Vanilla Cupcakes and Sponge Cake

Ok, I lied. I posted last year that I had 'The Best Vanilla Cupcake Recipe' but honestly. I should never be claiming that I have 'the best' anything, because how do I really know if mines the best?

Admittedly, when I say 'the best' what I really should be saying 'it's pretty good comparable to others that I've tried' but that doesn't sound as good does it?

Having said that, I have discovered a better recipe for vanilla cupcakes. It's not mine, and I have not altered it in the slightest because honestly, the person who wrote the recipe is waaaay more skilled then me and I wouldn't dream of messing with this recipe! I think it's perfect the way it is!

That person is the one and only CRUMB BOSS... Although I don't think she goes by that anymore, she switched youtube channels (I think she had a falling out with her producer), and now she's just Gretchen at Woodland Bakery, she still has her own youtube channel with informative cake baking and decorating tutorials as well as her business website and her blog which she posts baking secrets and tips. It's on her blog that I found the best vanilla cupcake recipe I have used to date.
I used this recipe to make cupcakes for Easter
The recipe is converted from a sponge cake recipe, follow the instructions to make the changes for cupcakes. 

You will need... (makes 24 cupcakes or 2 x 8in cakes)
Large Eggs at room temperature 200g (4)
Sugar 400g (2c)
Whole Milk 8 fl oz
Butter 112g (8T)
Vanilla Extract  1 Tablespoon
All Purpose Flour 260g (2c) (You may sub in cake flour here)
Baking Powder 10g (2tsp)
Salt 2g (1/4tsp)

Method...

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius/375 degrees Fahrenheit, fan-forced. Line 2 x 12-hole cupcake trays with patty pans, and then lightly spray the inside of the patty pans with canola spray.
2. In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer whip the eggs on high speed with the whip attachment until foamy, then gradually start adding in your sugar very slowly.
3. The eggs will take about 5 minutes to reach the ribbon stage*, so in the meantime you can heat your milk and butter together in the microwave or on the stove top and reserve to keep warm- you will want to add this to the mixture below, as described in the liaison while it is still hot.
4. Also have your flour and baking powder and salt sifted together to aerate and lighten.
5. At this point add in all of the dry ingredients at once with the mixer OFF so you do not have a flour shower all over your kitchen! And on low speed mix in the dry mixture.  You can gradually go up to a higher speed to make sure it is all incorporated evenly.
6. Next you will prepare a liaison with the hot milk and melted butter mixture. A liaison is a technique in which rather than dumping the liquids straight into the main batter causing deflating of this delicate foam we took such care to achieve;  you will take out about 2 cups of the cake batter into a separate mixing bowl, and with a hand whisk add the hot liquids to THAT 2 cups of batter.  Whisk it all together and then proceed to add this liaison to the orginal cake batter in the Kitchen Aid bowl.
7. Add the vanilla extract last and pour into prepared pans.
8. For cupcakes, bake at 180*C/375*F for 7-8 minutes or until they jump (just rise in the pan), then drop the temperature to 160*C/325*F and continue baking for another 7 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked through. If baking a cake, similarly, start at 180*C/375*F for 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160*C/325*F and continue cooking until its done.
The cake is done when you gently press the center and it springs back immediately
*The ribbon stage is a stage where the egg/sugar mixture is very light in color, very thick and when lift your whip attachment and the batter runs back into the bowl it makes a ribbon effect before disappearing back into the mixture. You can also do a “figure 8″ pattern with the mixture and if it stays visible for a few seconds before disappearing you know you have achieved ribbon stage.

I have pretty much exactly copied the vanilla sponge cake recipe here. This is the link-
Refer to the link for any trouble-shooting, and to watch a demonstration video

For my new favourite buttercream recipe, check out 
Delicious and Pretty!

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