Cupcakes and gorgeous weather--Yellow Butter Cupcakes

Yellow Butter Cupcakes
Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook Copyright 2005

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitter with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups so that each is about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool. Invert cupcakes onto rack; reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up.

Makes 2 dozen.

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I know, this picture is not very useful to anyone wondering what these cupcakes were really like. I made these for my dad's birthday but I did bring a couple of them home and I could have taken an interior shot of these. However, I know myself well enough to know that if I did that I would have eaten another cupcake and I'm really trying to behave so you'll just have to settle for this exterior shot of these cupcakes covered in chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

This wasn't the last yellow cake recipe I'll ever attempt but it was perfectly fine. I actually chose it because it was really easy to halve the recipe, which I did since I didn't need two dozen cupcakes. I liked that this cake wasn't too sweet and it complimented the frosting and sprinkles nicely.

Besides opening this cookbook to make these cupcakes, I didn't crack a cookbook this entire weekend. Spring has arrived in a big way. It was too just darn nice outside and there were too many other things to do. Luckily, I had already worked up this week's menu or I'd be scrambling right now.

Blast From the Past: Grilled Cuban Sandwiches from June 2006. I need more quick and easy recipes like that right now. I really don't want to be in the kitchen when it's so nice out.

Question of the Day: Were you blessed with a gorgeous weekend too?