Skip to main content

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

One of my favorite flavors in the world is vanilla.  Give me vanilla over chocolate any day and I'm a happy camper.  I even love anything vanilla scented, such as my favorite Vanille Apricot perfume.  However, something even better than vanilla, is VANILLA BEAN.  When I see those little black flecks, in my ice cream especially, there's no denying that I'm going to want to try whatever it is in front of me.


Truth be told though, I don't really do a lot of baking with vanilla bean, because they're so expensive at the grocery store.  However, that's all going to change because vanilla beans are so easy to find now.  Lately I've been buying them from Cost Plus/World Market and they're like $4 for 2 pods.  Not too shabby for the ol wallet!


One of my first forays back in to the world of vanilla beans were these fantastic cupcakes from Hello, Cupcake! The batter was amazing - so velvety and rich!


Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
Ingredients: 
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean pod
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs

Directions:Preheat oven to 350F and line 24 muffin cups with paper liners


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine the milk, oil and vanilla extract in a small bowl.  Scrape the insides of one vanilla bean pod into the same bowl.


In another medium bowl, using a stand or electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.


Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.


Add 1/3 of the flour mixture... combine just until blended.


Add 1/2 of the milk mixture... combine just until blended.


Add 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture... combine just until blended.


Add the remaining milk mixture... combine just until blended.


Add the remaining flour mixture and combine just until blended. Ensure the entire mixture is blended.


Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full... as written the recipe states to bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
 Be very careful of the bake time - check them at the 10 minute mark to be safe - do not overbake these or they will be dry.  (I had one batch in for about 16 minutes and they were starting to dry out a bit - another batch for 14 minutes and they were perfect!)


Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes... then remove from pan and place on wire rack until cooled completely.



Source:  The Repressed Pastry Chef, as adapted from "Hello, Cupcake!"

Comments

  1. i usually get my vanilla beans from World Market too. Its a great deal if you can catch them on sale. i once got like 8 Madagascar beans for $10 i think?? anyway - these look delicious!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee Layer Cake

Yet another Katie recipe, and Williams-Sonoma recipe that didn't fail. I adapted two recipes to create a beatuiful cake for the first of my sister-in-laws bridal showers over the weekend. While I had some issues with the filling spilling over everything went well (once I found a good recipe for buttercream frosting that is!) I knew that there would be one cake at the shower that would be chocolate glaore and then another dessert so I wanted to make sure there was something non-chocolate for the freaks like me that aren't huge fans. This cake was amazing - Vanilla Bean Cake with a creme brulee custard filling and a buttercream frosting. ** I tried my hardest on decorating the cake - this is the first cake I've actually decorated, normally I've just made a sheet cake and just frost the top! Please don't make fun of it!!** Vanilla Bean Cake Adapted from: Good Things Catered Ingredients : 2 c. plus 2 Tbsp cake flour 1 c. milk, room temperature 6 large egg white

Key Lime Gooey Butter Cake

I'm from St. Louis.  The home of Gooey Butter Cake.  Many people think it's a Paula Deen creation, and how could you not when you see how much butter is in it, but you can't go in to a restaurant, bakery or grocery store without seeing gooey butter somewhere in St. Louis.  We love it.  What's not to love with butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, oh my! But, considering I've made it numerous times, I'm always up for a new variation.  Nutella?   Check !  Cookies?  Don't mind if I do !  Pumpkin?  Well of course !  While talking to my mom about what to bring to a family function, she mentioned she saw a recipe for key lime gooey butter cake.  Sold!  I've never heard of the website she sent over to me, but it looked similar to the basics of every other recipe I've used for Gooey Butter Cake so I knew I wanted to give it a try! One thing people may not realize is that Gooey Butter Cake is very easy to make.  Just a few ingredients really!  Just mix

St. Louis Style Pizza (Thin and Crusty Pizza)

Pizza crust is a very personal thing.  Thin, thick, pan, deep-dish, etc.  You love what you love.  I'm a St. Louisan - I love THIN crust pizza.  Like, cracker thin!  I've tried a few different thin crust recipes , and since they're pizza they're enjoyable, but when I saw this recipe on Cook's Country while watching some old videos I knew I needed to try it immediately.  Made it a few days later and it was fantastic.  This is definitely my new go-to cracker thin pizza crust recipe. What I loved best about this recipe is that it was so simple.  A handful of ingredients, no advance prep needed, no unique ingredients, simple.  Literally anyone that can combine a few ingredients together could make this recipe.  And because you don't need to prep it in advance, you could make the dough, sauce, top it and bake the pizza on many given weeknights!  A huge win for our house! St. Louis Style Pizza (Thin and Crusty Pizza) Ingredients for two 12-inch pizzas Sauce-