Hi guys! The Dessert Pervert is back and bringing you my very own ultimate recipe for classic vanilla cupcakes, a crowd favorite that will always satisfy all your cupcake cravings!
But before I get to that, I have a secret to tell you guys. I may be the Dessert Pervert but… I’m not a sweets type of person. OKAY, DON’T HATE ME. I wouldn’t say this makes me a fraud (well, maybe a little bit), but this actually makes me super picky about sweets. So you’ll know when I say this is my favorite cupcake recipe, that this is the ULTIMATE cupcake recipe. You can trust me on that.
Vanilla cupcakes were the very first dessert dish I experimented with, and I’ve dabbled with this recipe for a few years now and think I finally found perfection. I’ve tried butter-based recipes, but I felt that the results were never as airy as I had hoped for. I find that using flavorless oil in cupcake recipes can make them airy and moist, just like they should be. Another suggestion I have is substituting regular milk with buttermilk. Buttermilk has a higher acidity and will react with the rising agents to create a fluffier cupcake. Trust me, it makes a very big difference.
For the frosting on these cupcakes, I like to go with a simple whipped cream frosting, which consists of whipping cream, oreos, and powdered sugar. I’m not a fan of frosting most of the time, but for the sake of making it look pretty, I did it anyway here. For the record, I absolutely hate buttercream frostings just because I feel like I can always taste the heaviness of the butter and it tastes gross to me. But the whipped cream frosting turned out pretty well. Using Oreos in the frosting definitely cut down the powdered sugar amount that is typically used to sweeten frostings as well, which makes me feel a lot “healthier” about it. The sad part is that I have yet to find a lactose-free whipped cream, so I suffered that night after tasting the frosting.
I’ve made this recipe probably more times than I’ve exercised in my lifetime (sad but it’s true). And let me just get real with you guys—making this recipe versus filming this recipe was on a whole new level. Making this recipe would normally take me 20-25 minutes tops, including gathering all the ingredients and cleaning up. However, filming this recipe took me almost three hours to complete. THREE. WHOLE. HOURS!!!!!!! The lighting changes during the video because the sun moved while I was filming (how rude Mother Nature), and by the time I finished my final clip I looked at the clock and screamed. I literally screamed. I wish I was kidding. Maybe I’ll do a bloopers post later on?
I felt like a granny. I had a sore back, my arms hurt, my neck was killing me, and I was standing on my tip-toes the entire time, so I actually got a pretty great calf workout from it. (Wow, I guess I do actually work out!) All for the sake of sharing this great recipe with all of you!
Chloe’s Classic Vanilla Cupcake Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups of cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
3/4 cups of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup flavorless oil
1/2 cup of buttermilk
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2) Add cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Whisk and set aside.
3) Whisk together eggs until it is pale and bubbly. Add sugar and continue to whisk until it thickens. Add oil and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
4) Slowly add half of the dry ingredients and whisk gently until just combined.
5) Add half of the buttermilk until just combined.
6) Add the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk.
7) Add remainder of buttermilk and fold gently.
8) Fill the batter into cupcake tins about 3/4 of the way full.
9) Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the tops are bouncy and look golden.
10) Remove from tin and let cool for 30 minutes before frosting.
Frosting Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of sifted powdered sugar
9 crushed oreos
Directions:
1) Using a hand mixer, whisk the heavy whipping cream until it begins to thicken.
2) Add the sifted powdered sugar in 2 batches and continue whisking until it reaches soft peaks.
3) Add the crushed oreos and whisk until it has stiff peaks. (Be careful to not over-whisk or else the heavy whipping cream will split!)
Optional: Add frosting into piping bag and pipe onto fully cooled cupcakes.
Thanks for tuning into this post! I’ll see you fellow Dessert Perverts in my next post!
