Very Vanilla Cupcakes With Swiss Meringue Buttercream
tag : Cupcakes
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I am not a fan of St. Patrick’s Day.
My dislike of the Irish holiday began in elementary school. There, I quickly realized that St. Patrick’s Day was simply an excuse for mean kids to inflict pain….and get away with it. I remember getting to school and frantically fashioning a shamrock out of green paper and clipping it to my shirt to avoid the wrath of these mean kids. Pity the poor child that does not realize it is St. Patrick’s Day and doesn’t make it to the art supplies in time. They get pinched. ALL. DAY. LONG.
When I finally reached the age that my classmates outgrew the pinching (mostly), I had the unfortunate experience of watching the movie Leprechaun. No longer did I think of leprechauns as cute little rainbow hunters. The Lucky Charms guy was just a cartoon character, created to sell cereal (marshmallows, really….who eats the cereal part). Real leprechauns were EVIL. For a good year I was constantly on guard for a leprechaun attack. It never happened, but I like to think that some good defense strategies came out of the ordeal.
As a young adult, my grudge against St. Patty’s was reconfirmed after a disastrous date at a Pub Crawl.
Note to all single young women: St. Patrick’s Day is the unofficial holiday of all college aged men (and some a little older). On this day, they choose to go totally crazy. Stay home with your doors locked and your phone off. Do not answer your phone until about noon the following day. This gives them time to complete the transformation back to their normal selves. Trust me. Please.
In spite of all my misgivings, I would not be a respectable food blogger if I let a holiday pass without creating treats in it’s honor. I had been wanting to try the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake recipe for some time, so I figured this was a good excuse. I decided to make a frosting recipe recently featured on Annie’s Eats blog. She just raved about this frosting, and since I have been using the same buttercream recipe for years, I thought this might be a welcome change.
It wasn’t.
Although I loved the silky texture of the frosting, it just wasn’t sweet enough for me. However, if you like your frosting not very sweet, you may enjoy it. So, don’t let me discourage you from giving it a try.
The cupcakes, however, were absolutely delicious. Reviews of The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook said that the price of the book was worth this recipe alone. I’d have to say they were right!! I will definitely be making these again, and I recommend that you do too.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350.
Line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them three quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
Perhaps these will brighten your St. Patrick’s Day.
Happy Monday!!
Thanks for visiting my blog! I realize you could be doing more important things with your time. Like watching the news or washing socks. I hope you stay awhile. Much more fun than socks, I promise. 
