Vanilla Cupcakes

I have bookmarked a couple of recipes to try from the first edition of the Baked and Delicious Magazine and first up were the Iced Vanilla Cupcakes.  So on with the new oven while Mom and I got all the ingredients ready to have some fun. Everything was going fine until we got to icing the cupcakes.  We followed the recipe verbatim so we are not sure what went wrong.  You would think it’s the first time we had done this!  It led to what looked like an explosion with the mess and a fit of giggles the entire afternoon.  Mom and I have decided that we won’t be using the icing recipe again though.

Iced Vanilla Cupcakes

taken from Baked and Delicious

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter sofented – we used salted butter
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs beaten
125g self raising flour sifted
2 tbsp milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp semi skimmed or whole milk
1tsp vanilla extract

Icing

75g unsalted butter softened -we used salted
2tbsp semi skimmed or whole milk
1tsp vanilla extract
225g icing sugar sifted
Raspberries to decorate – we used a little grated chocolate and chocolate drops

Method

1. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy.
2. Whisk in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, adding a spoonful of the measured flour to prevent the mixture curdling.
3. Use a metal spoon to gently fold in the remaining flour and then add the milk and vanilla extract.
4. Stand the [silicone] cupcake cases in a bun tin or on a large baking tray and divide the mixture equally between them (spoon the mixture into 12 muffin tins lined with paper cases).
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C until well risen and golden.  This will take between 15 and 20 minutes.  Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Icing

1. In a large bowl beat the butter until completely soft.  Tip in the milk and vanilla extract, add half the sifted icing sugar and beat for several minutes.  Add the remaining  sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy  If you are adding food colouring, put it in a drop by drop until you get the desired shade you want.
2. Take a good dolllop of icing onto an angled palette knife and spread it from the top to one side of the cake.
3. Repeat for the other side until the cake is covered in a good layer.
4. Finally, working from the centre outwards, move the palette knife anti-clockwise to create a decorative swirl.  If you don’t achieve perfection, pretty decorations or fresh berries cover a multitude of sins!  Apply straight after icing, before the topping sets.

See there in their last instruction, they are already setting you up for a hard time with their icing.  Maybe that’s why they recommend decorating them?