Vanilla Cupcake recipe (This is the one I promise!)

This is the one.

The go to recipe for cake / cupcakes, when you need to get something made, call it 'the little black dress' of the cake world, maybe, what I mean is, it is super good and hard to get wrong.

So do you have some baking coming up, the bake sale, birthday cakes, celebration cake, new to the neighbourhood cake (I totally just wish this was a thing), or you just want a signature cake to take to a friends?

Then try this one. The key is fresh ingredients, and a little time to beat it. 

VANILLA CAKE RECIPE

Cream together 230g unsalted butter and 230g castor sugar.

Add 4 large free range eggs (happy chickens, make happy eggs, make happy cakes and happy people) one at a time, beating well in between each one.

Add 2 tspn vanilla extract (not essence – there’s a big difference) or vanilla bean paste

Sift and fold in 230g SR FLOUR (gently!) followed by 4 tbspn milk.

Bake at 180.

Cupcakes will take about 16-18mins | Whole cake maybe 45 mins.

Makes 24 cupcakes (smallish size ones) or one inch round cake.

Make a double batch if you want a big high cake with a filling.

Simple Buttercream Recipe

200g unsalted butter

8 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup milk (or other liquid like lemon juice for example)

Some flavour (vanilla extract, lemon zest, orange zest etc etc)

Ice the cake and you’re good to go! : )

Beat butter and half icing sugar with some of the liquid till smooth.

Add the rest of the icing sugar and as much liquid as you need to make it the right spreadable consistency (you may need less or more than 1/3 cup).

Now beat like a crazy woman, or if you’ve got an electric mixer, press go and have a cup of tea. You want about 8 minutes of good beating.

A little twist on the above recipe:

Raspberry butter cream

200g softened unsalted butter

8 cups icing sugar

Some Raspberry Juice (I’m not really sure on quantities – I heat up around 2 cups of raspberries then pass them through a sieve – quite literally just squash them through so seeds stay on one side, juice comes out the other). I think you want about 1/3 cup of juice – it’s about getting the right consistency. If you don’t have enough juice you can always add some milk or water and I quite often add a little bit of vanilla extract (a teaspoon) or some lemon juice (about a tablespoon) depending on what I’m putting it on for an extra level of flavour.

So all you do is beat the butter with half the icing sugar.

Add about 1/2 the juice and then the rest of the icing sugar – beat for a bit, then add some more juice till you get the consistency you’re after.

Now beat like a crazy woman, or if you’ve got an electric mixer, press go and leave for about 5-6 minutes so it’s light and fluffy.