As I mentioned earlier, you really need to have cake to make some occasions - birthday parties, etc. - work, although you never need an excuse to make the cake in the first place. These are tasty, basic cupcakes that will be welcomed both at birthday parties and as an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee, so they're a good choice whether you need or just want a cupcake fix. The cake is light, tender and has a lovely buttery flavor from the buttermilk. The frosting is a quick and easy type of buttercream that is a great topping for just about any flavor of cake, although I think that the contrast of vanilla cake with chocolate frosting is a classic one.
The recipe is after the jump.
Buttermilk Cupcakes1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 350F. Place liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it looks creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract until mixture is smooth.
Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until almost combined. Add buttermilk and stir, again until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir until all ingredients are mixed in and no flour remains.
Fill muffin cups 2/3-3/4 full with batter.
Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool for about 5 minutes, then remove from the muffin pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Easy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk (any kind)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat, with an electric mixer, until frosting is creamy, 3-5 minutes. (Statrt at a low speed to avoid getting sugar everywhere!)
[recipe by Nicole Weston]
