Wedding Cake Cupcakes

I usually come home from weddings talking about meaningful ceremonies, happening dance floors, and, of course, the cake—assuming it’s not too dry or froo-froo with fondant. Creativity with different flavors is great, but plain and simple white cake with buttercream is just, wow, wedding cake wonderfulness.

After being treated to a moist cake with a hint of coconut and a luscious buttercream at my one wedding of the summer, I knew one such cake would not suffice for an entire year. So I decided to copycat cool cupcake shops and make a wedding cake cupcake.

In my interpretation, that means you make white cake and buttercream frosting both with almond extract—oh, almond flavoring in cake! So all weekend we got to have party in our mouths, wedding style, without all the dressing up, expenditures, and potential for awkward small talk.

The cake dried out after a few days but still had its wonderful flavor. I need to perfect a scratch-made white cake recipe to stay moist, maybe by using oil instead of butter? For an easier version, you could add almond extract to a boxed mix, but do not, I repeat, do not skip out on the taste superiority of homemade vs. canned buttercream, deal?

Magnolia’s Vanilla Cupcakes
Kichenlink.com

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
1 teaspoons almond 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. 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.

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes.

Note: If you would like to make a layer cake instead of cupcakes, divide the batter between two 9-inch round cake pans and bake the layers for 30-40 minutes.

Almond Buttercream Frosting

1 lb. powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients with an electric mixer for one to two minutes or until creamy. Add milk if you want a thinner consistency. Spread on cupcakes.