Cupcakes!
I made yellow cupcakes with vanilla frosting for Guppy’s recent birthday, and dark chocolate cupcakes with the leftover frosting for Valentine’s Day. These cupcake recipes are easy, better than a box, and enjoyed by both kids and adults.
I can’t recommend Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country too highly, or too often. They are tremendous informational resources with reliable recipes. I’m a self-taught cook, and much of what I’ve learned is from both magazines and the companion television show, America’s Test Kitchen.
Yellow Cupcakes
from Cook’s Illustrated 1/2003
These cupcakes are best eaten the day they are made, but unfrosted extras will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To double the recipe, use 3 whole eggs and 2 yolks, and double the remaining ingredients.
Makes 12 cupcakes
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.
3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin using 2-ounce ice cream scoop or heaping tablespoon. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Use skewer or paring knife to lift cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
from Cook’s Illustrated 3/2005
This recipe does not double very well. Cupcakes made from a doubled batch and baked side by side in the oven yield a slightly compromised rise. It’s best to make two separate batches and bake each separately. Store leftover cupcakes (frosted or unfrosted) in the refirgerator, but let them come to room temperature before serving.
Makes 12 cupcakes
8 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (1 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup sour cream (4 ounces)
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (cups have 1/2-cup capacity) with baking-cup liners.
2. Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine.
4. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogenous and thick.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes. (To frost: Mound about 2 tablespoons icing on center of each cupcake. Using small icing spatula or butter knife, spread icing to edge of cupcake, leaving slight mound in center.)
Quick Vanilla Frosting
from Cook’s Country 4/2005
Cook’s Country
If the frosting gets too soft while you ice the cupcakes, put the frosting back in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
Makes about 4 cups, enough for 24 cupcakes
3/4 pound unsalted butter (3 sticks), at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon table salt
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 30 seconds. With mixer on low speed, add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and mix to combine. Increase speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low and add milk, vanilla, and salt. Increase speed to high and beat until fluffy, 30 more seconds.