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.

Strawberry Cupcake

Sprinkle’s Bakery Strawberry Cupcake

In my head, Sprinkle's is the Magnolia Bakery of LA. Their Strawberry cupcakes are notoriously delicious since Courtney Love blames them for her weight and when CNN asked Blake Lively what her favorite cupcakes were, she answered, "Sprinkles. It's the best in the whole wide world."

I decided to try their Strawberry Cupcake Recipe (which is supposed to be phenomenal in store). With Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes conquered and mastered by Magnolia Bakery and Billy Bakery, I figure why not take a test of what Zac Efron would taste like in the mind of Megan Fox. No idea what I'm talking about? Megan Fox was quoted telling Access Hollywood that she has a crush on Zac Efron because "[She] think[s] he'd taste like a Strawberry Cupcake."

Yield: 1 dozen
Cupcake Ingredients:
2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

Cupcake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

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!

Cupcake Decor

Idea’s for decorating cupcakes..Amateur Style

I've managed to decorate the Magnolia cupcakes using only vanilla and chocolate icing, a ziploc bag and food coloring. I'm sure I could have done a more professional job with the right equipment, but till I decide to invest in some tools--here's what I was able to do by stuffing some icing in a ziploc and cutting off the corners.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Cupcakes

Before I get started on the recipe, I feel that attention must be paid to the significance of Magnolia Bakery. Magnolia Bakery revolutionized cupcakes and has been credited for the "cupcake craze" in the early 90's that resulted in little couture cupcake boutiques to pop up throughout the country and probably played a role in cupcakes being the new replacement for the traditional wedding cake.

Magnolia Bakery, in NYC, is SO popular that no single customer can purchase more than 12 a day. They're THAT much in demand. It was even featured in Sex and the City--Carrie and Miranda ate cupcakes outside of it while discussing Carrie's latest crush! Naturally, I can't resist but putting the clip:



The founders of Magnolia Bakery published two baking books (to my knowledge), and I found this recipe for their Vanilla Cupcake from their first cookbook.

This recipe works. It's easy and there's just no way to screw up. Here you go:



Cook Time: 40 min
Yields: 24

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk ( I only had fat-free so I put 1/2 cup fat free and 1/2 cup half and half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

EQUIPMENT:
1 Large Bowl
1 Small Bowl
1 Electronic Mixer (you can mix by hand should you wish)
Measuring Cups
1 Muffin Tin Pan
24 Cupcake Liners


DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers
3. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer,cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy (about 3 min).
5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beat well after each addition.
6. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with milk and vanilla. With each addition, beaut until the ingredients are incorporated, but do no over beat.
7. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
8. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
9. Bake 20-25 minutes--only took 20 min for me--or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
10. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.