Please welcome back to the blog, VANILLA CUPCAKES!

Cheers! Yay! *applause applause* How long has it been since you've seen cupcakes on this blog???? I'll tell you... It's been 10 MONTHS since a cupcake has been spotted here (the last cupcake was seen July 23, 2009)! Cupcakes and I have developed a love-hate relationship. I really wore them out over the past few years, so now I only make them if someones asks. Well no, that's incorrect. If someone BEGS me to make cupcakes, I'll do it.

So... the wife of one of Josh's co-workers has never had a cupcake. *gasp* I know, right!? Anyway, Josh told her if she'd send some lumpia to work with her husband, then he'd bring in some cupcakes from me. Since she's sent in lumpia twice already, I guess it's high time I held up Josh's end of the bargain. And since I recently met her in person, along with his other co-workers who BEGGED me to make cupcakes for them, how could I say no??

I had forgotten all about my old standby recipes for vanilla cupcakes. Did I ever even settle on one? Knowing me, probably not. I rarely settle on recipes, even if by most people's standards the recipes are flawless. I digress...

Since I'm planning on opening my own bakery, I figured it would be a wise idea to learn baker's math. It's something I'll need to know in order to adjust and write my own recipes. I sat down with my copy of BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher. There is no one in the baking industry I would trust more than her. Plus, my heart flutters a bit when she makes an appearance on Good Eats! ;) After traveling back in time to my community college days and scribbling a page and a half of notes, I felt pretty confident that I could look at any basic cake recipe with ingredients measured by weight, and along with the help of a calculator, I would be able to tell whether or not the recipes were accurately written according to baker's math. I would also be able to tell whether a cake was high-ratio (more moist but with a weaker structure) or lean (less moist but with a strong structure). For more info on baker's math, I strongly suggest anyone who's interested to read BakeWise!

First, I tested a recipe from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. The measurements were accurate, but I didn't like the texture of the cake made using the reverse creaming (or two-stage) method (the cake was very crumbly/sandy and gave a false impression of dryness). Next, I found a good looking recipe in The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. It's ingredients were also accurate (with the exception of the weight of the eggs not being greater than or equal to the weight of the fat, but that's a whoooole other blog entry). This recipe utilized the creaming method, which produces a better mouthfeel, IMHO. This recipe is a winner. It has a soft texture without being SO soft that it crumbles into tiny particles in your mouth. The flavor is delicious, but the cake flour has a very detectable taste. Anyone else notice that about Swans Down? Anyway, I frosted the cupcakes with one of the few go-to's I live by, Swiss meringue buttercream, and sent them off with Josh. I'll update later with his co-workers comments! :)
In the next shot, you can sort see how moist and shiny the cake looks... and those luscious vanilla bean flecks!Basic Golden Cake Layers (from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)
Makes 2 9-inch cake layers (or about 30 cupcakes)

3 1/4 cups (11.5 oz/325 g) sifted cake flour (notice it doesnt say "cake flour, sifted." SIFT FIRST, and WEIGH it!)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks/8 oz/227 g) unsalted butter, softened (around 65-67°F)
1 1/2 cups (10.6 oz/300 g) granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups (320 ml) whole milk

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans. Dust the pans with flour.

Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat at high speed until light, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.

If you have a splatter shield for your mixer, attach it now (the milk tends to splash up as you add it). Add the flour mixture at low speed in three additions, alternating it with the milk in additions and mixing just until the flour is incorporated. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly, and smooth the tops.

Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges (my cupcakes baked for about 16-17 minutes). Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Invert the layers onto the racks and cool completely.

Store at room temperature, covered in foil, for up to 5 days.


Swiss Meringue Buttercream (my own recipe)
Makes enough to frost 30 cupcakes generously

6 egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 tablespoons vanilla extract

Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).

Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until completely cooled to room temperature, about 7 minutes (it may take longer).

Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to high; continue beating until frosting comes together, about 3 minutes (it may take longer). During this time, the frosting may appear runny or curdled. Just keep beating it. If it seems to be taking too long, let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before returning it to the mixer on high speed.

Stir in vanilla extract.