Anyways, about the recipe, these are really good! Nice, light and fluffy vanilla cupcakes with creamy vanilla frosting. I made them mini because they were going into my mom's office and needed to last a while, but you can just as easily make them regular-sized as well.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Cupcakes:
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¾ cup butter, softened too room temperature
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
Frosting:
- ¾ cup butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¾ tsp. vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tbsp. milk
Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a regular-sized muffin tin with 16 paper liners or a mini cupcake pan with 40 mini paper liners, and spray the pan with the liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attached, or using a handheld mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, which is about 25 seconds after the egg whites turn foamy. You do not want stiff peaks (meaning you could pick up the egg whites with a spatula and leave no marks behind), you still want them to be a bit fluid. Set these aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients in three additions with the whole milk, starting and ending with the dry. Fold in the egg whites until a homogenous mixture forms.
Spoon batter into prepared liners and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes for regular-sized cupcakes and 12 minutes for mini cupcakes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add the vanilla extract and 1 Tablespoon of milk and mix until combined. Add the last cup of powdered sugar and mix on medium speed until fluffy. Add 1 Tablespoon of milk and mix. If the frosting is still too thick for your liking, add another tablespoon of milk slowly until it reaches the desired consistency (a little milk goes a long way). Frost the cooled cupcakes and serve.