What do you do on a cold rainy day?  I heart heart heart cold rainy days.  When I have off of work that is.  They are my fav.  I could totally use one right now.

 

I love to sleep in late, listening to the sound of the rain.  I love sitting in the hammock on my back porch watching the rain come down in buckets.  I love the way it smells.  I love feeling trapped in my house by it.

 

I get a lot done on these types of days.  On just one of these such days a few months ago, I made some cupcakes.  My husband’s cousin was visiting for the first time in almost a year.  And for some reason when the two of them spend time together, they pig out.  Come to think of it, this happens with both cousins that we spend the most time with.

 

They wanted a bunch of junk food and I decided to make cupcakes.  While trying to decide on flavors and asking their opinions, she suggested plain white cupcakes.  At first I thought, no, too boring.  Then as I began to think about it I realized it was genius and I needed to seize the opportunity.  Building the perfect white cupcake would be the foundation of all future cupcakes of the non-chocolate variety.

 And they were good.  I decided to pop a raspberry on top of them, and frankly if you filled them with raspberry purée they would be like the best classic wedding cupcakes ever.  For realsies.

 

 

These were moist and delicious, adorable and simple.  They were phenomenal.  To be honest I don’t even know the exact recipe I used for the frosting.  I had frozen egg whites, which I thawed in hot water.  I mixed in sugar until it “felt” right to me.  Cooked it over a double boiler until it seemed the right consistency and then whipped it up until stiff peaks formed and it was cooled.  Then I added butter until it felt like the buttercream I know and love.  A splash of vanilla and it was done.

 

Some people are intimidated by swiss meringue buttercream.  Not I.  Be brave, mix mix mix until it’s no longer curdled and it will come out perfect every time.  I’ve never had a problem with it.  Ever.  It’s all about nerves.

 

Try these cupcakes.  It’s the building block for all sorts of cupcakes.  They’re good.  Real good.  And easy.  I had frosted perfect cupcakes from start to finish in an hour and a half.  Including frosting and cooling time.  True facts.

 

 

White Cupcakes

 

 

            Ingredients

 

 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour          

2 cups cake flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 sticks plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

6 eggs

 

           Directions

 

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12-cup muffin tins with baking cups.

2.     Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Stir milk and vanilla in another small bowl.  Beat butter in mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes.  Add sugar slowly while mixing.  Beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs 1 at a time, mixing after each addition.  Scrape bowl and beat until smooth.

3.     Reduce speed and slowly add 1/3 of flour mixture.  Alternate adding milk mixture and flour mixture until all ingredients added.   

4.     Divide batter among muffin tins.  Using a small cookie scoop is the easiest way to do this, filling each cup with two large scoops (one scoop if doing mini cupcakes).  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes (about 14 minutes for mini cupcakes).  Cool completely.  Frost with buttercream frosting.