Vanilla Bean Cupcakes 2 Ways

True Confessions of an Amateur Baker:  I confess that I made these cupcakes twice in one day.  If that's what it takes to achieve cupcake excellence, then that's what you gotta do.  I found out what happens when you flake out and use TWICE as much butter as a recipe calls for.  Whupps.  Man.......... those are some g oo d cupcakes!!   That must be why they tasted so extremely moist and buttery and AWESOME.  These babies don't need any frosting. 

It all began when I ordered those vanilla beans and started looking for recipes to use them.  There are lots and lots of different recipes for vanilla cupcakes, but I finally settled on one.  Then I accidentally altered it by doubling the butter, then altered it again by using the original amount of butter but substituting buttermilk for the milk.  Both versions were excellent.  Obviously, the really buttery cupcakes were outrageously decadent.  The second batch was also uncommonly good.  The buttermilk made them rise with a great texture and mild tang.

Vanilla beans turned out to be very easy to use.  When the package opened the kitchen was filled with an overwhelmingly fragrant vanilla scent. It still lingers around the jar full sitting on a shelf.  To use one, you lay it flat and slice it open lengthwise. This recipe instructs to put the whole bean in milk/buttermilk and heat it up to infuse the milk with vanilla flavor.  
Then you scrape the millions of miniscule beans out and into the milk. 

There are two things you need to do before you get started if you want to make these cupcakes.  It's important to have your butter at room temperature, so you need to lay it out and let it soften.  If you forget, you can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, but you'll likely end up with partially soft and partially melted butter.  You also need to slice open the vanilla bean and steep it in milk or buttermilk and allow it to cool back down which will take close to an hour.  Alternately, you can put it back in the refrigerator to speed up the cool down.

Here are the two recipes:

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

1 cup butter at room temperature (that's 2 sticks)  OR 1/2 cup butter at room temperature (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup milk  OR 3/4 cup buttermilk plus 2 T milk

1 vanilla bean

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Slice the vanilla bean and heat it with the milk or buttermilk until almost boiling.  The easiest way to do this without scorching is in the microwave.  Let this cool completely.  Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk.  If you're using buttermilk, don't be alarmed when it separates from the heat - just stir it up, it's fine for baking. 

Preheat the oven to350 degrees.  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat it well.  Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt)  in a separate bowl.  Now add a third of the dry ingredients and mix well.  Then add about a third of the milk/buttermilk and mix.  Continue adding and mixing the dry and wet ingredients until it's all combined. 

If you're using a whole cup of butter, the batter will be very thick and luscious.  If you're using less butter it will be a slightly thinner batter.  Either way, I find that a 1/4 measuring cup makes a good scoop for putting the batter into the muffin tins.  This recipe makes about 18-20 cupcakes.  Don't overfill the cups.  As you can see from the pictures, I did and they just flattened out.  The second batch I was more careful and they all puffed uniformly without spilling over. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  We ate most of these cupcakes before I got around to icing them.  I finally followed through with the last 6 and made little coconut nests with a chocolate egg in each one.

Comments

[Jehan El-Jourbagy]

I would love it if you would mail some!

[sonya]

Mmmm... I can't wait for strawberry season. I just got my Cooks Illustrated magazine and there's a recipe for fresh strawberry pie I'll have to try.
Yes, I found a friend to buy half of the vanilla beans, but still have plenty (around25). You want me to mail some?

[Jehan El-Jourbagy]

Sounds really good. I spent the morning taking the hats off of two huge baskets of strawberries that a guy was selling off the back of a pickup truck on the square. They came from 4J Farms, which is a u-pick farm in Jasper County. They don't use pesticides, but I didn't ask about fungicides or herbicides . . .. They are delicious. I'm freezing most of them for smoothies, and we ate a bunch sliced up with a little bit of sugar. I also set out some particularly pretty ones to dip in chocolate later.

Didn't you say you have too much vanilla? Could we buy/pick up some next time we are through that way? I think we're taking a trip up to Buffalo (and through Columbia) some time in July or August.