Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes (makes 4 cupcakes)



Not so long ago I was having a major cupcake craving (ever get one of those?) and wanted to bake a batch but realized I had a little problem.  All the recipes I have make a full batch of either 18 or 24 cupcakes.  That is great in most situations and cupcakes tend to freeze very well, but having that many buttercream topped goodies within easy reach is just not a good thing for this girl (read: no self control) ;)


So, when I came across this recipe I knew my problem was solved!  A perfectly simple, vanilla cupcake and buttercream recipe that only yields enough batter and frosting for 4 cupcakes (or 8 minis)...Yes!  I slightly adapted the recipe by using cake flour to lighten the cake (all purpose flour will work too) and heavy cream instead of milk to make the frosting a little richer and it worked beautifully.  

The hearts were made out of fondant which I dyed pink and cut out with a small heart cookie cutter.

So, if you are still looking for a special treat for your Valentine's day make these!


Vanilla Cupcakes (yields 4 cupcakes)
2 egg whites
4 Tbs. sugar
4 Tbs. butter, melted and cooled
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup  cake flour (can sub AP flour if needed)
1/2 heaping tsp. of baking powder
2 pinches of salt
3 Tbs. milk
1.  Line a cupcake pan with 4 cupcake liners.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In large bowl, whisk together the egg whites and sugar.   Stir in the melted butter and vanilla.


3.  All at once, stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.  Keep stirring until everything is smooth and well-combined.  Add milk and stir until incorporated into the batter.


3.   Fill each cupcake liner with batter.  I love my large cookie scoop for this. If you don’t have one, simply divide the batter evenly between the 4 cupcakes.


4.  Bake  12-14 minutes.  The cupcake should pass the toothpick test.  Cool Completely.
Vanilla Buttercream (frosting for 4 Cupcakes)
4 Tbs. butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2-3 tsp. heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1.  Beat or stir briskly the butter,  milk and vanilla.
2.  On low, or slowly, add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time.  Incorporate your powdered sugar before adding the next installment.  Add more milk if needed.
3.  Pipe onto cupcakes and eat!
Cupcakes are best the day they are made.  Refrigerate if you will not be eating them in about 6-8 hours.


Source:  WiskTogether

12 comments:

  1. wish you could make these chocolate!!

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  2. Great recipe, the texture of the cake is really nice! Thanks!

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  3. These were great and I love that you don't end up with a ton of them! I added three puréed strawberries to the batter, a bit of strawberry jam to the frosting, and cut the vanilla in half so you could taste the strawberries more. I also used a whole egg instead of two whites and it worked fine. The texture of the cake is great, thanks for the recipe! I'll be making these regularly.

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  4. These are seriously the BEST cupcakes I have ever made/tasted. Thanks for an awesome recipe!

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  5. How full should the cupcake liners be though?

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  6. Fill about 2/3 of the way....might have batter leftover for 1 more...:-)

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  7. Great recipe! I'm definitely making these for Valentines Day :)

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  8. Fabulous! Just the right amount of batter for four! The frosting was a bit much the first time around, so I had to frost heavily. (I didn't use a piping bag, I just used a plain butter knife) Not that frosting heavily is a bad thing for my family, who will eat anything that has frosting on it! I try to fill each one with three tablespoons--you get four heaping cupcake servings, but filling it 2/3 full also works well if wanting 4 average sized and 1 smaller one.

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  9. Is it weird that this just helped me with my math homework?

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  10. Fantastic, I cant' wait to bake these together with my daughter this weekend. she's been asking for this for few weeks now, ever since should found that cupcake baking game Papa's cupcakeria. Love the recipe. thanks huge!

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