flower cupcakes
Flower Cupcakes
Adapted from Ina Garten
18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 2/3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, two at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Fill the cupcake liners to the 2/3-level with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
For the icing, mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, mixing just until smooth. Spread the frosting generously on top of each cupcake.
Perfect!
Lovely domes.. how was the texture like? Light? Moist?
I just tried to lick my computer screen. Just so you know.
Even Im Impressed !
Phew!
I did banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting last night and DAMN! You can so easily forget how delicious cream cheese frosting is…
Thank you!
Jacelyn – So, the ones that had spilled over, and were slightly underbaked (I talked about this last time) had a great texture, actually. A little sweet, but very moist. The perfect-looking ones were a little on the dry side, but still tasty. I was paranoid about underbaking them, so think I swung too much in the other direction.
I haven’t figured out *what* yet, but something more than over-filled cups went wrong with the first recipe – they taste too different. Still, I’d use this again.
Phc – Recipe, please! I had thought about making banana cupcakes, actually, or apple ones. I love the fruit/cream cheese frosting combination. In the end, I went for the most generic. Next time I will not.
Man. I wish I lived closer to you! (You know, so you could share. :)
Honestly, I wish you could send baked goods through the mail.
Every time you post new pictures, I’m ready to lick my computer screen, too.
Those cupcakes look so delicious! I wish I lived closer, too. If I ever make it to NYC, could you bake me some sweet treats for the trip home? :)
Recipe here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1813,147184-227206,00.html
Note the lack of shortening.
that frosting looks so yummy and fluffy
i bet it’s the kind of frosting that makes a cute little beak on your nose when you bite too deeply into the cupcake
that’s good frosting!
They look so good!
These are beautiful!
It’s not fair if we can’t taste the screen! I am fantasizing about the taste of these delights.
I think I torture myself by visiting your site. It always makes me soooo hungry. But it also inspires me to cook a little more and rely less on quick dinners, so thanks. :)
I am making thses this week for my students (I am a high school teacher) and I can’t wait! If I made them and kept them around…it would just be bad. Anyway, I bought some course vanilla sugar to put on top the frosting…I can’t wait!!! I hope they are only half as good as yours look. By the way…about how many does the recipe make? And, would you suggest doubling it? Or, rather, making 2 seperate batches???
I love cupcakes! And, these look awesome! I will definitely try this recipe out.
Christine – where did you buy course vanilla sugar?
those look absolutely divine! question…what does one do with so many cupcakes? I mean, besides sharing, of course. I never know how to get my lil creations to people who want them! How do YOU generally transport them? That’s always the problem that I have. =(
jnet – I found some cupcakes boxes on the Williams Sonoma website. Just search the word ‘boxes’ and it should come up.
I’ve also just backed up the cupcakes and then frosted them at their destination, if I had to transport them.
But it is tough moving them around.
Michelle: I found this little cooking ‘gallery’ in a nearby town and they had all different kinds of sugars and the vanilla sugar just jumped out at me.
Deb, you know that we are all jealous and hate whoever the recipients of your confections are, don’t you? :-) They are beautiful – almost as pretty as all the ones that you made before your wedding and posted about.
Abby – Heheh. You’d have to live closer to Brooklyn to get a hold of these. That’s where they all went. They’re a generous bunch though, I’m sure they’d share.
Browneyedgirlie – Cupcakes, as far as I know, are completely un-mailable. What a mess! Now you have to bake them yourself and report back to us. I want to know if my results were consistent, because mine so totally were not between batches.
Phc – Those look great! I definitely want to try those for another party.
Btw, my bread-baking teacher thinks my issues with Crisco are a sign of me smoking crack, but I don’t know if I can trust a man who sprays Pam on everything. Everything. He even suggested I spray cupcake liners when I said I wanted to make brownie cupcakes but find too much of them come off when you peel the papers.
Ann – I totally got some on my nose. And Alex thought the brown ones looked… um, gross. I might need to work on my piping designs!
Tammi, Kamilah, Diane – Thank you.
Traci – (Brushes hands off.) Then my work here is done. :)
Christine – It’s supposed to make 22-24 big and I find that you definitely get at least 3-to-1 on miniatures, though it depends on the size of your mini pans. I think this recipe makes slighty more of both sizes, but it’s a good guideline to go by if you want to account for the one or two that will certainly need to be tested. Also, at parties, people who are going to eat cupcakes will always eat more than one of the mini. Sometimes, more than 5 heh, but I’m sure that’s just alcohol-related!
Jnet – I’m so glad you asked! I’ve seen a lot of cupcake carriers lately, but they all demand you pick a size and since I often make both sizes, I could never choose. This time, Ziploc totally saved the day. They have these rectangular containers with enough height that the frosting doesn’t hit the lid, plus, being rectangular they fit neatly stacked in a shopping bag. They hold about 16-17 minis and maybe 8 big ones. It’s the 9.5 cup size, and I think the only one that’s rectangular. I bought a LOT of containers, but at least I’ll have them now for the future. (I even asked for them back, as my cupcake-baking services are often requested at this place, hee.)
Also, I have occasionally gone to a bakery and begged them for cake boxes, usually for a few bucks. They’re not as sturdy, though, or stackable.
Jessica – Don’t hate them! It was for their engagement party. In fact, I offered to make the couple a wedding cake, too, but as it will be a glatt kosher wedding and 1) Crisco issues, 2) my kitchen couldn’t be less Kosher if it tried, I settled for going to town on cupcake-baking instead.
This is just a cruel tease, why do I do it to myself? But without fail, every tues, thurs morning when I come in I check for your newest creations at my bland and boring desk. These treats are like a stripper in sequins dancing just for me. Gah.
I would be so fat if we were friends. Your talents are irresistibly mouth watering. Its diet…..porn.
What did you do before your KitchenAid? Would a hand mixer work?
Jezzie – Diet porn, love it!
M – I don’t like to admit this because it draws aggravated ire from people, but I haven’t (hangs head in shame) used my stunning white Kitchen Aid that my mother got me as a wedding shower present in June of 2005 yet. But, before anyone gets upset, I need to remind that I have ONE counter in my kitchen at if I put the Kitchen Aid on it, I can’t use it for anything else, which sort of goes against the whole food prep thing I’m trying to do. I love it from afar, and one day, one day when we’re fancy and have even one-point-five counters to spare, we will be together.
Ok! That was quite a lot of guilt, eh? (So much for atoning!) That was my very drawn-out way of saying that I actually use my hand-mixer for everything, and you should feel wholly comfortable doing the same, in this recipe and others. Never believe a recipe that deems these expensive machines non-negotiables; people have been baking cakes and kneading doughs for much longer than they have been in existence.
Thanks for being honest! I like you even more now. :)
Okay.
I have an honest to goodness Madeleine addiction. The sad part is that I have never truly tasted one made properly, so even after my addiction I am not sure I am making them right. See, I first read about madeleines in these crazy french books, and then I saw them in cheesy french movies. I was fascinated. Then it seemed like everywhere I looked there was recipe for the darn things. The problem being though that after seeing pan after pan after pan sitting in various discount departments of dozens of stores I never picked one up. So my hunt was rather vigorous. Finally I found a wilton professional line pan. It is really heavy and rather dark. My first batch ( a basic lemon recipe from somewhere it was rather vague) was kind of like chewing on a dry chewy corn muffin. It was wierd because there was no corn! (although I think that would work pretty well now that I think of it) The second batch was more adventerous. Lavender and Lime. They came out oddly softer and heavenly smelling! They also were inedible after a day and turned into tough little speckled rocks.
Most efforts after that were about on par, and I thought I had given up on madelienes. Until I found an interesting recipe in the Ethnic Paris Cookbook. After copying it down on two eight post its because I am a poor college student, I set out to make this green concoction. It had these detailed steps that I really didn’t understand before. It had degrees of where I was to mix, what it was to look like, like an actual recipe! Most before were mix until creamy and foamy. THIS HAD DETAILS!
I am also quite the impatient one, and cleaning that monster kitchenaid is a daunting thought so I tend to do things by hand. With SPOONS. But I used the beast, and cleaned it well quite quickly then put it away. With that sideways glance those cute dogs give I was amazed at the speed I went through that sucker. The recipe not only turned out magnificently dellicate, it also lasted for a day or two.
So…madeleines can suck real easy. I eventually gave up this pan in favor of a lighter colored larger capacity (eighteen) pan from Crate and Barrell that set me back fifteen dollars. I gave up on healthier madeleines and decided that ones with more butter will ultimately last more than one day so you won’t have to force yourself to eat the entire batch in one sitting. Those twelve count recipes rarely make twelve, and if you make them too full they look horrendous. I can usually get about twenty to twenty four fully molded cakes from a batch. Don’t fill them too full, I know this is said plenty before but if the batter is right it will spread a lot and very quickly. Also don’t spread the batter out. Ugly misshapen blob in the middle, and you’re good. It melts and spreads and humps all on it’s own just let it work it’s magic.
Now though I’m trying really hard to make them healthy! Which I don’t think will happen, although I almost got a filled one to work. Hmm…experimentation awaits!
i did the flower cupcakes and it is so great i want to get all the recipes..although i usually did 10 flavors of cupcakes…..
Hark! I am no longer alone! I haven’t used my Kitchen Aid artisan either… I’ve hade it since 2004 but I still use my hand mixer… shamefully I HAD to have it! I know I am way late… but I just discovered your site today via How About Orange’s blog spot… thanks now this will be a daily read! My husband is looking over my shoulder .. I am a Jamaican cook, married to an American eater:)living in NY
My 4 yo daughter slept the entire night in her bed (a big deal!), so we celebrated with cupcakes. I made these at 8 this morning and 1234 they were done! A half recipe made 14 cupcakes, perfect and yummy! Thanks!
How many did this make, and do you think they would freeze well?
Thanks a million!
Mariah
Thanks so much for this recipe! It is simply DELICIOUS! [By the way I used a hand mixer and I think they turned out just fine.] Made these for my daughter to take to school and treat her classmates & teachers for Valentine’s Day. I added red food coloring to the frosting and topped them off with heart sprinkles. I will DEFINITELY be using this recipe again. Just marvelous!
These cupcakes look too, too cute! What do you use to pipe the frosting? I love the concentric ring plop look. Also, what is the crumb like on these cupcakes? I’m looking for a vanilla cupcake recipe with a dense, pound cake-ish texture. You mention that these were a bit sweet. Do you think that the sugar could be reduced to, say, 2 1/3 (without adjustment to the other ingredients)? Lastly, have you tried hummingbird cake/cupcakes? They contain banana, pineapple and pecans and are typically topped with cream cheese frosting, so they may fit the bill for a banana cupcake hankering. Cupcakeblog.com and joyofbaking.com both have recipes for them. Thanks again for the great recipes and enlightening commentary!
I’m attempting these today – before I even saw this post!! My mom uses them at her shop – Yummy in Yellowknife. My only question is the eggs – I’m going to use large not XL, is that really going to matter? I saw that on the comments on Foodtv.ca that people thought they were too sweet as well. I’m looking for a white cupcake for my company, Mission City Baking Company, and the Martha one I just tried wasn’t a hit. Have any suggestions? I’ll let you know how they turn out! (Maybe even send you a pic of them all decked out – how do I do that?)
They were so good!! Even with the large eggs. My new vanilla cupcakes!! A hit!
I am making a caterpillar cake for my daughter’s first birthday and I think I’m going to use this cupcake recipe! I’m making them today as a test run, so far the batter was delicious and they smell even better! :D
i made these are they are SO good. but the middles sank! i was very careful not to overmix them. i did not have extra large eggs, so wondering if that had anythign to do with it?
any suggestions? and how do you make the gorgeous swirls for the frosting. looks like it shoudl be easy, but i flunked. for my family it was all about eting and less about presentation, but i would like to perfect them to be able to give them away
teri
I’ve failed! I can’t see the flowers on these flower cupcakes. Is that the style of frosting? Or the name of the sprinkles?
wow great!! so colourful!! wish I could eat them all up!!!
These look lovely Deb, But seriously, Ill just pipe a rosette, I cant stop giggling, I’m 20 and I cant stop giggling at the poo frosting.