Teeny, tiny vanilla cupcakes tend to bring smiles to everyone’s faces. They are the quintessential suburban sweets dessert: bite-sized, classic, easy to make and delicious. It took many attempts to perfect this recipe as made-from-scratch cakes tend to be dryer than their Duncan Hines counterparts, but these little gems are both moist and airy. I knew I got this right when my choosy 4 year old nephew had multiple helpings! Best of all, this recipe makes exactly 24 minis, so you won’t have a plethora of extras. Housed in a disposable container (like this one http://ow.ly/OTtZs ), they are the perfect treats to bring to play dates or pot lucks. Just make sure your mini baking cups fit perfectly into your mini muffin tin. I use 1.25 inch Wilton cups (see http://ow.ly/OTu7s)
Ingredients
- INGREDIENTS FOR CUPCAKES:
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2/3 white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2/3 cups cake flour
- ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- INGREDIENTS FOR VANILLA FROSTING:
- 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- DIRECTIONS FOR CUPCAKES:
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill a 24-cup mini cupcake pan with liners.
- In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and oil and mix until combined.
- Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Mix in the buttermilk.
- Combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add to the bowl and mix just until incorporated. It’s ok to see a little flour in the batter. Stir the visible flour into the batter gently. Avoid over mixing.
- Carefully spoon batter into mini muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool 15 minutes before carefully removing cakes from pans. Cool completely before frosting.
- DIRECTIONS FOR FROSTING:
- To make frosting, combine all ingredients into a bowl. With an electric mixer, beat ingredients together until smooth.
INGREDIENTS FOR CUPCAKES:
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cups cake flour
½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
INGREDIENTS FOR VANILLA FROSTING:
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS FOR CUPCAKES:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Fill a 24-cup mini cupcake pan with liners.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and oil and mix until combined.
Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Mix in the buttermilk.
Combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add to the bowl and mix just until incorporated. It’s ok to see a little flour in the batter. Stir the visible flour into the batter gently. Avoid over mixing.
Carefully spoon batter into mini muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool 15 minutes before carefully removing cakes from pans. Cool completely before frosting.
DIRECTIONS FOR FROSTING:
To make frosting, combine all ingredients into a bowl. With an electric mixer, beat ingredients together until smooth.
