Happy 4th of July!
This recipe is great for any occasion. For the 4th of July I just added some blue and red sanding sugar and a couple of American flags on top for decoration.
Quick tip: You can make your own sanding sugar in the colors and amounts you need. I don’t like to buy and store every color of sanding sugar. I buy one large white sanding sugar and then add a little gel color to a small amount of it for whatever project I am working on. It is easy to make yourself. All you need to do is add a little sanding sugar to small plastic bag. I use a sandwich bags. Next, add a small amount of gel food color to the sugar. The easiest way is to dip the end of a toothpick into your gel color and then scrape the color into the sugar. You only need a little. Next, close the bag and rub the gel into the sugar. You can make the colors as you need them.
24 Buttermilk Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 6 oz unsalted butter (170 grams)
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
Method
- Preheat your oven to 325 F / 165 C
- Place 24 cupcake liners in your cupcake pans.
- In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes until they are light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- Once the eggs are all incorporated, add in the vanilla.
- Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk. You will start and end with the flour mixture. Add in about 1/3 of the flour mixture on low speed. Gradually increase speed to medium. Add in 1/2 of the buttermilk on low and gradually increase the speed. Repeat these steps adding the flour mixture, the rest of the buttermilk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Give the bowl a good scrape at the bottom to make sure everything is evenly mixed together.
- Fill your cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of your cupcake comes out clean. They will still be very a very light color on top.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pans for a few minutes and then move them from the pan to a rack to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling you can start the buttercream. See link below for Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe.
Once your meringue buttercream is done it is time to frost and enjoy! I used a large piping bag and an Ateco 846 closed star tip. It is one of my favorite tips for decorating cupcakes. You could use any large star tip. Sprinkle the colorful sanding sugar over the cupcakes and you’ll have beautiful cupcakes that are perfect for 4th of July!
