Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

•  ¾ cup milk, room temperature
•  ¼ cup heavy whipping cream, room temperature
•  6 egg whites
•  1 teaspoon almond extract
•  1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
•  2¼ cups cake flour
•  1¾ cups sugar
•  4 teaspoon baking powder
•  1 teaspoon salt
•  ¾ cup butter (1½ sticks), softened
•  1 batch of Easy Buttercream Frosting

Instructions

For Vanilla Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line cupcake tins with paper liners
2. Using a small bowl, combine milk, cream, egg whites, almond extract, and vanilla bean with a fork and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed. Then using the paddle attachment add the butter and beat at slow speed until the mixture looks like wet sand.
4. Add half of the milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 90 seconds.
5. Add the remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. Do not over-mix.
6. Divide the batter evenly between cupcake wells (2 tablespoons per cupcake) and gently shake the pan to even out the batter. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center cupcakes comes out clean.
7. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Notes

Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen in a covered container for 1-2 weeks.

**Nutrition information does not include frosting**

Ingredients For Best Vanilla Bean Cupcakes  

(full printable recipe at the end of this post)

• Milk, heavy whipping cream, and egg whites should all be at room temperature so that they incorporate easily.
• Vanilla bean paste and almond extract round out the wet ingredients. True vanilla enhance flavors in baking just as salt does in cooking.
• Cake flour is key as it provides these vanilla bean cupcakes with a lighter, tender texture due to lower gluten content when baking.
• Sugar, baking powder, and salt round out our usual suspects. Just make sure your baking powder is fresh! 
• Butter should be softened, not melted, as it changes the makeup of the batter.
• Easy Chocolate Frosting with Ghiradelli cocoa powder, yum!

How To Make Vanilla Cupcakes From Scratch

STEP ONE: Place paper liners in a cupcake pan and preheat the oven to 350° F
STEP TWO: Combine the wet ingredients except for butter and set aside.
STEP THREE: With an electric mixer, whisk the dry ingredients together,  add the butter and mix until the mixture looks like wet sand.
STEP FOUR: Add half of the milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 90 seconds. Then add the remaining milk mixture and beat for an additional 30 seconds.
STEP FIVE: Divide the vanilla cupcake batter into the lined cupcake pan. Bake, cool completely, frost, and try not to eat too many!

How To Substitute All-Purpose Flour For Cake Flour

No cake flour? No problem! You can substitute all-purpose flour, but your cupcakes will be a bit denser. All-purpose flour has a higher protein content and won’t be as light and airy, which is A-ok if that is what you prefer!

There is an easy hack to use all-purpose flour by adding cornstarch. For every measured and leveled cup of flour, remove 2 tablespoons and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Whisk that together and for optimum results, sift the combined flour and cornstarch together – twice! 

Best Way To Store Frosted Cupcakes  

Cupcakes with buttercream can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days (as long as your house isn’t too warm – try to keep them in the coolest room then or store them in fridge as explained below)

Frosted cupcakes can be stored in an air-tight container (deep enough to hold your cupcakes) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Take the cupcakes out of the fridge, remove them from the container and let them sit at room temperature for at least an hour before serving.

Unfrosted cupcakes will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For make-ahead cupcakes, cover completely cooled unfrosted vanilla cupcakes individually with plastic wrap then place in a freezer-safe plastic bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw before frosting. Remove plastic wrap and let them come to room temperature on the counter.

Vanilla Cupcake Tips

• Use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract for the best vanilla flavor. It can be a little pricey (see notes below), but vanilla is the main flavor in these cupcakes, making it worth the splurge.
• If you can’t use vanilla bean paste, use vanilla extract (you can even make your own vanilla), just do not use artificial vanilla flavoring aka imitation vanilla. While it may smell like vanilla, it doesn’t compare to the complex floral and woodsy notes in real vanilla.
• Don’t overmix the batter, to keep the cake light and fluffy. 
• Make sure ingredients are at room temperature.
• Use a medium cookie scoop to evenly fill each of the wells of the cupcake pan with 2 tablespoons of batter  (yields about 30 cupcakes)
• Make sure cupcakes have cooled completely before frosting, or your buttercream will start to melt if the cake is still warm. Cool on a wire rack to allow air to circulate under the cupcakes for faster cooling.