Sweet Treats Week #1: Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Welcome to "Sweet Treats Week" on This Woman Cooks! Every day this week will be dedicated to some kind of sweet treat, including several guest posts and a giveaway for that sweet tooth you're bound to have by the end! If all goes well, I'm thinking there will be plenty more weekly themes in the future. Kick back and keep an eye on your blood sugar, you're in for a sugar high!

You are about to see an overload of cupcake pictures.

I couldn't stop.

I was so proud of my little creations that I took well over 50 pictures. I repositioned them, set them on ramekins for some cool angle shots, hopped onto the table, hovered over on a dining chair...

I was a crazy person on Friday, August 19th at 10:30pm. That's not when these pictures were taken, obviously. This was at 11:00am the next morning. But the night before I was a raving lunatic. Okay, I might be exaggerating. Ahem. I was a little crazy. In my pajamas, pacing the kitchen back and forth muttering to myself about frosting. Sorry Twitter and Facebook friends. You were the only ones around to talk to!

The first batch of frosting I made was a strawberry one. I originally wanted to do strawberry vanilla cupcakes. The strawberry icing was coming along together well, until I scooped it into the piping bag. It was a mess. No pretty ringlets around my cupcakes. I was very sad. Then I got angry. Frustrated. Confused! Panicked. I told myself to take a break and worry about it the next day. But I couldn't go to sleep, not without finding the perfect frosting recipe. Hence the pacing and sticky fingers at 11:30pm.  

I scoured the web for ideas when I remembered Jessica's insane amount of cupcake recipes. I decided to try her vanilla buttercream. Oh. My. Diabetes. I may never use another frosting again. Thanks for saving me yet again, Jessica. :)

Vanilla Buttercream
Source: How Sweet It Is
Serving: frosting for 15-20 cupcakes

2 sticks of butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of milk, if needed

Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixture until completely smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly. Gradually increase mixer speed and add vanilla, then beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl. If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached If it’s too thin, add sugar gradually until it thickens. Frost cupcakes and top with sprinkles.

Cupcakes
Source: Cupcakes with Sprinkles
Servings: 12-15 cupcakes

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup of Butter, room temperature
1 cup of Sugar
1/2 heaping Tablespoon Baking Powder
2 large Eggs
1/4 cup Whole Milk
1/4 cup Plain Yogurt1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Sift twice. With an electric mixer on medium speed, add butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, yogurt and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Do not overbeat! Fill lined cupcake tins approx. 2/3 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Start checking at 15 minutes. Don't over bake or they will be dry.
  
Be sure to check back every day this week, there will be a new sweet treat waiting for you!