, I used this recipe. I wasn’t sure which vanilla cupcake recipe I should use so I did a quick internet search. Then I remembered that my friend Cakespy had recently posted her favorite vanilla cupcake. She declared these as the most perfect cupcake ever. Of course I had to believe her so I used her recipe.
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Although these cupcakes were slightly more complicated than your typical run-of-the-mill vanilla cupcake, the extra steps were worth it. To make these, you’ll want to separate your eggs. You’ll beat the egg whites until they reach soft peaks and later fold them into the batter so create that light and airy texture.
And my husband and I both agreed that these cupcakes were pretty perfect. It produced a light and tender crumb when we bit into it and was not too heavy or sweet. The kids had a blast decorating these, and the parents that tried them also said that they were amazing as well.
Vanilla buttermilk cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups cake flour If you don't have cake flour, measure out 2 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour. Remove 4 and 1/2 Tablespoons of the all-purpose flour and return it to your canister. Add 4 and 1/2 Tablespoons of cornstarch and mix into the remaining flour.
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs separated
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard muffin pans with cupcake liners and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, whip the egg whites on high speed until you achieve soft peaks. Transfer the egg whites to a medium sized bowl for the time being.
- In the same bowl (do not clean) fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the sugars until well mixed. Then add the egg yolks one by one until the mixture is uniform. Add the vanilla. Turn the mixer down to low and alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until everything just comes together.
- Turn the mixer off and fold in the egg whites by hand. Use as few strokes as possible to incorporate the egg whites until no white streaks remain.
- Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 cup full (no more) and bake in your preheated oven for 17-20 minutes or until the tops start to turn golden. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
