Vanilla Cupcake II

Billy Bakery’s Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake

After the tremendous success I had baking Billy Bakery's Chocolate Cupcake, I vowed to try their Vanilla Cupcake. And.... it was well worth it. This cupcake is delicious. Is it better than Magnolia's? Well, depends on your preference.

Without dwelling too much into comparison, I'll say that the Vanilla Vanilla cupcakes turned out moist and light. They were a delight to eat. Magnolia's recipe was a bit richer (kinda like pound cake)

I think in cupcake form, I might prefer the Billy Bakery recipe. However, for a full cake, I think Magnolia's recipe would be divine!



Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Billy Bakery’s Chocolate Cupcakes

Billy Bakery is another celebrity favorite bakery in Manhattan. The founder worked at Magnolia's and made tweeks that he saw fit and opened up his own equally popular bakery.

Their press page even has a quote from Katie Holmes saying, "Billy's is my spot...The day I got my place I had cupcakes brought to me by a friend. I had to promise myself to go only once a week, because otherwise I'll be a moose."

The question now is, are they worth the hype? Answer: Oh HELL yes!

I found a recipe online of Billy Bakery's Chocolate Cupcakes that were SO good that I know in the upcoming week I'll be trying their Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake Recipe and comparing it to Magnolia's. It's that good. I iced half of mine with Nutella Icing (expect the recipe in a post of it's own) and half with regular colored vanilla icing.

Here's the recipe below:

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter (8 ounces)
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1 cup light brown sugar (7 3/4 ounces)
4 large eggs (1 at a time)
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (at room temperature)*
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Equipment:
1 small bowl for melting chocolate
1 large bowl for preparing batter
1 medium bowl for storing flour
1 pitcher (or any other vessel) for storing buttermilk
1 whisk or electric mixer
2 muffin trays
24 cupcake liners
1 Spoon/icecream scooper for pouring batter

Recipe:
1. Melt the 6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate. Allow for it to cool for 15 minutes.

While waiting for the chocolate to cool....
2. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda to the 2 cups of cake flour. Set aside.
3. Add the 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract to the 1 cup of buttermilk. Set aside.
4. Cream the butter, granulate and brown sugar together.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time.
Once the chocolate has cooled...
6. Add the melted and cooled chocolate to the butter-sugar mixture.
7. Alternate adding the flour-baking soda and buttermilk-vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture.
8. Place cupcake paper in each cup and fill each cup with 1 leveled off scoop (such as an ice cream scooper)
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes
10. Ice cupcakes after they have cooled. I used Nutella Frosting for my cupcakes. I'll share the recipe in the next post.

*If you don't have buttermilk, you can make some at home from whole milk using either lemon juice OR vinegar. For 1 cup of whole milk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar OR lemon juice and let it stand for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, you have buttermilk!