Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

I switched baking days this week. Tomorrow, the 18^th of August is National Cupcake Day. Did you hear?! NATIONAL CUPCAKE DAY! So, I made some cupcakes to celebrate the occasion. I made them a little early, because I wanted to celebrate with more people than just myself, so I brought the cupcakes to work. I made some fancy sounding ones this time, Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with a Nutella Buttercream Frosting. Here’s what they looked like, in the mixer being mixed:

This was such a weird dough – it was really thick, and it took some time to scoop into the cups, because it stuck to the spoons. But I liked the way they looked, and I didn’t overfill the cups, which I was worried about doing with this recipe. Thank goodness it turned out. Here’s what they looked like, as a final product:

Don’t they look fancy? I used the fancy frosting tip. And in case you want the recipe, here you go!

Cupcakes:

4 eggs

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Bean Paste, or 2 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract

1 ¼ cups Buttermilk

3 cups cake flour

3 cups sugar

3 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2-3 cupcake pans with baking cups. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla bean extract, and buttermilk. Set aside until needed.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture in 3 additions, beating well in-between each addition and scraping the sides as needed. Divide the batter among the prepared baking cups, only filling the cups up halfway. This is important, as the cups will overflow like crazy. Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and allow to cool completely. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream.

Frosting:

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1 cup Nutella

Cream the butter in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Add the powdered sugar and salt and mix, gradually increasing in speed, until the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, scraping the sides when necessary. When the buttercream is fluffy, add the nutella. Whisk until nutella is fully incorporated and the buttercream is light and fluffy again. Frost cupcakes, serve and enjoy.

See, not too hard. I liked making them, and thankfully they weren’t too hard. And now, we can all celebrate National Cupcake Day in style!