Dress-Up Buttermilk Cupcakes!

I can’t believe it’s almost Easter!  April always does this to me; spring break ends and then suddenly half of the next month is gone.  I’d been planning to come up with all sorts of brilliant Easter recipes to bake at Julia’s, but unfortunately the academic part of my life has been more demanding recently, so that sort of fell through…starting next month though, I’m hopeful that each and every day will be devoted to pastry full-time…!  Right, so I went in last night and decided that cupcakes would be the thing.  Who can resist a fluffy cupcake?  Especially when there are little bunnies on them calling your name?

I’d wanted a recipe that would make a ton of simple, easy to decorate cupcakes.  A few pages into Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and I found it–yellow buttermilk cupcakes.  Classic, deliciously satisfying, and by the dozens!  These have an extremely tender crumb that’s as fluffy as the frosting–also by MS, which is easy easy and perfect for coloring/dressing up.

Which brings me to the decorations–bunnies.  None of the grocery stores in the area (as in, on the mountain) carry marzipan, and Julia happened to have almond paste(!) to be put to use.  I was apprehensive about using it for decorations, thinking of it only as the gritty, sticky deliciousness that’s meant for fillings, but was determined to make it work.  And it did!  Not sure I’d do it again, but without another alternative it was great.  I just grabbed a handful and kneaded some food coloring into it; rolled it into a ball; flattened it between two pieces of parchment paper; used a rolling pin to continue rolling it out between the parchment paper; drew a bunny on a piece of paper; cut it out; and used it as a guide to trace (with a knife) on the rolled, colored paste.  The only thing I’d do differently is draw a bigger bunny, which would have eliminated some of the tedium of the small and detailed knife work!

For really delicious, theme adaptable, crowd-pleasing cupcakes needed in bulk, these are definitely the way to go.

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes

(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)

Yields 3 dozen.

– Ingredients –

Cupcakes:

3 c cake flour

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

3/4 t baking soda

2 1/4 t baking powder

1 1/2 t salt

1 c plus 2 T  (2 1/4 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 1/4 c sugar

5 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature

2 c buttermilk, room temperature

2 t vanilla

“Fluffy Vanilla Frosting”:

1 1/2 c (3 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 pound (4 c) powdered sugar

1/2 t vanilla

– Directions –

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2) Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined.  Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk (add the vanilla along with one of the additions of buttermilk), and beating until combined after each.

3) Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool for a few minutes before turning them out onto the rack to cool completely.  Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

4) Frosting: Beat butter until pale and creamy.  Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 c at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  After every two additions, beat vigorously to aerate frosting, then return to regular (medium) speed.  This process should take about 5 minutes.  Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth.  If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container.  Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth again.

5) To finish the cupcakes: use a small offset spatula (I used a spoon…) to spread cupcakes with frosting.  And go with whatever decoration you want!

Unfortunately my pictures were taken at night, and the lack of natural lighting doesn’t do much for the colors…they’re quite bright, and I ended up being happy with the robbin’s egg blue frosting for the cupcakes sans bunnies. (just play around with the blue, yellow, and green food dyes until you get the hue you want!)