Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

For me, this is the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe. They are so light and fluffy and are very easy to make, even for people new to baking. This is a really good recipe for if your having friends or family round as it makes around 16-18 cupcakes. You can decorate them however you want and could even add food colouring to the buttercream for a pop of colour.

Ingredients:

175g Self Raising Flour
175g Softened Butter
175g Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Recipe:

1. Begin by pre-heating the oven to 170 degrees celsius, and preparing your tray by placing approximately 16-18 cupcake cases.

2. Next mix the butter and sugar until light and creamy. (It's easiest to mix with an electric mixer, however doing it by hand is fine!)

3. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla essence and continue to mix until the batter is yellow.

4. Add the flour and mix for about 2-4 minutes, so that the mixture is combined. The longer  mixing time allows more air to get into the mixture making it light and fluffy, which is key for this recipe.

5. Pour the mixture evenly as possible into the cupcake cases. I like to use an ice cream scoop so that I get an even distribution between the cases.

6. Bake for 14 minutes (or until slightly golden on top, and they bounce back slightly). Once cooked remove from oven and place on cooling rack (don't worry if you haven't got one, they will just take a little longer to cool). 

7. Once cool decorate with vanilla buttercream (recipe below, I've also used edible silver balls and sprinkle, but you can decorate however you like)


Ingredients:

250g Icing Sugar
80G Unsalted Butter
A few drops of vanilla essence
A drop of milk (if needed)

Recipe for Vanilla Buttercream:

1. Mix together the icing sugar and butter until the mixture is well mixed

2. Next add a few drops of vanilla essence ( this could be substituted for another flavour like strawberry essence) 

3. If needed add a few drops of milk to slightly thin the mixture and to make it even creamier.

4. Once combined, put into a piping bag and pipe each cupcake (Of course you don't have to pipe the icing, you could just use a pallet knife or spatula)