Homemade vanilla cupcakes!

The other day I found the perfect recipe to use my new KitchenAid for the first time!! Today was the day that it all took place!! That's right, I made homemade vanilla cupcakes and vanilla icing!! As you will see, I took plenty of pictures to document the event! I found the recipe for another blogger, Veronika - check out her cute blog here. This cupcake recipe is from Magnolia Bakery in New York City, featured on Sex and the City.
You can also find the recipe here or read below :)

Pumped to bake!! Woohoo!

Cupcakes - Ingredients (makes 2 dozen)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat (I'm almost positive I overbeat-ed.. easy to do apparently!). Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Playing with the timer function!  I think I look the part of a fancy baker ;)

Vanilla Icing - Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.

Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled. Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

As you can gather from the recipe, the icing is super sweet!! I used 7 cups for my icing!

Well I think it looks dang cute!! As you can tell I picked up one of those decorating bag kits for the icing - it comes with 20 disposable decorating bags and 3 different decorating nozzles and when those run out I'll just use a ziplock bag.. but the decorating nozzle things are reusable!

I had one cupcake without icing soon after it was out of the oven - and it was pretty yummy! Not really having much prior experience baking, I wasn't able to identify right away that "oh yeah.. this mix has been overbeated" but it seemed edible so I made the icing and baked the second batch! I had part of a broken cupcake with the icing, and I think it's pretty good! I would try them again and be more mindful of how long I'm letting the mixer mix!

I'm bringing these to a family dinner tonight and will let you know what they say! Regardless, now I can proudly say that my fabulous KitchenAid is no longer just decoration in my kitchen, but an actual appliance! Done and done.