Cupcake Experiment #3 using Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

This cupcake decision was quite literally and surprisingly, a piece of cake! I am literally devouring a Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake right now as we speak because they are so tasty! Who would have guessed. Sure, the thousands of people who are fans of Magnolia Bakery but what about everyone else who actually take the time to taste the cupcakes. As I said before, most cupcakes are a lot of hype that many people buy into because a famous person has eaten there or they saw it in a movie. I was prepared for the worst with these cupcakes and what I got was the best of the three cupcakes I have taste tested in the last three days.

Most famous bakeries, I'm sure, begin with a great recipe. Then, the masses come and they come, and they come and pretty soon the bakeries are so overwhelmed with customers they have to become more efficient with their processes thus the end of bakery fresh, straight from the oven taste and the beginning of a commercialized taste that is only a bit better than a cupcake from a plastic wrapper. Take Sprinkles for example. I have read about Sprinkles in all the tabloids, how wonderful they are, how fabulous they look and how just the other day Paris Hilton was seen inhaling one. I finally tasted one and I began wondering why the little cupcake bakery in Houston I have frequented a few times isn't famous and even more so than Sprinkles. Maybe it was my agitation at how rude the employees were or maybe it was the actual taste but needless to say, I will not be frequenting them again. I prefer instead to find small undiscovered bakeries who are still willing to put in the time and effort to make gorgeous AND tasty cupcakes.

Imagine my surprise when I baked the famous Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes and they turned our scrumptious! I devoured every last crumb. I actually forgot this was an experiment at one point and just kept eating. The Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake was hands down the best cupcake out of the three tested, out-tasting Martha Stewart's Yellow Buttermilk Cupcake and JoyofBaking.com's Vanilla Cupcake. The cupcake recipe was also completely different than the previous two and much easier to mix, completely eliminating salt and baking powder for self-rising flour. I baked two half batches of the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake, one original and one Greek Yogurt infused batch. I expected the yogurt infused batch to be tastier and more moist like the past experimental batches but I was surprised yet again. The original recipe was far tastier than the yogurt infused batch. Our apartment landlords were around at the time of tasting and they also both agreed the original tasted far better than the yogurt infused, however, the texture was better in the yogurt infused.
This recipe may be the recipe I play around with and tweak, adding less yogurt, maybe more vanilla, changing the eggs from whole eggs to yolks, etc. If you have a cupcake recipe you absolutely love, send it to me. I'd love to compare the flavors.

My experimenting must come to an end for this week as I have yet to make a batch for fun and am looking forward to finally being able to decorate all of my hard work. Unfortunately before I begin, I must play around with the buttercreams! Not a task I enjoy. My buttercream always tastes like a stick of butter with a little sugar added in so cross your fingers for me today and let the decorating begin!

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.