Cheery Cupakes for the Oct's Gals; My 1st attempt with Buttercream!

It was my 2nd attempt at a fruity cupcake, and this time it's cherry cupcakes for my dear Oct gals from my Uni group. Ms A had also came back from KL for this important gathering, but you could never get a complete group as there're bound to have 1 or 2 MIA-rianz. Another great recipe by cupcakeblog - Cherry-Vanilla Cupcakes

I started with creaming the sugar into the beaten butter.

The batter after addition of eggs, flours, milk and vanilla.

I scooped them into this small white cupcases that I got them from Sunlik.

These cupcakes are the types that won't rise to a dome shape but will still rise alittle.

As per previous cupcakes that I baked, I cut out a cone from the cupcakes.

A tsp of cherry filling (that I made earlier) went into each cupcake.

I prepared these cupcakes the night before our gathering so tucked them away in a tupperware into the fridge.

The next morning...

Morning! I worked up my lazy bones to the kitchen and prepared the vanilla buttercream for the cupcakes I baked the previous night. It was my 1st trial and I was excited about it.

I didn't know it's so easy to prepare buttercream. What I had in mind was the hassel of whipping it up and piping it.

Not to mention, it's my 1st trial at piping too!

Not all perfect, but I'm getting the hang of it.

I sprinkled little colourful teddies on top of the cupcakes.

I love my first piped vanilla buttercream cherry cupcakes! They looked way tooo cool...

Cherry-Vanilla Cupcakes (http://cupcakeblog.com)

Cupcakes
Makes 22-24 regular cupcakes / 375-350 degree oven

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to mixer bowl. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix to combine.
5. Scoop into cupcake papers about half to two-thirds full (depending on whether you want flat or domed cupcakes).
6. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Blogger's note: These cupcakes tend to rise quite a bit and will overflow if you put too much batter in the cupcake paper. Keep it under two-thirds full. They also tend to pull away from the papers as they cool. It should be minimal if the cupcakes were baked enough and shouldn’t be an issue. (At least it isn’t for me.)

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
6-8 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup milk

1. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment
2. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy
3. Add half of the sugar, the vanilla and the milk. Beat until combined
4. Gradually add remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

Cherry Filling
2 cups cherries, pitted, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Add cherries, water, and vanilla to a pot. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the cherries.
3. Cook until thick, about 20 minutes.