Vanilla is the New Sexy

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream

I know I've blogged about Vanilla cupcakes here and the intoxicating effects of Vanilla buttercream.  And today I had to revisit this amazing combination.

Perhaps it's the way the Test Kitchen smells when vanilla cupcakes are in the oven...or maybe it's the simplicity of its vanailla-ness.  But I have become a #1 fan of this particular cupcake.

The Classic Vanilla Cake recipe yielded 24 cupcakes (filling the cupcake liners ⅔ to ¾ full).

 

I used 75% of one batch of Vanilla Buttercream to cover this particular dozen - the icing is stacked quite tall. 

Since I had another dozen to go, I combined the Vanilla Buttercream with the remaining Nutella Buttercream from Friday and had plenty to cover each cupcake.



I really dig the smoothness of this frosting...it looks so velvety.

I love the smooth swirl with the vanilla (using a Wilton 1A tip) and the open star swirl (using Wilton 1M tip).  However, smooth swirl with light/dark brown frosting is simply ..err... unappealing (I'll let you work that out on your own).

I topped some of the Vanilla Buttercream with a Jeff de Bruges candied almond hot-pink dragée. 

 

The lovely pearls are manufactured by Eric Bur, Perles de Sucre in Roses and Ivoire. 

 

 

It's a great day when I get to bake...and even more awesome when Vanilla is happening in the Test Kitchen.  The best is when my life partner is lurking around to see if he's needed for taste testing (which is always!).

 

It works if you work it.  It's worth it.