Bake Sale Recipe: Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

We had a Kirtan group do a performance at the therapeutic riding facility I volunteer at yesterday, so naturally I offered to bake some goodies to sell. I made two kinds of cupcakes and some cookies. The next few posts will be devoted to the goodies I brought.

I never tried this vanilla cupcake recipe before, but I have made the frosting in the past. It actually comes from a brownie recipe. The cupcakes turned out nicely and worked well with the frosting.

Vanilla Cupcakes
ingredients:
2/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup superfine sugar (see note below)
1 1/4 cups + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each one. Stir in the vanilla and flour mixture just until mixed. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter.

note: I didn't have superfine sugar, so I measured out 3/4 cup of granulated sugar into a blender and put it on pulse for 15 seconds.

Chocolate Frosting
ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

directions:
combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl