Double Vanilla Cupcakes with Rainbow Sprinkles

Why are sprinkles so much fun? At work, I make donuts with glaze and rainbow sprinkles. This brings me back to my childhood. As a kid, the donut dipped in glazed and smothered with sprinkles used to be my favorite. I have many memories of swinging by the local donut shop after school.

Another childhood memory involving sprinkles...when my family would go out for ice cream, I would get a chocolate dipped cone with sprinkles (some call it a "clown cone"), but NO ice cream. Is that crazy or what? I wanted the cone, I wanted the chocolate, I wanted the sprinkles, but eh, I didn't need the ice cream. Oy. Crazy town, tasty town.

A friend once told me that he imagined the walls of my bedroom to be strewn with cupcakes. That there was always just a platter of freshly made cupcakes ready to be eaten.

Well, I made some cupcakes. I made some cupcakes with a whopping amount of frosting and of course, with rainbow sprinkles on top. The sprinkles add a nice crunch the the sweet, soft frosting and the mini cake below.


The best cupcake that I ever had: I used to stage (fancy word for intern) at a restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA called Spago. I was staging on the savory side--peeling and mincing garlic and shallots, weighting out chanterelle mushrooms, slicing baby carrots on the vias, and shaving cheese onto freshly made and plated pastas...The chefs were always trying to feed me, I had to taste everything (boy oh boy was this fun!). One day, someone handed me a cupcake. It was a buttermilk cupcake with pink frosting. I had to scarf it down quick because I had to get back to work, but wow. I took a bite of the cupcake, a little cake, a little frosting, all in one bite. Wow. I will forever remember this cupcake. I have yet to re-create it. One day, one day...

For now, I whipped up a quick batch of cupcakes for my friend's graduation.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

1 cup all-purpose flour

a scant 3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or use a handheld beater and beat on slow speed until the mixture is a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half of the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated. Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side or the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue mixing until the batter is smooth. Just a few minutes. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin tins, dividing between the 12 cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the powdered sugar and butter together in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment on medium low speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Turn the mixer speed to low. Combine the milk and the vanilla extract and slowly stream it into the butter and sugar mixture. Once incorporated, turn the mixer to high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes. If you find that your frosting is getting to warm in the summer months, stop beating and set in the fridge for a few minutes. Once chilled, hook the frosting back up the the mixer and beat once more until you reach the desired consistency.

**NOTE: I did everything by hand. That is another option.