I ‘cheated’ and doctored up a vanilla cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines French Vanilla mix) since I was a little short on time, but below is my current favorite Vanilla cupcake recipe!
Vanilla Cupcakes – adapted slightly from Two Sugar Bugs’ ‘Simply Vanilla Cupcakes’ recipe! Check out Tasia’s site; she is an amazing lady with a beautiful blog!
Vanilla Cupcakes:
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk - I used whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
Cupcake pan
24 cupcake liners (or baker’s floured cooking spray)
( See Tasia’s recipe for the directions if using the scratch recipe above!)
If using cake mixes, preheat oven to 350 and combine cake mix with ½ cup melted butter, 4 eggs, and 1 cup of buttermilk.
Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 of the way (using a large cookie scoop to transfer the batter into the cupcake liners makes this a quick and easy process otherwise you can use two tablespoons).
Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow them to cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
The hang time while your cupcakes are cooling is a great time to make your frosting!
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:
8 oz (one package) cream cheese, softened
16 Tablespoons (two sticks) butter, softened
6-7 c powdered sugar
2-4 Tablespoons milk
1 T clear vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt (if using unsalted butter)
5 large drops yellow gel food coloring (I prefer Americolor)
(Save and add later!) ¼ cup black cocoa powder (for the cupcake centers – you can also use black gel food color but I think the cocoa powder works better – and tastes better!)
Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. I recommend making it fairly thick for this recipe, so that the frosting petals will hold their shape. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined. Mix in food coloring until frosting is a deep sunflower yellow.
Additional Supplies/Equipment:
- Cupcake pan(s) (this pan set from Amazon is well-rated and under $15 for 2 12-pans!)
- 24 cupcake liners
- large ice cream / cookie scoop
- Small piping bag & small leaf (Ateco 352) or teardrop tip and a small star tip – this set contains both the teardrop and star tip types and reusable bags and has been my favorite for 3+ years now!
- Optional – large piping bag/tip + sprinkles of your choice (I used a black/gold mix from Fancy Sprinkles very similar to this one)
Onto the fun part – decorating!
I recommend watching the video for reference here; some decorating techniques are easier to watch than read! Transfer yellow frosting to a piping bag fitted with a leaf or teardrop tip, and pipe petals around the outermost cupcake edges. Repeat until about halfway into the cupcake center; 2-3 rows. Pipe dark frosting in small stars to make the sunflower centers; about a quarter-sized circle. I picked up my yellow frosting again at this point and added one more circle of petals to rim the center – optional, but I thought they looked a little more realistic with a few more petals near the center.
Uncramp your hand if needed, and repeat!
I also grabbed my large piping bag & large star tip and piped about half the cupcakes when I was repeatedly cramping and running out of decorating time. Large swirls are easier and faster, and made a fun way to break up the cupcake designs!
And you’re done! 🙂 Step back and admire your gorgeous cupcakes! 😉
Make this recipe? Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!