Vanilla Cupcakes (Recipe From Primrose Bakery)

Hey all, Happy New Year 2016! 🎉
Have a fab, happy and healthy year! I’ll start my first post of 2016 with a sweet treat.

Vanilla cupcakes (recipe from Primrose Bakery)

Having visited Primrose Bakery in London few years back, I was not impressed with their cupcake. It was dry. But because I have their book; Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery book, I decided to give the most basic recipe (Vanilla Cupcakes) a try.

Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery book.

My first baking trial yielded very dry and heavy cupcakes. I sort of have a faint memory that my butter and egg weren’t in room temperature. And the fact that I reduced the sugar quantity… I think all this contributed to the wrong cupcake texture.

Nearly 6 months down the road, I attempted the recipe again. Though there is a tiny hint of dryness (from overbaking I think), I’m happy with the result. To get moist and richer texture/taste, I left the cupcakes in an airtight container for a day. So happy with my moist and perfume-y cupcakes.

Adding egg, one at a time after the process of creaming butter and sugar. Creaming needs at least 3-5 minutes of beating with electric mixer.

Fill mixture to about 2/3 full.

I think you can see hint of overbaking at the dome of this photo.

Here’s a question: does a cupcake need to have a dome or flat top?

Check out this easy vanilla buttercream icing to decorate your cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted from Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery
Yields 12 regular cupcakes

110g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g caster sugar, preferably golden (I used vanilla sugar at 200g instead)
2 large eggs
150g self-rising flour, sifted
125g plain flour, sifted
120ml semi-skimmed milk, room temperature (I used full cream milk)
1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160^oC (fan) or 180^oC. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with appropriate size cupcake cases.

2. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until mixture is pale and smooth (about 3-5 minutes with electric mixer).

3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition.

4. Place two flours in another bowl and mix well. Add milk into a cup and add vanilla extract.

5. Add 1/3 of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in 1/3 of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added.

6. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases. Fill them about 2/3 full.

7. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Check for done-ness with a toothpick or skewer by inserting at the center of the cake. It should come clean.

8. Remove from oven and leave the cupcakes in the muffin tray for about 10 minutes. Then cool them on wire rack. Once cooled, you can ice the cupcakes with your favorite buttercream flavors or fondant.

Buttercream icing recipe: vanilla buttercream icing

Happy baking!