Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcake with
Vanilla Buttercream

I've always admired those baking sites with beautiful photos that clearly showcase their products for their customers. Some day that will be me, but in the meantime, I'm making do with my at-home in-the-kitchen pics to give you an accurate impression of my Bling baking.

A while ago I was in the bakery section of a local grocery chain looking at their cupcakes. $1.99, and it seemed almost as big as mine which I was beginning to market for $3.00. Oh dear. Why would anyone buy my cupcakes when they could get something almost the same size from this place. I bent down to look more closely at my competition through the glass and - surprise surprise - it wasn't a standard cupcake, it was a little mini one with 2 inches of frosting on top. Well now, that's a completely different bowl of cream! The cost of the cupcake is in the cake, not the whipped sugar and lard of the frosting. Not really competition after all! 

Bling Bakery vanilla cupcakes
ready for the oven

I really like my vanilla cupcake recipe. It was hard won. Lots of trial and error in figuring out the correct (read - reduced) amount of sugar and unsalted butter, proper mixing so they weren't tough, accurate baking temperature and time. Who would ever have guessed that coming up with a delicious plain vanilla cupcake would be so troublesome. 

I'm not trying to pass these off as a low-fat or innocent treat - they aren't. What they are is a great tasting, moist, vanilla flavoured cupcake that is delicious on its own (my husband's choice), or decadently topped with vanilla buttercream (no lard, don't worry). Either way, they are best enjoyed in the late afternoon with your coffee, when you still have time to get your walk in and/or will be active for a number of hours before going to bed. Speaking from experience, they still taste great at 11pm, you'll just be reading in bed for a while afterwards.

Vanilla Cupcake floral wreath with
Vanilla Buttercream decorations

  

Bling Bakery vanilla cupcakes,
baked and ready for decorating