Description
Easy Vanilla Cupcakes with a creamy dreamy buttercream frosting is a simple but dramatically eye-catching delicious dessert for your Valentine’s Day celebration. Start off with a box cake mix to make dessert so easy, then add the little extras, and your family will think you got them at the local bakery.
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist, Classic White Cake Mix, 15.25 oz.
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 3 eggs whites
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- spray oil (like Pam spray)
- Cupcake Liners
For Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) at room temperature
- 4 cups of confectionary sugar
- 6 to 8 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 drops of red food coloring
- Sprinkles
- Piping tips and bags for decorating.
Instructions
To Make White Cupcakes:
- Heat the oven to 350°.
- Line a 24-cupcake pan with pretty cupcake liners.
- Lightly spray each liner with spray oil.
- In a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer add the water, vegetable oil, egg whites, and clear vanilla extract, and mix for 15 seconds on low.
- Add the Duncan Hines Cake mix.
- Mix on low for 30 seconds.
- Next mix on medium for 2 minutes.
- Fill the cupcake liners that are in the pan and sprayed lightly with the spray oil 2/3 full.
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. Check a cupcake with a toothpick if it does not come out clean bake for another 2 minutes.
- Remove the cupcakes and place them on a cooling rack, cool them completely.
To Make Buttercream Frosting:
- In a medium mixing bowl in your stand mixer 1 stick of room temperature butter, beat until smooth.
- Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Add 3 cups of confectioners sugar and start adding the milk until the frosting is the consistency you desire for frosting in a piping bag or with an offset spatula. Add the additional 1 cup of sugar and milk to get the perfect spreading consistency.
- When the cupcakes are cooled, frost them any way you like and decorate them with sprinkles.
- I used a 2D star tip with a disposable piping bag to get the pretty design. I also used “Sprinkle Pop” sprinkles.
Notes
Keep in mind that making buttercream frosting is not an exact science. If you want to pipe a large swirl you may want the frosting stiffer. If you want to make little dots then the frosting should be thinner. Depending on how you want to frost will determine how much sugar and milk you add to the frosting. You can also use a different flavor or different color to make the cupcakes your own.
Keywords: Easy Vanilla Cupcakes
