Cupcake of the Month: Vanilla Cupcakes

My daughter chose this month's cupcake flavor because I was making these sweets for her first grade Valentine Party at school.  What 6 year old can resist a vanilla cupcake, right?  This is THE best white vanilla cake there is.  I have provided two options for vanilla icing.  One is an Italian buttercream and the other is a Swiss Meringue buttercream.  Both are delicious - not cloyingly sweet like American buttercream made with butter and powdered sugar - but the Swiss meringue buttercream is the one I go to for consistent results.

White Vanilla Cake 

adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman

makes about 35 cupcakes

3 cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (9 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cups milk, divided into 1 cup and 1/3 cup portions
5 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 3 1-dozen-capacity cupcake pans with cupcake liners.  

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the mixer on low speed, blend well. Add the butter and 1 cup of the milk and mix to blend. Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with the vanilla extract and the remaining 1/3 cup milk. Add this to the batter in 2 or 3 additions, scraping down the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate. Using a cupcake batter scoop, fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Lemon Variation: to make lemon cupcakes, add 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to the batter.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

6 ounces egg whites
12 ounces granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 sticks or one pound butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
4  ounces melted and cooled dark chocolate

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs whites, sugar and salt.  Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water.  The bowl should not touch the water.   Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from the heat and place the bowl onto your stand mixer and whisk at med-high speed until the mixture comes to room temperature (feel the outside of the bowl to gauge the temp).   Replace the whisk with the paddle attachment and reduce the speed to medium.  Add butter one stick at a time. When all of the butter is added, turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl (at this point the buttercream might look curdled, but don’t worry, it will turn creamy). Whisk the mixture on high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed again, add the vanilla, and mix until incorporated.


Vanilla Italian Buttercream
by Katherine Seeley/Fine Cooking

This basic vanilla buttercream can be flavored in an almost endless variety of ways; see Variations below.
Yields 7-1/2 to 8 cups enough to fill and frost a 9-inch four-layer cake or about 5 dozen cupcakes

5 large egg whites
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. light corn syrup
1 lb., 4 oz. (2-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla extract

Place the egg whites in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium-high speed until foamy. Sprinkle in 6 Tbs. of the sugar and beat on high speed to medium peaks (the whites should be smooth, full, and shiny, and the peaks should curl a little). Turn off the mixer.

Combine the remaining 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar and the corn syrup in a medium (3-quart) saucepan over medium high heat, stirring briefly to dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook just until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.

Immediately remove the syrup from the heat, turn the mixer onto medium-high speed, and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a steady stream, being very careful not to let the syrup hit the whisk.

Reduce the speed to medium and continue whisking until the whites are barely warm, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the butter 1 Tbs. at a time. Add the vanilla and continue beating until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Variations:
In place of vanilla, add one of the following flavorings at low speed to prevent splattering, then increase speed to medium to blend.

Lemon: 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest.
Orange:1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. freshly squeezed orange juice, 1/4 cup finely grated orange zest (from about 3 large oranges).
Strawberry or Raspberry: 3/4 cup berry purée (purée the fruit in a blender and strain).
Liqueur: 2 Tbs. liqueur (such as Frangelico, Grand Marnier, Baileys, Kahlua, Chambord), more to taste.
Chocolate: 12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted.
Coffee: 1-1/2 Tbs. instant espresso dissolved in 1 Tbs. boiling water.