Food: Vanilla Cupcakes with Bake Box

With me and W catering a good chunk of our engagement party (though thanks of course goes to my dad for his Malteser Blondies, my mom for her vast amount of scones, and W’s parents for providing salads, cheese, sandwiches and a massive pork pie), we knew we couldn’t go over complicated. So we made homemade quiches, a lot of sweet treats, and a macaron tower…

These were some of the easier bakes. Yes, we ‘cheated’ and used the KitchenAid for the cupcakes and their icing but when it turns the endless beating and creaming into a sixty-second job, why not?! And the final results were damn yummy. In fact, these were some of the best cupcakes I’d made… Super popular with the children at our engagement party, I was also a big fan of these. The vanilla flavor really comes through, making them rich and flavourful without being too sweet. It’s also one of those recipes I’ve memorised, making it my go-to cupcake recipe. You’ll see what I mean when you read the ingredients…

We decorated them in a vaguely floral theme, which was in fact the vague theme I was going for throughout the whole day. I think I managed it, with my dress, the bunting, the garden. A few cute-sy bakes (including the slightly mishapen jam tarts, though they tasted bloody good!) finished it off – all inspired by Bake Box. If you’ve not read any of my other posts about them, Bake Box* is a subscription box with a difference. Think GlossyBox for bakers! It includes recipes, and some more specialist equipment. So far I’ve had a multitude of different moulds, both for bigger cakes and more delicate single serving tarts and jellies. I’ve had biscuit cutters (including the flower shapes used in aforementioned jam tarts), piping outlines, and even edible glitter (in a stunning rose gold shade), food color and other so-cute-I-audibly-gasped decorations. And it all comes wrapped in an Instagrammable box too, what more could you want? Here we used their flower-themed piping nozzle and edible glitter to decorate – whilst our piping possibly needs a little more polishing (W is far better than I am), I do like the effect. More glitter would definitely have been a good thing though!

Ingredients

• 175g each butter (at room temperature), self-raising flour and caster sugar
• 1/2 tbsp each baking powder and vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• Icing: 175 g butter (at room temperature), 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract, 2-3 tbsp milk, 350 g icing sugar

Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat  until smooth and evenly mixed – around a minute if using a stand mixer, I’m afraid it will take a bit longer by hand. Divide the mixture evenly between 12 paper cases in a muffin tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 175C. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, make the icing. Put the butter, vanilla extract, two tablespoons of the milk, and half the icing sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining icing sugar, and pour in the rest of the milk if needed to make the icing the right consistency – it should hold a peak, but still be spoonable. Carefully spoon the icing down one side of a piping bag fitted with a number eight star nozzle (this gives the rose effect). Twist the end of the bag to seal the icing in, then pipe swirls of the icing on top of each cupcake. Scatter with the edible pink glitter and enjoy.

The perfect party addition, the moist cupcakes topped with the creamy frosting in this classic flavor just can’t be beaten. Whilst I may not be a fan of ‘trendy’ cupcake flavours, something like this will have me saying “yes please” every time!

What is your go-to bake? Are you a fan of classic combos or do you like to mix things up a bit?