Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Though I’m typically a chocolate girl, I couldn’t help but fall in love with these whimsical cupcakes. They’re simple, colorful and absolutely delicious!

Spring the recipe!

Ingredients
for the cupcakes
3/4 C butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon extract

for the frosting
1/2 C butter (1 stick)
8 oz cream cheese (1 block)
3 C confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º. Bring the butter and the eggs to room temperature before mixing. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together using a hand mixer. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Then, stir in all of the dry ingredients until just combined. Slowly pour in the milk and the extracts while beating constantly. Line two muffin tins with cupcake papers. Fill 2/3 of each space with batter. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the cupcakes are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the tins to racks to cool. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting. Using a hand mixer, cream together the sugar, the cream cheese, the confectioner’s sugar, and the vanilla extract. Add sugar to bring frosting to the appropriate consistency. Likewise, if the frosting is too stiff, a splash of milk can be mixed in to thin it.

To apply the frosting, use a decorator’s bag to pipe on the frosting. Make sure you don’t overfill the bag. Half a cup is about all that should go in. If you use a measuring cup to fill the bag, and you cuff it over your hand while you fill it, refilling isn’t much trouble. Plus, it will keep your icing from oozing out the top of the bag. Use a Wilton 1M star tip to achieve the look pictured. Starting in the center of each cupcake, swirl the icing in a tight spiral until the top is covered.

Since these cupcakes use cream cheese frosting, keep them refrigerated until you serve them, then bring them up to room temperature before eating.

Source: Appoggiatura