Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry/Raspberry Buttercream

Here's a little secret: I use cupcakes to woo boys and make friends.  I know, it may seem a little shady and unsavory, but hey, I'm in a new city!  Cut me a break!

I actually made these cupcakes a long time (read: 3 weeks) ago.  Soon after moving to Seattle, I went to a rooftop BBQ in Belltown (downtown Seattle) because my roommate and a friend Nick knew the people who were hosting through some other people.  Sorry, let me clarify.  A friend of a friend of a friend was hosting a BBQ.  Clear?  No?  Moving on… Anyways, we chatted and hot tubbed and swore to meet up again.  Cut to two weeks later, I go out on a Friday night in Capitol Hill with about 5 of the people I met at the BBQ.  More merriness ensued, we exchanged numbers, discovered that we were all new to Seattle and wanted friends!  That Sunday we all got together for a game/"make your own pizza" night and thus the cupcakes were born!!! (Along with some sourdough pizza, but more on that later)

This is another successful recipe procured from my "More from Magnolia" cookbook that I picked up when I was in New York City this year.  Not only is it an amazing cookbook, it is also incredibly ironic that it is my new "go to" cookbook because I live in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle.  Spooky!!  The actual cupcake is incredibly fluffy and moist with a strong vanilla flavor.  When baking, then don't form too much of a dome but just enough that they are a perfect  canvas for decorating.

Now the buttercream.  It's my forte, there is no skirting around that.  Earlier in the year I found out that I am pretty good at making buttercreams in most flavor combinations just off the top of my head.  I know, it's a gift, or what four years (or the baking induced "stress relieving" nights) at the University of Michigan taught me.  Recently I've been on a fresh fruit buttercream kick.  This results in a more naturally sweet buttercream (but don't discount the powdered sugar, there is still plenty of that) and I usually use less butter to achieve my desired consistency.  So maybe I can sell this buttercream off as "health food?"  Anyways, for this buttercream I used a combination of strawberries and raspberries.  While these fruits are both wonderful, they also have 'seeds' and must be smushed through a strainer before being beaten into buttercream.

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted from: More from Magnolia
Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I also used a vanilla bean, but that is completely optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream (preferably with an electric mixer) the butter until smooth and light yellow in color.  Gradually beat in the sugar until fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.  Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.  This is key: after each addition, make sure to beat enough to incorporate the ingredients, but do not overbeat.  (This will create gluten and you will have rough and dry cupcakes)
5. Using a spring loaded ice cream scoop (or other preferred dispensing method), carefully dispense the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester is inserted into the center of the cupcake and comes out clean.

Strawberry/Raspberry Buttercream
Ingredients:

• 1 cup strawberries, cored and halved
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1 stick butter, softened
• splash of vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar (approx).

Directions:

1. Puree strawberries and raspberries in a food processor until smooth.  Smush through a large strainer into a bowl.  Add softened butter and vanilla extract, beat until well incorporated.
2. Add powdered sugar slowly, about 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, until desired consistency is reached (needs to be thicker for piping).
3. Can be stored in a air tight container in a refrigerator for up to a week.

Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

Last Monday it was Cory's (pardon me, I need to roll my r's for his name…Corrrrrrrrrrry's) birthday and if made me a cake for my birthday so of course he would get a cake back!  Sunday while watching Life Kate, thankfully, reminded me of Cory's birthday.  I immediately sprung over to the kitchen and began whipping up a small batch of cupcakes.  I have a "stand-by" vanilla cake recipe, but I wanted to try something new… and I didn't want to have to figure out how much I would have to reduce my cake recipe to make 12 cupcakes.  I decided to try out the fabulous Joy the Baker's recipe - and it was already formatted for 12 cupcakes!  Lucky me!

But I didn't want to use any old buttercream recipe.  Lately I have really gotten into experimenting with different buttercream flavors - in particular ones with fresh fruit.  After quizzing Cory on what kinds of fruit he likes, we landed on strawberry.  I might like to note that at this point I don't think Cory knew he was getting cupcakes.  I must say… this is probably one of my favorite buttercream's I have EVER made.  It tasted light and the sweetness came mainly from the strawberries. (note: I made mine a lot thinner because I wanted it to look like a "drippy" glaze, but it'll easily thicken up with more powdered sugar)

The next day Kate and Zenka brought the cupcakes up to North Campus and the text I received a few hours later confirmed my suspicion - Cory LOVED the cupcakes!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

adapted from Joy the Baker

makes 12 cupcakes

  

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• a scant 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or use a handheld beater and beat on slow speed until the mixture is a sandy consistency and everything is combined.  Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.  
3. Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated.  Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side or the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Continue mixing until the batter is smooth.  Just a few minutes.  Do not overmix.
4. Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin tins, dividing between the 12 cups.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.  

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

• 1 cup of strawberries, washed and cut into fourths
• 5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar (more of less depending on the thickness you desire)

1. Beat butter with a hand mixer until fluffy, set aside.
2. Puree strawberries in a food processor, beat into butter until well combined.
3. Beat in powered sugar ¼ of a cup at a time.  When desired consistency is reached, begin frosting cooled cupcakes.

Thumbprint Cookies

First post of September and first post for the school year! I just moved into my new house... so I haven't been able to do much cooking. I made my soft pretzels for the neighbors and my housemates two nights ago and the night before that I made double chocolate chip cookies (sadly, I don't think I'll be posting the recipe anytime soon. It's my recipe and it's pretty much under lock and key. But if you specifically approach me, I'll maybe share the recipe with you). Last night I made Thumbprint Cookies for the first Les Voyageurs potluck tonight! I had a bunch of apricot jam I needed to use up - so this was a perfect solution. I also have a lot of molasses to use up - so I may be making gingerbread muffins sometime soon.... There is a whole bunch of thumbprint cookie recipes, so I combined yummy traits from all of them to create this recipe.

Now that the school year is beginning, I won't be able to post as many recipes. I'll try and get two up a week.

Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

• Any sort of Jam (I used apricot and strawberry)
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 oz (6 tbsp) cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag with the jam. Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese, egg, and vanilla one at a time until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beater(s) as necessary.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Working with heaping teaspoon of dough, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb. If you find your thumb sticking to the cookies, wet it a bit with water.
5. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are just beginning to set and are lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and, working quickly, gently reshape the indentation with the bottom of a teaspoon measure. Prepare the pastry bag and carefully fill each indentation with about 1/2 tsp of the jam. Put the cookies back in the oven and continue to bake until lightly golden, 12-14 minutes.
6. Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes, before serving.