Happy birthday Paul, a.k.a. PDiddy!!! My husband’s 48th birthday was today. And even though we’re in this whole pandemic situation, we made the best of it and he had a wonderful day!
Paul’s favorite flavoring is vanilla (not sure how we grew to love each other considering I have an intense addiction to chocolate). So when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he promptly and without much thought said, “Vanilla.” Frosting of choice was chocolate to which I promptly and without much thought said, “Perfect!”
Now should I be at all concerned with the fact that my husband asked for the exact same cake that my father asks for his birthday every year? Hmmm???
Sorry, I digress. This is a fantastic recipe… so easy, so tasty, so devilishly fattening. If you’re not a big fan of butter and sugar, this is not for you. If you don’t mind adding the butter and sugar directly to your thighs, bake away!
My notes: Um, do ya think I read the entire recipe before baking today? No, of course not! So when it called for cake flour and I stood in the aisle of Vons trying to find cake flour in a completely wiped out section, it was funny. Conveniently enough, there’s this thing called the internet. I looked up substitutions for cake flour and learned that for one cup of all-purpose flour minus two tablespoons, you can add two tablespoons of corn starch. Huh. Who knew? This recipe says to take away tablespoons of flour, add three tablespoons of cornstarch. Choose whichever tickles your fancy.
I asked PDiddy what sized cupcake he wanted and he chose the mini (thank goodness because I would absolutely eat a regular sized cupcake, and would just have to lather the buttercream to my arse). The recipe filled an entire mini-cupcake tray plus four regular sized cupcakes. The amount of frosting was plenty for all of them.
Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (recipe care of marshasbakingaddiction.com)
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cupcakes: 1 and 1/2 cups (150g) cake flour*, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk (room temperature), 3/4 cup (150g) caster/granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter (melted), 1/2 cup (120g) Greek style yogurt
For the Frosting: 4 cups (500g) icing/powdered sugar, 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened, 1/2 cup (50g) cocoa powder, 2 – 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*Make your own cake flour! Measure out 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) of plain/all-purpose flour, remove 3 tablespoons, and replace with 3 tablespoons of cornflour/cornstarch. Sift well.
Leftover cupcakes can be stored, covered tightly, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Frosted or unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Cupcakes can be made 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature. Cover the frosting, and store in the fridge until ready to use.
