Craving for Cupcakes

Let’s Get Started

To start off my blogging experience, and to give you all something fun and light at heart to make and share with those you know and care about. I have decided to make two types of cupcakes… not because I wanted too, but because I am having my sister, brother and a close friend over and not everyone likes the same kind of cupcake… So - Lemon Cupcakes with a Lemon Frosting and Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with a Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting it is! Now – some cakes I make call for cake flour, which still requires you add the wet and some of the magic that you want to put into your special cakes, other recipes I have found call for all purpose flour. I don’t have a preference between the two, however I like having both on hand.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Batter:

1 1/2 Cups Self-Rising Flour (This flour has all of the ingredients you would have to otherwise add to a dry mix - the baking powder and baking soda)

1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Sticks of Butter

2 Cups of Sugar

4 Eggs

1 Cup of Milk

Vanilla Beans (Directions for Vanilla Beans listed Below)

Extracting Vanilla Beans

Take a small pot of water and place two vanilla bean pods in the pot, allow water to become warm, not boiling. Remove the vanilla beans from pot when they are soft and plyable, do not leave in water long enough to break the skin. Take pods and place them on a plate, slice the vanilla bean pod from tip to tip. Scrape the vanilla out of the pod.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature

1 Stick of Butter

3 Cups of Powdered Sugar

Vanilla Beans

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl combine all your flour. In a large bowl, cream your butter until smooth, add the sugar in slowly until light and fluffy.

Add Eggs to sugar and butter mixture one at a time

Mix in the dry ingredients in three parts, each time, alternate adding milk

Add in Vanilla Beans

Be sure to mix in but do not over beat your batter, the cupcakes will not rise if you do.

Take a spatula and go around the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is mixed in before you scoop out batter.

Place your batter in the paper lined muffin tin 

Bake your cupcakes for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from after poking center of cupcake.

Allow cupcakes to cool completely before adding icing.

For Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat Butter until smooth and creamy (1-2 minutes)

Mix in the Cream Cheese

Continue to mix these two ingredients until they have both completely combined and are smooth.

Add in Powdered Sugar (by now the mixture should be a little loose but firm.

Add in Vanilla beans and mix Frosting with a spatula.

Add frosting to cupcakes

Let Cupcakes set with frosting for at least 15 minutes before serving, this allows the frosting to settle on to the cupcake and makes a better presentation.