Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

These mini vanilla cupcakes are buttery, and sweet and they have a soft and tender crumb we are going to cover them with a vanilla-flavored confection frosting.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (113 grams/ 4Oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (175 grams/ 6.2Oz) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (180 grams/ 6.3Oz) cake flour, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) salt
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, at room temperature (whole (full fat) or 2% reduced-fat)

Confectioners Frosting

• 1/2 cup (113 grams/ 4Oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups (230 grams/ 8.1Oz) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
• 1-2 tablespoons milk or light cream (half and a half)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and line 36 mini muffin cups with paper liners. If you have a stand mixer use your paddle attachment or you can use your hand mixer for this. The first thing you will need is butter which is at room temperature you can use unsalted or salted butter. Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat the butter on medium speed until nice and smooth.The reason to beat the butter until soft is sometimes if you do not take your butter out earlier it could be hard so beating it softens it up. Add the granulated white sugar and pure vanilla extract (try to use purely because it has much better flavor than the imitation ones) to the beaten butter and beat on medium speed for a couple of minutes for the ingredients to get mixed together and get a little air into this mixture which in turn will make our mixture light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs that are at room temperature, one at a time, and beating well at medium speed after each addition. For your dry ingredients, in a separate bowl or on parchment paper sift the cake flour (if you do not have cake flour make your own by taking all-purpose flour and take out 3 tablespoons and replace it with 3 tablespoons of corn starch, and viola you have your cake flour) with the baking powder and salt but if you used salted butter leave out that salt.
3. So now you have your dry ingredients you will also need milk that is at room temperature. You can use whole like full-fat milk and that will give you a richer tasting cupcake or if you want to cut off the fat a little you can use 2% reduced fat. So add the flour in three additions and alternate that with the milk in two.
4. Add about 1/3 of your flour beat that in slow speed not to spill anything then pour in half of your milk and beat it in. then add in 1/3 of your flour again beat it in and add in the rest of your milk and beat it in then scrape the sides of your bowl and the bottom then add in the rest of your flour and beat and then you are done.
5. You can bake the cupcakes in stages, using an ice cream scoop or spoon or piping bag fill the muffin cups to about 3/4 full if you used an ice cream scoop and if your aim is not too good you can use a spoon and even it out and bake for about 10-12 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. You can rotate them about halfway through. (Always check a few minutes before the stated baking time. Do not overbake or the cupcakes will be dry.) Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. For the confectioner frosting or buttercream is the easiest of the frosting butter and sugar.
6. In the bowl of your electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), add in your unsalted or salted room temperature and beat the butter until nice and smooth. And periodically scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl. Next, you will need powdered or icing sugar. You can either use organic powdered sugar if you do not like the corn starch and grittiness in the other regular icing sure but it contains the lumps you have to sift it.
7. For the vanilla add the pure vanilla extract and beat on low speed until incorporated then beat on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy check the consistency and maybe add a little bit of milk to it. If it is a little thick star by adding 1 tablespoon of half and a half and beat it in. Keep adding and beating until you get the pipping consistency.
8. Fill a piping bag with the frosting, fitted with a decorative tip, get all the air out twist it and you can do the swirl. But just put it in the middle and pipe it, you can divide the frosting and add food color on the frosting so you have variety. These cupcakes are best the day they are made that is when they are really soft, but they can be covered and stored for a couple of days. Or they can be frozen. When needed take them out and let them sit till room temperature and you can eat them.