The recent craziness in the world has led to people needing outlets. For me, both baking and shooting photos are a great distraction. Just before we moved into requiring distancing, a friend and I decided to get together and do some good ol' fashioned shooting. But, we required a subject. Can you see where I'm going with this?
I relied on a tried and true old recipe for yellow cake - one of my very old blog posts - that makes a delicious and simple cake. I've babbled before about how I admire single bowl recipes; there's no excuse for avoiding homemade options when you seriously just dump everything together in a bowl, scoop it into a cake pan, and let her bake. Who needs boxes??
The cake itself was a breeze, and I knew I wanted to go with vanilla for the sake of the photos, but decided to try something different. Something I've been really into the past few years is vanilla bean paste. It's used the same as vanilla extract, but it is slightly thicker (it has sugar in it) and has vanilla beans in it. I love the look of vanilla beans in a dessert. Think about when you get a bowl of vanilla ice cream and you can see the vanilla bean; you already know it's going to taste better.
So vanilla was the theme, and in addition I added some ground up vanilla beans. This was something I picked up from a farmer's market some time ago and use in recipes on occasion. I used it in my buttercream icing to showcase the vanilla a bit more, but alternatively you could use a little more of the vanilla bean paste or heck, throw some fresh vanilla in there.
I baked this little beauties, frosted em, and headed out to play around with cool lights and cameras. This shot is a promo for a cupcake action movie.
For the sake of color control, these mini cakes lost their wrappers early on (and my takeaway was to use white papers next time). Using some gels, we made these cupcakes models for a few hours. In this next scene, detective cupcakes are arriving at a strip club to investigate a recent cupcake disappearance.
And then we ate them.
Such a lovely way for a cupcake to go, right? But on to the part that really matters here. That icing! Phenomenal. Why would I ever make regular buttercream? I already use vanilla extract in every dessert, as is common, but focusing on that as the flavor was a truly good idea. I find vanilla to be a sophisticated flavor. It's not just adding sweetness, it's adding a unique touch.
The cake itself has proved to be tried and true several times over. I've made many varieties of it, including the ever-so-amazing Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes, but it had been a while since I'd stirred this one together. Thanks for the cheer, lil mini cakes.
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla beans (optional)
2 eggs
For the frosting:
1/2 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon ground vanilla beans (optional)
Instructions:
For the cake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt and mix. Add in milk, butter, and vanilla and beat using a hand or stand mixer for 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat for 3 minutes. Stir in ground vanilla beans. Pour into cake pans sprayed with nonstick baking spray and bake for 20-25 minutes, until you can poke the center of the cake with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
For the frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter using a mixer for 3-5 minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, water, vanilla bean paste, and vanilla beans, beating on high between each new addition. Mix until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Frost cupcakes as desired once cool.
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