vanilla cupcakes (from martha stewart)
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
preheat oven to 325f. line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.
in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
in a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat.
divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes. transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
vanilla buttercream
1 cup butter
6-8 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
6-8 tbs milk
beat the butter til smooth. add sugar one cup at a time. mix in vanilla, add milk to thin.
salted caramel filling
2 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
heat sugar with the water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over high, stirring occasionally, until syrup is clear; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan and stop stirring.
cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush as needed. boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is caramelized and just reaches 360°F. remove from heat and slowly pour in cream; stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. stir in sea salt.
assembly
make your cakes!
once the cupcakes have cooled, core out a hole in each. i used a veg peeler.
prepare the caramel. allow to cool slightly. carefully pour caramel into each cake. you may have to top off several times as the caramel settles.
allow to cool completely.
prepare buttercream and top the cakes.
notes:
i added vanilla bean to the cupcake batter.
and made about 50 mini cupcakes.
be careful not to over bake. brown vanilla cupcakes are ugly.
