White Cupcakes

I baked! Remember last time how I said I probably wouldn't get a change to bake for like 2 months? Well, that wasn't true! Eugepae! (That's latin for hooray!) And I didn't know what to make so cupcakes it was! Eugepae!

And me being my indecisive self didn't know what type of cupcakes to make. So many choices, ya know? And it ended up being white cupcakes. With chocolate cream cheese frosting, since that's what I had already had. Eugepae for resourcefulness!

This recipe was really good. The batter was really good, the cake was really good. And I used pink cupcake liners, so what's not to love? Speaking of batter, it was really light. The recipe has you make the batter with egg yolks first, then fold in the meringueified egg whites. And y'all know how much I love meringues!

Speaking of egg whites...

See how well they whipped up?

Since I only have a hand mixer (which I love truly and dearly), whenever I need to mix two parts (like in this recipe), I need to wash the beaters. So there I was, washing along. With hot water, because that's how you wash stuff. And then I went to beat the egg whites. And you know how some places it says to use cold bowls and utensils for making meringue? Well, I used right-out-of-the-hot-water beaters, and the egg whites foamed up really quickly. It was kind of weird, actually. I was like "Huh. I didn't think it was supposed to do that." But whatever, it worked and I was happy.

I really like this recipe, like I mentioned before. It calls for cake flour, and lucky for me I had some on hand. And I used it. And it was good. Normally, when a recipe says cake flour, I just ignore it and use all purpose. And then my cute little cupcakes taste like not so cute cornbread cupcakes. I mean, I love me some cornbread, but not when I was aiming for a cupcake.

Pre Bake

So there I was, filling the muffin tin. And the recipe says that it makes 12 cupcakes, right? But ooooh boy, it did not make 12 for me! I probably could have make 2 or 3 more cupcakes with the extra batter. But being the rule following person that I am, I hoped for the best and filled them until I was out of batter. But good golly gosh, that was a mistake! They totally overflowed. And I was sad. I even make a sad face. I wasn't going to keep these, but they were so tragic looking that I contemplated just eating them, all by myself, in a dark corner, tears streaming down my face. But I'll bring them to my friends, anyway. Hopefully they won't laugh at me (just kidding, hopefully.).

Post bake. Don't make them like I did.

Is this not pathetic??? Please please please don't overfill them!

The frosting that I used is chocolate cream cheese frosting. It is a combination of the cream cheese frosting here and the chocolate frosting here. But really, it's just the cream cheese frosting with some cocoa powder. The recipe has a butter frosting, which I would have made if I didn't already have the chocolate one.

I don't have a very good variety of sprinkles, so these are halloween! See the ghosts?

Recipe (from Joy of Baking):

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line 12 (you could probably do up to 15) muffin cups.

2: Separate cold eggs, whites in one bowl, yolks into another. Cover them each with plastic wrap and leave them out to come to room temperature for 30 minutes.

3: In a bowl, sift (I just used the hand mixer) together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set that aside.

4: In a second bowl, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 3/4 cups of the sugar and beat those together until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

5: Add the flour and milk alternately, in 3 additions, starting and ending with the flour. (I did flour, milk, flour, milk, flour, milk, flour. That may have been four additions, but they turned out fine.)

6: In yet another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites until combined. Make sure to not over mix the batter, as this will deflate it.

7: Evenly fill the 12 (or how many you need) cups with batter and bake for 18-20 minutes (I did 23ish since mine were grossly overfilled) or until they are nicely browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

8: Frost them. I piped the frosting on, but you can easily use a butter knife or a spatula or a tip if you're feeling fancy! And don't forget the sprinkles!

Again, the recipe said that it made 12, and I made 12, but only because I didn't trust my instinct. If it looks like you can make more, then make more! It will save you a lot of wasted cake bits on the top of the muffin pan.