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.

How to Make Vanilla Sugar

Have you ever seen a recipe that called for vanilla sugar and thought, "What the heck is that?" Me too! So I did a little research and found out how to make my own. It's basically just granulated white sugar that's been shacked up with vanilla beans for a while. The measurements don't really matter. It's kinda common sense. Less sugar and more vanilla beans = stronger vanilla flavor. More sugar and fewer vanilla beans = milder vanilla flavor. Here's what I did:

You'll need:
2 cups granulated white sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 air tight container
1 sharp knife

Put the sugar in an air tight container. With a sharp knife split the vanilla bean longways down the middle. Scrape the seeds with the back of the knife. Put the seeds and the pod in the container with the sugar. Shake it to disperse the seeds throughout the sugar. Keep the container seeled for about 2 weeks before using it. After that you can add more sugar and more vanilla beans as needed. It will last for a pretty long time. If it gets clumpy just shake it to break up the clumps.

The awesome thing about vanilla sugar is that you can use it in anything that calls for granulated sugar! You can put it in coffee, tea, cakes, frosting, pies, muffins, cookies, meringue, custard, etc... And it smells so good. I often just open mine to smell it and put it back. :) Just remember when you use it in a recipe that calls for vanilla extract, you should leave the extract out. Otherwise you might end up with vanilla overload! I sometimes use half vanilla sugar and half plain sugar just to be careful. Then I add vanilla extract if it needs more flavor.

Amy Sedaris Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Mint SMBC

WHAT A DISASTER! Okay, let me start over. We’ll do this constructively. We’ll pretend this entry is a sandwich, beginning and ending with a positive thing (the bread) with negative things in the middle (the meat… or veggies if you’re a herbivore). Let’s just say this is going to be a tall sandwich.

Intense Pear won the poll. Hurray, that’s the one I voted for! I was going to use the idea ShannieCakes suggested from Chockylit’s Cupcake Blog. I was going to use her pear filling and pear chips idea. I planned on making Amy Sedaris’ vanilla cupcakes, stuffing them with pear filling, and topping them with Intense Pear ganache and a pear chip. I began drying the pear chips in the oven for an hour. Everything was going smoothly for about the first 45 minutes (that’s the positive piece of bread on top). Meanwhile, I started the pear filling on the stove. When it came time to add the cornstarch and sugar, all the water had evaporated from the pan. I ended up with pear paste. Then I added 1 whole teaspoon of vanilla instead of ½ teaspoon. And since it’s vanilla extract crush, it’s already extra strong. So that went in the trash. Then I started measuring out the ingredients for the cupcakes. I cranked the oven to 350… 5 minutes later… WHAT’S THAT SMELL? Yeah, I forgot to take the pear chips out of the oven. Most of them were burnt and gross. So they went in the trash. Next, since I was aiming to make “fancy” cupcakes, I decided to use the nut & party cups I’ve had since Christmas. I was nervous that they were going to overflow, but alas the cupcakes came out perfectly! And may I just say, now that I've finally done it right, Amy Sedaris' recipe is my favorite vanilla cupcake! (Okay so this is a double-decker sandwich with a positive slice of bread in the middle.) While the cupcakes were cooling I started the ganache... Heated the cream, poured it over the chocolate, stirred until smooth, let sit until spreadable. I won’t deny that ganache is not my thing. I used too much cream so it was like a thin glaze. I tried whipping it. Then it got all curdled-looking and separated. Yuck. So that went in the trash. As of right now, the whole pear idea is out the window. Let’s re-cap: 2 pears – TRASHED! 1 chocolate bar – TRASHED!

How can I save this? My dad brought home some limes from a food show, so I juiced and zested them and start on a lime custard filling type thing. My plan was to fill the cupcakes with lime filling, top them with meringue, and toast them in the oven. Well, the lime custard stuff never thickened on the stovetop. Then it got too cold in the fridge and congealed. So that went in the trash. Let’s re-cap again: 2 pears – TRASHED! 1 chocolate bar – TRASHED! 2 limes – TRASHED!

Now how can I save this? I thought about it for a while and eventually settled on SMBC. I knew it wouldn’t let me down. I flavored it with a bit of peppermint and vanilla extracts. I loaded the cupcakes up with frosting and topped them with mini chocolate chips. And they were delicious! So that’s the positive piece of bread on the bottom. Here are the photos and recipes:

pear chips going into the oveningredients for cupcakes

This stuff smells just like a vanilla bean. I love it!

ready for the oven
oops, forgot about the pear chipscupcakes coolingmaking ganachesmooth ganachenot so smooth after whipping it :(pear "paste"... yucky The final delicious yet unexpected product: Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Mint SMBC

Pear Chips from cupcakeblog.com
1 good sized pear

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice thin cross-sections of pear.

3. Place on a baking sheet making sure that the slices do not touch.

4. Let them dry in a 200 degree oven for about 1 hour (depends on how thin the slices are) flipping 2 or 3 times until they are dried out and no longer soggy.

Pear Filling from cupcakeblog.com
1 good sized pear, pealed, pitted, and chopped into small dice

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 vanilla bean (I was going to use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, until I accidentally put 1 whole tsp in, which was way too much.)

1. Add pear and water to a medium sized pan. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat. (At this point my water had evaporated; I doubt that was supposed to happen.)

2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the pears.

3. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the pears.

4. Cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Note: The filling can be made a day in advance and stored covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Vanilla Cupcakes from Amy Sedaris
12 regular cupcakes

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.
4. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk.
5. Mix until batter is smooth with no lumps. Do not overbeat.
6. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

7. Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes or until at room temperature.

For Mint SMBC recipe, click it in the drop-down menu on the left-hand side of the blog.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Tenderness: 4
Frosting: 5