happy cakes

Cupcakes are what I call a happy fun food. They're easy to make from staples found in your pantry, fun to decorate with kids, perfect for a party or play date and they always bring a smile to everyone's face. This simple vanilla cake stays moist and is delicious on its own, or it can be frosted with a fluffy buttercream for an extra special treat!

Happy Cupcakes
makes 36 mini or 18 regular cupcakes
recipe adapted from Sweet Revenge's "Pure" Cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups cake flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup or 113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk (or substitute 1/2 cup whole milk + 2 tsp lemon juice)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

METHOD:
1. Preheat oven to 325F (163 C).

2. If not using buttermilk, add lemon juice to milk and let sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. Once the milk fat has separated and accumulated on the top, gently scoop out and discard. Set aside.

3. Fill your muffin tin with cupcake liners. Tip: carefully remove each liner individually from the stack without creasing or flattening the folds. If the liner doesn't sit neatly in the tin, you may end up with a loose liner once the cupcakes are baked.

4. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Tip: if you don't have cake flour on hand, make your own. For every cup of cake flour needed, just measure 1 cup all purpose flour, then remove 2 tbsp of flour and add 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Sift well and there you have instant cake flour.

5. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and beat until well combined.

6. Mix in flour in three parts, alternating with buttermilk. Stir in vanilla.

7. Fill cupcake liners half full with batter and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15-20 minutes for mini or 20-25 minutes for regular cupcakes. Rotate muffin tins halfway through baking.

4. Once the cupcakes are done, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container up to 3 days. Cupcakes must be completely cool before storing or else condensation will form and you'll end up with soggy cakes and liners that will start separating.

5. Frost the tops of each cupcake with buttercream and decorate as desired. Frosted cupcakes should be consumed the same day.