Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes

A couple years ago, my sister surprised me with some cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery for my birthday while we were hanging out in NYC.  And they were delish!  Recently, the recipe for Magnolia Bakery's vanilla cupcakes ended up in my inbox from a blog I follow so the first free opportunity I had I was eager to try them out.  The recipe is posted here.

I halved the recipe and made some changes with ingredients that I had at home.  The cupcake was one of the best home recipes for vanilla cupcakes I ever made.  It was light but not airy like box mixes and still had substance to it.  It had a soft texture and great flavor.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

i took a bite out of this one!

I didn't make my own frosting this time.  Luckily I found a can of Pillsbury Dark Chocolate frosting in my pantry.  Since I promised the kids they could eat a cupcake after dinner and at that point I hadn't even prepared dinner yet, there was no time for homemade frosting.  Hubby loves canned frosting anyways and secretly, so do I.  I guess it's no secret now.

According to Magnolia bakery, it takes about 20 hours to perfect their frosting swirl.  As a mother of 2 toddlers, I don't have that kind of free time.  What you see below is what I "perfected" in 2 minutes, i.e. this is the second cupcake I "swirled". 

Perfect frosting or not, my kids loved the cupcakes, as you can tell by P's chocolate covered face.

P likes to lick off the frosting first

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature cut into 1" cubes
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1/4 c. low fat milk + 1/4 c. heavy cream)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups self-rising flour (recommended: Aunt Jemima)
5/8 cups cake flour (recommended: Pure as Snow)
1 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.
2. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners.
3. Whisk eggs together in a stainless steel bowl, set aside.
4. Combine milk and vanilla, set aside.
5. In a mixing bowl, combine the self-rising flour, cake flour, and sugar. Using the paddle attachment, mix for 2 minutes on low speed.
6. With the mixer on low speed add the butter one cube at a time - do not rush.
7. Add 1/2 of the milk and vanilla mixture.
8. Scrape the bowl and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.
9. Slowly pour eggs and the rest of the milk mixture into the bowl on low speed.
10. Scrape bowl and continue mixing for 1-2 minutes.
11. Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pans.
12. Bake for 15 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Makes 18 cupcakes

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tablespoons whole milk

1. Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla.
2. Gradually add sugar one cup at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl often. When the mixture starts to thicken and appears dry add 2 tablespoons of milk.
3. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy about 2-4 minutes. Add more milk as needed if you want a thinner consistency. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly.
4. Store the icing at room temperature. Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.