I♥cuppycakes!

Not just another vanilla cupcake recipe. Part I

I’m always on the look out for new vanilla cupcake recipes. I think it’s become somewhat of a quest for me now. I feel like I should be racking up life points and meeting elf size warriors along the way. I know I’ve mentioned 3 or 4 go-to vanilla recipes on my blog over the years but I feel like if I’m still searching, maybe I really haven’t found THE ONE yet.

I remember sitting in the doctor’s office about a year ago, flipping through an old copy of People magazine, reading about Jon&Kate+8 being no more (boo-friggin-hoo). I think it only took me about 5 minutes to get opinionated on the subject before I turned the page in disgust. And there it was. Like my salvation from camera crews, Jon’s infidelities, Kate’s bad hair and reality tv that exploits kids. A vanilla cupcake recipe by Duff Goldman, Head Baker of my favorite cake-ing show (But he doesn’t like cupcakes so I’m conflicted?!?!), Ace of Cakes, on Food Network.

All the sudden I had a decision to make. Take the whole magazine, put it in my purse and plead ignorance when the receptionist asked me if anyone has seen the latest copy of People that was “… just sitting on the table next to you” or tear the page out.

So I did what any cupcake baker would do under diress.

I TORE THE PAGE OUT! Riiiipppppp…

But immediately I felt intense guilt (my asian mother trained me well) of defacing the written word and promptly stuffed the whole magazine in my purse. I felt so guilty that the next time I went back to the doctor’s office I donated a whole stack of magazines from my MIL’s personal People subscription. Even though I fessed up to the receptionist about why I was donating so many magazines I think that guilt kinda lingered for a while and the recipe never got baked. Until now.

… and now you’re probably wondering what I did with the vanilla cupcakes, eh?

Maybe I ate them unfrosted? But if you believe that, you clearly don’t read my blog enough.

Part II coming soon.

PS- Only 12 hours left to vote for Cupcake Hero. Don’t let your vote go uncounted! (Poll on the side menu bar)

Duff Goldman’s Vanilla Cake
Recipe from People Magazine, November 2009

Makes 2-9inch round cakes (I got 36 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

3-1/2 cups AP flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, unsalted
2 cups sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
3 tbsp canola oil
2/3 cup buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare cupcake pan with liners.

In a large bowl, sift to combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, fitted with a flat beater, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until light. Add vanilla. Then eggs, one at a time. (Don’t worry if the batter looks curdled.) Add oil and buttermilk. Slowly add flour mixture in 3 additions and mix until just combined. Try not to overmix!

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
Moist, fluffy, vanilla. What more can you ask for?

Wifey rating: A
Ditto.