Wedding Cake Cupcakes
This is the time of year when graduations are in full swing. Everybody is happy and celebrating their special occassion with sweet treats. The daughter of my long-time friend Shelly, recently graduated from high school. Such a great time in one’s life. The feeling of satisfaction, knowing you’re finished with high school. Young, bright eyes filled with wonders of what lies ahead.
First things first…it’s party time and I have a request from the newly graduated Amanda for white wedding cupcakes. Of course I will make her most favorite tasting cupcake to help her celebrate! I kind of laughed to myself when I heard these were her favorite cupcakes because white cakes challenge me. I haven’t found a recipe that I’m in love with. Previous recipes I’ve tried all tasted fine, but I feel there is still a taste and texture waiting to be uncovered by me and my taste buds. A number of recipes use shortening (which I try to stay away from), or they use soft-wheat flour (cake flour), but it’s finding a combination of flours, fats, and liquids to create a tender moist crumb and killer taste that I am determined to find. I just need to pick up the pace now!
The recipe below is certainly a great start to my continuing quest of texture and taste in white cupcakes. However, I caved in choosing a recipe that calls for shortening. But on the plus side, it also calls for butter. A little shortening here and there won’t hurt much. My experience with shortening in past recipes produced a more tender flaky crumb. The almond, vanilla, and butter flavors are rockin’! The crumb is very soft and tender. This is a keeper for those reasons alone! Because this is the first new recipe I’ve tried in awhile, I will continue to bake up white cupcakes just because it’s what I do. It’s a hard job and those around me will have to suffer more tastings.
Ingredients
White Cake:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose soft-wheat flour (cake flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
Paper baking cups
Wedding Cake Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in extracts.
Place paper baking cups in 2 (12-cup) muffin pans, and coat with cooking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely.
Prepare 2 recipes of frosting. Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at high speed 2 minutes or untl creamy. Makes 3 cups.
Fill each cupcake with Wedding Cake Frosting. To fill cupcakes, insert your wilton tip that is used to fill cupcakes or use an apple corer or insert the end of a wooden spoon or dowel into the center of the cupcake to make a hole. Fill a wilton decorating bag with decorating tip for filling, or use a zip-top plastic freezer bag with filling or frosting. Use scissors or kitchen shears to snip about 1/4 inch from one corner of the bag; insert bag into the hole in the cupcake. Squeeze gently until filling comes to the top of each cupcake.
Adapted From: myrecipes