There are plenty of super-fancy cupcakes out there…filled, artfully frosted creations that look incredible and, sometimes, taste incredible too. But I’ve been fooled by many a super-fancy cupcake in the past; they look amazing, but when you take a bite…it’s only okay. Not the delicious creation you’d expected.

This, my friends, is not a super-fancy cupcake, but it’s certainly the delicious creation you’ve expected. Using a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, vanilla almond buttercream, and some fun sprinkles, these treats are the type of cupcake everyone should know how to make. The recipes are fairly simple, though I admit that most folks probably don’t stock cake flour in their pantries the way I do; still, you can find it easily at your local market and can use it in many cake and cupcake recipes, so it’s worth the buy.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup sour milk*
• 1 recipe vanilla almond buttercream
• Sprinkles for topping**

*To make sour milk, place 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar in a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to equal one half cup total. Stir; let stand for 5 minutes before using. 

**I use the Betty Crocker Parlor Perfect Confetti variety. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes about 21 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Place eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat for another 30 seconds.

Add vanilla and canola oil and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

Add flour mixture and sour milk alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be very thin.

Using a quarter-cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared regular-sized cupcake liners, filling about half full.

Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Prepare your frosting and fit a 14-inch pastry bag with the Wilton M1 piping tip. Pipe generous swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.

Top each cupcake with sprinkles; I find it helpful to place each cupcake in a bowl for sprinkling so you don’t get sprinkles everywhere.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.