Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
Servings 16 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (187 g) cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 egg whites
- ½ cup (125 ml) milk
- ½ cup (125 ml) full-fat sour cream
- ¼ cup (40 g) rainbow sprinkles, plus more for decorating
Cream Cheese Icing
- Yield: Enough to decorate 1 8-inch layer cake or 16 cupcakes
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, at room temperature, cubed
- 1 cup (130 g) icing sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ cups (340 g) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature, cubed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Method
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two muffin pans with 16 paper cupcake liners.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg whites until light and fluffy. Combine the milk and sour cream.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk and sour cream mixture, using a silicone spatula to fold in each addition, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix. Finally, fold in the sprinkles.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans. I use a (¼ cup/ 60 ml) scoop to ensure evenly sized cupcakes. Place the muffin pan on a cookie sheet (to prevent the bottoms of the cupcakes from browning too much), and bake until lightly golden and a knife inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean, 15–18 minutes.
- Prepare the cream cheese icing.
- When the cupcakes are completely cool, decorate them with cream cheese icing and more sprinkles.
Cream Cheese Icing Method
- Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sift in the icing sugar and salt. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running on low, add the cream cheese a few tablespoons at a time. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and creamy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Use immediately.
- Any leftover cream cheese icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Leftover cream cheese icing will harden in the refrigerator. Use the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat it until it’s light and spreadable, 3–5 minutes.
Notes
Notes:
It’s important to use cake flour, not all-purpose flour, for this recipe. Cake flour contains less gluten, is ground extra-fine, and creates a tender crumb, making it an ideal choice for vanilla cakes. If you can’t find cake flour, or you can roughly replicate its effects by using all-purpose flour and corn-starch as follows: For every 1 cup of cake flour in your recipe, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons, and replace them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Credit Line:
Recipe by Melissa Owen from Epiphany Bakes, copyright © 2024 by Melissa Owen. Reprinted with permission of TouchWood Editions. Touchwoodeditions.com
It’s important to use cake flour, not all-purpose flour, for this recipe. Cake flour contains less gluten, is ground extra-fine, and creates a tender crumb, making it an ideal choice for vanilla cakes. If you can’t find cake flour, or you can roughly replicate its effects by using all-purpose flour and corn-starch as follows: For every 1 cup of cake flour in your recipe, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons, and replace them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Credit Line:
Recipe by Melissa Owen from Epiphany Bakes, copyright © 2024 by Melissa Owen. Reprinted with permission of TouchWood Editions. Touchwoodeditions.com