Vanilla Cupcakes (Oh! I love them.....)

After my happy experiences with the Blueberry n Banana Muffins and the Mangoes n' Figs Muffins, I decided to learn cupcakes. Both Rj n' me, we love vanilla cupcakes. Ok, I stand corrected, he loves it more than me. We used to buy them often before, but he turned sugar conscious a while ago n' we stopped buying them. I baked these babies n' he is begging for more on most days. Ever since I tried them the first time, I have made them twice again after that. That's how good this recipe is.





The recipe source? Ria's Collection. If you check her blog, on the homepage it self, you will see these oh! so pretty vanilla cupcakes she had baked recently with a friend. I had visited her blog to check out another recipe, but I saw these n' fell in love instantly. I just had to try them, n' the cupcakes comes out perfectly. The texture is just great. I didn't use the chocolate frosting, that will go well with this, just coz we like them plain. The lesson I learned from it? Find a reliable source for good simple baking recipes n' I can get over my fear and have good results. I haven't changed the recipe much, I have just reduced the amount of salt by half from Ria's recipe. With this I learnt the simple n' yummy basic cupcakes. My sincere thank you to Ria for sharing such a nice recipe.



Ingredients:
(Makes about 16 cupcakes if you are using big cupcake liners)
1. All purpose flour: 2 cups
2. Baking powder: 2 tsp
3. Salt: 1/4 tsp (omit if you are using salted butter)
4. Castor sugar: 1 cup
5. Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup (room temperature)
6. Eggs: 2nos
7. Milk: 1/2 cup (room temperature)
8. Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Method:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F. Keep the cupcake trays also ready by placing the cupcake liners in them.

Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients (Flour, Baking Powder and Salt) together, if possible, thrice.

Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar for 3 mins.Add in the eggs one by one and beat it will for 1 minute after each addition. (I'm guessing the time is mentioned coz we need to get the consistency right, I loved that bit of precision in the recipe. Great for an amateur like me.)

Step 4: Next with the motor running,add the sifted flour and milk alternately starting and ending with flour.By now the batter should be light and fluffy.

Step 5: Spoon it into the cupcake liners, about 2/3 rd's full, which will be about 2 1/2 tbsp.

Step 6: Bake for 20-25 mins or till the top is lightly golden brown in colour and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (it took mine only about 20mins)

Step 7: Remove from the tin immediately and let it cool completely before frosting (if you opt to frost it).







Honestly, I loved this recipe n' it helps me produce great results. In a span of 3 weeks, I have made this three times. Having guests at home helps. :) Happy cooking!!! or better still Happy Baking!!! :)